THE CALGARY FLAMES HAVE SHIFTED THEIR STARTING NETMINDER SEVERAL TIMES AND IT HASN’T ALWAYS GONE SMOOTHLY
When the Calgary Flames traded Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils earlier this month, you could hear Flames fans howl with excitement, as Markstrom’s departure likely means that top prospect Dustin Wolf will have an opportunity to be the top netminder going forward.
On paper, it feels like a pretty logical transition from Markstrom’s net to Wolf’s. However, when you look back on Flames history, there have been some changeovers in their net that went smoothly and others that were a bit bumpy.
Dan Bouchard to Pat Riggin
Originally Boston prospect, Bouchard was selected by Atlanta in the 1972 expansion draft and he quickly out-duelled Phil Myre to establish himself as the Flames everyday netminder. However, the Flames selected Pat Riggin in 1979 and the following season he started pushing for more and more starts with his performances. Early in the 1980-81 season, the Flames pulled a trigger on a trade that sent Bouchard to Quebec for Jamie Hislop, which in turn opened up a spot on the NHL roster for Reggie Lemelin (who had been toiling behind Bouchard and Riggin as their third-stringer) to become a regular NHL backup.
Pat Riggin to Reggie Lemelin
The Riggin/Lemelin tandem didn’t last too long. They were together for parts of two seasons, but following the 1981-82 season the Flames made a couple big trades. In a two-day span, the Flames acquired veteran starter Don Edwards from Buffalo and subsequently traded Riggin to Washington. The trade effectively handed the reins of the Flames’ net to Lemelin.
Reggie Lemelin to Mike Vernon
The Lemelin/Edwards tandem lasted for three seasons. Following the 1984-85 season, they traded Edwards to Toronto and they began the 1985-86 season with Lemelin paired with new backup Marc D’Amour. But D’Amour didn’t perform too well in his early outings – he made six starts before Christmas and won just twice – and highly-regarded prospect Mike Vernon was called up from the minors.
Vernon basically made it impossible to take him out, to the point where he ended up starting in the playoffs over Lemelin because of his success in the regular season against their first round opponents, the Winnipeg Jets – he made three starts against the Jets and won all three. Vernon led the Flames to the Stanley Cup Final, and Lemelin’s fate was basically sealed.
Mike Vernon to Trevor Kidd
Vernon was the Flames’ top netminder for the rest of the 1980s and the first chunk of the 1990s, primarily being backed up by Rick Wamsley. Eventually, 1990 first-rounder Trevor Kidd began working his way into the conversation and began making NHL appearances in 1993-94, working as Vernon’s backup. Following that season, with a bit of a goaltending logjam forming in the organization – the Flames also had Jason Muzzatti and Andrei Trefilov in the system – the club continued their gradual tear-down of the 1989 Cup team by sending Vernon to Detroit for Steve Chiasson.
Unlike some previous changeovers… this one didn’t go quite as well. And we’re not even sure it’s Kidd’s fault. If you compare Vernon’s defensive group to Kidd’s… well, there’s a pronounced drop-off between the two. Between the 1994-95 lockout disrupting the flow of the season and the rapid tear-down of the 1989 team (in part for economic reasons due to the plummeting Canadian dollar) really eroding the team’s ability to compete on the ice, the team lost a ton of momentum and Kidd seemed to bear the brunt of it as the man in the mask.
During the 1980s, the Flames were able to shift from starter to starter to starter and avoid big upheavals – they had the cast of players in front of their goaltender that they could absorb a lot of change and still look and feel and play like, well, the Flames. But amidst all the tumult of the 1990s, it didn’t really work anymore, and the introduction of Kidd as starter began a bit of a revolving door of goaltenders that continued on basically until Miikka Kiprusoff arrived in 2003.
This isn’t to say that the move from Markstrom to Wolf won’t work. It might work well! But history suggests that changeovers don’t always go smoothly, and the Flames – and their fans – may need to show a bit of patience as Wolf adjusts to the NHL and the NHL adjusts to Wolf.
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2024-07-04T16:27:21Z dg43tfdfdgfd