Calgary Flames officially name Craig Conroy as general manager

The worst-kept secret in hockey is now official. As rumoured over the weekend, and originally reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Calgary Flames have named Craig Conroy as their eighth permanent general manager. The club announced the move via press release on Tuesday morning.

The 51-year-old Conroy has been elevated to the role after spending a lot of time in the Flames’ front office under three different regimes:

In these roles, Conroy has touched on just about everything on the hockey side of the organization. He’s spent time running the Flames’ American Hockey League affiliate under Feaster. He’s negotiated contracts. He assisted with amateur and pro scouting. He’s contributed to amateur draft preparations, too. He’s been sent to close signings with players, most notably Johnny Gaudreau. He also served as a short-term assistant coach behind the bench when Bill Peters departed the team during the 2019-20 season.

Conroy originally joined the Flames’ hockey operations department when he ended his playing career in February 2011 after a long, distinguished playing career. A product of Clarkson University, he was drafted in the sixth round of the 1990 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. He played 1,009 NHL games in stops with Montreal, St. Louis, Los Angeles and two stints with Calgary. He was a frequent contender for the Selke Trophy and represented the United States in the World Cup of Hockey and Winter Olympics.

He was originally acquired by the Flames at the 2001 trade deadline (along with a seventh-round pick) from St. Louis for Cory Stillman. He left the Flames and signed with Los Angeles as a free agent in the 2004 off-season, but was reacquired in January 2007 for a second-round pick, fourth-round pick and Jamie Lundmark. He served as Flames captain for parts of two seasons before handing the baton to Jarome Iginla prior to the 2003-04 season – that turned out fairly well for everybody.

Conroy becomes the eighth permanent GM in Flames franchise history, following Cliff Fletcher (1972-91), Doug Risebrough (1991-95), Al Coates (1995-2000), Craig Button (2000-03), Darryl Sutter (2003-10), Feaster (2010-13) and Treliving (2014-23).

The Flames also announced the addition of Dave Nonis as senior vice-president of hockey operations and assistant general manager, and announced promotions/extensions for Brad Pascall (vice-president of hockey operations and assistant GM) and Chris Snow (vice-president data/analytics and assistant GM). (The vice-president titles for Pascall and Snow are new.)

Conroy’s been in hockey operations since 2011 and has been a part of the Calgary community for roughly 19 of the past 22 years. Now he gets his well-deserved shot at running the show and getting the franchise back to on track after a few topsy turvy years. Let’s see how he does.