The NHL announced the Calgary Flames Quarter-Century teams on Jan. 11, featuring several memorable names in franchise history.
Today, we want to examine Craig Conroy‘s tenure with the club and his credentials for the Flames’ second team.
Conroy was born in Potsdam, NY, roughly two hours southwest of Montreal, QC. At the 1990 Draft, the Montreal Canadiens drafted him in the sixth round (123rd overall), and he would go on to make his NHL debut during the 1994-95 season.
After only 13 games with the Canadiens, Conroy was traded to the St. Louis Blues in the Pierre Turgeon deal on Oct. 29, 1996. He played in the Midwest for five seasons before the Flames acquired him for Cory Stillman on Mar. 13, 2001.
During his first six seasons, Conroy never scored more than 43 points, but during the 2001-02 season, he erupted for a career-high 27 goals, 48 assists, and 75 points. Additionally, Conroy finished the year plus-24 and was runner-up to Michael Peca for the Frank J. Selke Trophy.
Even though Conroy scored 22 goals the following season, his overall totals dropped to 59 with a minus-4 rating. In 2003-04, his numbers went down again to eight goals and 47 points in 63 games.
During this time, Conroy served as Flames captain, sharing the honor with Bob Boughner and Dave Lowry.
However, as the Flames marched to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1989 under Jarome Iginla’s leadership, Conroy skated in 26 games, scoring six goals for 17 points with a plus-12 rating as Calgary lost to Tampa Bay in Game 7.
Following the NHL lockout, which wiped out the 2004-05 season, Conroy left Calgary to sign with the Los Angeles Kings as a free agent.
The current general manager of the Flames spent nine years with the organization over two stints. These are his totals and ranks among players over the past 25 years:
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Games Played: 507 (10th)
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Goals: 97 (11th)
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Assists: 211 (8th)
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Points: 308 (8th)
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Plus/Minus: Plus-62 (7th)
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Penalty Minutes: 276 (15th)
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Points-Per-Game: 0.61 (25th)
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Power-play Goals: 15 (19th)
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Power-play Points: 64 (15th)
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Shorthanded Goals: 5 (10th)
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Shorthanded Points: 13 (4th)
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Overtime Goals: 2 (8th)
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Game-Winning Goals: 13 (16th)
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Awards: None
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All-Star Games: None
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Honors: None
Conroy played only 130 games with the Kings from 2005 to 2007, scoring 27 goals and 82 points while compiling 116 penalty minutes. He was returned to the Flames on Jan. 29, 2007, in a trade for a handful of draft picks and Jamie Lundmark.
He finished the 2006-07 season with 21 points in 28 games. The following year, he scored 12 goals and 34 points before collecting more points (48) in 2008-09, thanks to 12 goals and 36 assists.
Over the final two seasons, Conroy played in 81 games, scoring only five goals and 17 points. He announced his NHL retirement on Feb. 4, 2011.
Immediately after filing his paperwork, he became a Special Assistant to the GM, serving until 2013-14 and earning a promotion to Assistant GM. On May 23, 2023, Conroy became the 10th GM in team history.
