The Flames may have dulled for now, but with a boatload of draft picks to add to a core and prospect pipeline, it might not be too long before Calgary is back in it with the right moves. Connor Zary and Mikael Backlund [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA3MzY1NDI1MjcxNDE2MjIz/usatsi_22329867_168400847_lowres.jpg] Connor Zary and Mikael Backlund On Jan. 10, 1962, the sleepy town of Pincher Creek, Alta., tucked 200 kilometers south of Calgary and a stone’s throw north of the Canada-U.S. border, was penciled into the history books. On an otherwise unassuming day, its roughly 3,000 residents arose to greet a frost-bitten morning and battle subzero temperatures. As the day rolled on, however, so did a mass of air, which rumbled and rose over the Rocky Mountains only to spill over the downslope and pour toward Pincher Creek. In time, the warm, dry winds reached the town, which was then warding off the chill of a cold that had reached minus-19 Celsius. But as the gusts enveloped the region, the mercury began rising. In one hour, degree by degree, the temperature rose to a suddenly sweltering high of 22 Celsius. The 41-degree single-day swing remains a Canadian record. There’s a name for the meteorological event that caused Pincher Creek’s record-setting day and often creates wild weather throughout southern Alberta. They’re called Chinook winds – or what some aptly refer to as snow-eaters. They also happen to be the reason Calgary has a tongue-in-cheek civic slogan for the city’s climate: if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. It’s to the great benefit of Calgarians that they’re familiar with these winds of change, too, because over the past two seasons, they’ve been blowing through Stampede Park and right into the Saddledome. Indeed, in many ways, the roster the Flames trotted out for their final game this season is unrecognizable from the one that finished third in the Western Conference with 111 points just two years ago. Only six skaters – captain Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, Andrew Mangiapane, Walker Duehr, Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington – and goalie Dan Vladar remain from 2021-22’s Pacific Division-winning crew. For context, only the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings had fewer 2021-22 roster holdovers as of this season’s end. It’s an almost unfathomable level of turnover considering the heights the Flames had reached and the legitimate Stanley Cup-contender potential they so recently seemed to possess. Tasked with getting Calgary back to that place is GM Craig Conroy, the longtime front-office understudy who spent nearly nine years in the assistant’s seat. And after his first year, the former Flames pivot undersells his whirlwind rookie season as GM with an aw-shucks response stereotypical of the 1,000-game NHL veteran he is: “It was definitely a busy year, to say the least.” We’ll say. When he stepped into the post in May, he was staring down a coachless club and a roster replete with free agents-to-be. He took care of the former in short order, elevating Ryan Huska from the assistant post to the top job. The latter, well, that was more complicated, particularly as the organizational sea change unsettled some. In late June, Conroy was pressed into moving out 2024 UFA Tyler Toffoli after a reported trade request. Before November was over, blueliner Nikita Zadorov had likewise asked to be moved, and Conroy acquiesced. And as rocky on-ice results put Calgary in the category of fringe playoff hopeful, it became clear the Flames were destined to be a dealer at the deadline. Out went Elias Lindholm, soon followed by Chris Tanev and then Noah Hanifin. Of the seven pre-season pending UFAs, only Backlund and Kylington remain. (Backlund, now 35, signed for an additional two years at a lesser AAV in September.) The notability of the subtractions paints a picture of a foundering Flames outfit. The standings tell a different story. Through a combination of Conroy’s dealings, quality goaltending and the graduation of prospects, Calgary managed to stay competitive, if not in realistic playoff contention, far longer than the incomings and outgoings suggest. “We finally were able to bring guys up and give an opportunity, and we see that as a huge positive,” Conroy said. “You saw some guys take real steps, and obviously, moving forward, they’re going to need to take another step, because we’re not quite where we want to be.” Perhaps what most defined the Flames in Conroy’s first campaign as architect are those opportunities, the embodiment of which are Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil. For his part, Zary, 22, parlayed standout rookie and sophomore AHL campaigns and a white-hot start in the minor league this season into full-time NHL work. He responded brilliantly, putting up 14 goals and 34 points in 63 games, the eighth-best totals among NHL rookies. As for Pospisil, whose early career fits and starts can be blamed in part on battles with the injury bug, the 24-year-old arrived and brought skill and sandpaper. The result was an eight-goal, 24-point and whopping 238-hit output in 63 games. Only nine NHL forwards bashed more bodies. If there was any coup among Conroy’s early workings, however, it was Yegor Sharangovich, acquired along with a third-round pick for Toffoli. Calgary’s GM chuckles now thinking back to the reaction to the swap (“People were not very happy,” he said). But what the Flames saw in the 25-year-old were hands, skill and smarts. What they didn’t see was that he’d lead the team with 31 goals. “He had 24 one year, and you were hoping he could get back to that kind of number, but it’s a credit to him,” Conroy said. “He came in, worked hard, started on the first line, was on the fourth line, all over the place, and he never complained. Just worked hard and got better every day. He had a great season. I was happy to see him get 30. The sky is the limit for him.” The Chinook sky, perhaps? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is an excerpt from Jared Clinton's feature on the Flames in The Hockey News’ Draft Preview [https://archive.thehockeynews.com/issue/633828/921927?t=AHEAD%20OF%20HIS%20TIME]. To read the full article and much more, they're all available to you with a subscription at THN.com/Free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Your subscription includes access to more than 76 years of exclusive articles at The Hockey News Archive. Adam Proteau discusses the Flames more with which veterans they should keep: The Flames may have dulled for now, but with a boatload of draft picks to add to a core and prospect pipeline, it might not be too long before Calgary is back in it with the right moves.
