Long-Timers: Rob Ramage
By Ryan Pike
3 years agoIn the 102-year history of the National Hockey League, 348 individuals have played 1,000 or more regular season games. 44 of them, or 12.6%, have played some part of their career with the Atlanta or Calgary Flames. We call these players Long-Timers.
Let’s take a look at Rob Ramage.
An Ontario kid, Ramage was a standout with the junior London Knights as a lad. He was signed as a free agent by the WHA’s Birmingham Bulls in 1978 before becoming the first overall pick in the 1979 NHL Draft, selected by the lowly Colorado Rockies. (Aside: he’s one of just five first overall picks to spend some time with the Flames – the others are Barry Gibbs, Mel Bridgman, Owen Nolan and Roman Hamrlik.)
Ramage jumped to the NHL in 1979 and was a solid young player for the Rockies. He made some NHL history during his tenure that Wikipedia summarized nicely:
Ramage inadvertently became a part of history in his first season in Colorado. While the Rockies were playing the New York Islanders, the Rockies’ goaltender left the ice for an extra skater after a delayed penalty was called on the Islanders. Before the penalty was called, the puck deflected off the chest protector of Islanders goaltender Billy Smith into the corner. Ramage picked up the puck and made a blind pass from the corner boards in the opposing zone to the blue line. Nobody was there to receive the pass, and so the puck sailed all the way down the length of the ice and into the Colorado net. Smith had been the last Islander to touch the puck, and so he became the first NHL goalie ever to be credited with a goal.
Whoops. The Rockies relocated to New Jersey in 1983 but Ramage was traded that summer instead, swapped to the St. Louis Blues for a first round pick. He continued to mature with the Blues, becoming a damn good offensive defender with some bite to his game. He eventually became the centerpiece of a trade with the Flames that made Brett Hull a Blue – Rick Wamsley also went to Calgary, while Steve Bozek also went to the Blues.
As noted, Hull became an amazingly player in St. Louis. As also noted, Ramage was a huge part of the Flames blueline during their march to the 1989 Stanley Cup. Shortly after the win, he was traded to Toronto for a second round pick. (The Flames used that pick to select Kent Manderville, who was later traded back to Toronto in one of the worst trades in NHL history.)
Ramage was named Leafs captain and spent two seasons in Toronto before he was claimed by the Minnesota North Stars in the 1991 expansion draft – the Sharks and North Stars shared ownership and the result was a convoluted draft that combined dispersal and expansion at once. He spent one season with the North Stars before being claimed again in expansion, this time by Tampa Bay.
Ramage’s game began to fall off due to injuries at this point. He was traded to Montreal for the 1993 playoffs, but only played eight regular season games and seven more in the playoffs. (But Montreal won the Cup and he got his second ring.) He was traded to Philadelphia the following season, and he retired once the curtain fell on the season.
Post-hockey, Ramage’s life was full of major ups and downs. He was deemed legally responsible for the 2003 death of former teammate Keith Magnuson in a car accident in which alcohol was determined to be a factor. He served a four year sentence both in prison and in a halfway house. Following his sentence, Ramage subsequently began a hockey operations career: he’s served as an assistant coach in London, a scout for St. Louis, and is currently working in player development with the Montreal Canadiens.
Additionally, his son John was a Flames pick in 2010 and played a game with the Flames, becoming one of just two sets of fathers and sons to play games with the Flames. (The other set: Paul and Max Reinhart.)
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