This week in 1987 (Aug. 26), the Calgary Flames acquired defenceman Brad McCrimmon from the Philadelphia Flyers.

McCrimmon, 28, became a big part of the Flames blueline for three seasons scoring 83 points in 231 and helping the club win the Stanley Cup in 1989.

Calgary shipped back their third-round pick in 1988 and a first-round pick in 1989 in exchange for McCrimmon.

His addition helped form one of the top defensive units of the time with others like Al MacInnis, Paul Reinhart, Gary Suter and Ric Nattress patrolling the blueline.

Ahead of his final year, McCrimmon was named team captain after Lanny McDonald retired, but that year he fell out of favour with bench boss Terry Crisp. The two disagreed with how the defencemen were being used and that offseason Calgary dealt him to Detroit for a second-round pick.

McCrimmon played another seven years in the NHL before retiring in 1997. He spent time coaching in the WHL and NHL.

In 2011, he became the head coach of the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl but never coached a regular-season game with the club as he was killed in the club’s plane crash en route to their first game.

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