Gang, the Calgary Flames are a team that’s tended to rise and fall based on the quality of their drafting. In the 1970s and 1980s, under general manager Cliff Fletcher, the Flames drafted well, made smart trades using the players they drafted, and ended up winning a Stanley Cup. When they’ve struggled at the draft, they’ve tended to struggled on the ice.

Since 1972, the Flames have had eight permanent GMs. They’ve also had their drafting run by just seven individuals, under various job titles but functionally serving as the head of amateur scouting, over the same period.

Here’s a quick rundown of the Flames’ seven head amateur scouts in franchise history and the quality of the players they landed for the Flames.

Don Graham (1972-80)

Previously a scout with the Detroit Red Wings, Graham was hired by Cliff Fletcher in early 1972 as part of the organization’s build-up towards their first amateur draft and served as their chief scout. He ended up running the Flames’ draft during their entire run in Georgia before leaving to rejoin the Red Wings as assistant GM in July 1980.

200-499 game NHLers: Kevin LaVallee, Hakan Loob, Pat Riggin, Richard Mulhern, Dave Shand, Pat Ribble, Dean Talafous, Greg Fox & Jean Lemieux
500-999 game NHLers: Steve Konroyd, Paul Reinhart, Tim Hunter, Jim Peplinski, Bobby Gould, Kent Nilsson, Willi Plett (1977 Calder Trophy winner), Guy Chouinard, Tom Lysiak, Eric Vail (1975 Calder Trophy winner), Ken Houston & Jacques Richard
1,000+ game NHLers: Brad Marsh

Gerry Blair (1981-93)

Blair worked with the NHL’s Central Scouting Service before being hired by Fletcher following Graham’s departure. Blair used a handful of titles over the years, and remained in charge of the clubs drafting through the changeover from Fletcher to Doug Risebrough. But Blair’s contract was not renewed after the 1993 draft, and he ended up rejoining Central Scouting.

200-499 game NHLers: Jamie Allison, Marty Murray, Andreas Karlsson, Joel Bouchard, Trevor Kidd, Paul Kruse, Ted Drury, Brian Glynn, Tim Sweeney, Jiri Hrdina, Perry Berezan, Sergei Makarov (2016 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, 1990 Calder Trophy winner), Richard Kromm & Mark Lamb
500-999 game NHLers: German Titov, Robert Svehla, Jonas Hoglund, Sandy McCarthy, Kent Manderville, Robert Reichel, Stephane Matteau, Stu Grimson, Dan Quinn, Brian Bradley & Mike Vernon (2023 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee)
1,000+ game NHLers: Cory Stillman, Theo Fleury, Joe Nieuwendyk (2011 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, 1988 Calder Trophy winner), Gary Roberts, Paul Ranheim, Brett Hull (2009 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee), Gary Suter (1986 Calder Trophy winner) & Al MacInnis (2007 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee)

Tom Thompson (1994-97)

Initially a part-time amateur scout with the Flames during the latter part of Fletcher’s tenure, Thompson became a full-timer later on and actually became the club’s scouting coordinator after Risebrough cleared house after the 1993 draft. Eventually his title shifted to director of amateur scouting. He remained in his post after Al Coates became GM in 1995, but Thompson resigned his position in August 1997, joining the Edmonton Oilers a little later.

200-499 game NHLers: Ronald Petrovicky, Clarke Wilm, Chris Dingman & Nils Ekman
500-999 game NHLers: Steve Begin, Toni Lydman, Denis Gauthier & Chris Clark
1,000+ game NHLers: Derek Morris

Nick Polano (1998-99)

Hired by the Flames in 1992 as a pro scout, and subsequently made head pro scout, Polano became director of player personnel in 1996. He took over oversight of amateur scouting in 1997 after Thompson’s departure and ran the show for two drafts. He left the organization during then-president Ron Bremner’s cull in April 2000 after the Flames missed the playoffs – Coates was also dismissed, while head coach Brian Sutter and assistant coach Rich Preston didn’t have their contracts renewed.

200-499 game NHLers: Oleg Saprykin, Rico Fata & Blair Betts
500-999 game NHLers: Craig Anderson
1,000+ game NHLers: none

Ian McKenzie (2000)

One of the original Atlanta employees in 1972 as their western scout, McKenzie got a battlefield promotion to run the draft in 2000 after most of the other senior hockey operations figures were dismissed by Bremner. He left the organization the following season as new GM Craig Button changed over the scouting staff after his first draft.

200-499 game NHLers: Kurtis Foster
500-999 game NHLers: Jarret Stoll & Travis Moen
1,000+ game NHLers: none

Mike Sands (2001-10)

Sands joined the Flames in August 2000 as part of Button’s staffing changeover. He served as director of amateur scouting, running the 2001-04 drafts largely autonomously and then in tandem with director of scouting Tod Button starting in 2005. After serving under two GMs, Button and Darryl Sutter, Sands left the organization in July 2010 when his contract wasn’t renewed.

200-499 game NHLers: Curtis McElhinney, Micheal Ferland, Lance Bouma, Dustin Boyd, Adam Pardy, Adam Cracknell & Brandon Prust
500-999 game NHLers: Chuck Kobasew, Dave Moss, Eric Nystrom, Matthew Lombardi & TJ Brodie
1,000+ game NHLers: Dion Phaneuf & Mikael Backlund

Tod Button (2005-present)

Originally hired as a pro scout in 1997, Button became director of scouting in Sept. 2001, with duties skewing more towards pro scouting than amateur. After Darryl Sutter added to the pro scouting staff during his early seasons as GM, Button’s duties began skewing to the amateur side, and he and Sands collaborated on running the draft between 2005 and 2010. After Sands departed the organization in 2010, Button fully took the reins of the draft. In part or in whole, he’s run drafting under five different GMs (permanent and acting): Sutter, Jay Feaster, Brian Burke, Brad Treliving and Craig Conroy.

(There’s overlap between Button’s list and Sands’ given they collaborated on things for several drafts.)

200-499 game NHLers: Juuso Valimaki, Dillon Dube, Adam Fox, Oliver Kylington, Mark Jankowski, Sven Baertschi, Markus Granlund, Micheal Ferland & Lance Bouma
500-999 game NHLers: Matthew Tkachuk, Rasmus Andersson, Andrew Mangiapane, Sam Bennett, Sean Monahan, Brett Kulak, Johnny Gaudreau & TJ Brodie
1,000+ game NHLers: Mikael Backlund

We’ll delve more into Button’s run as the Flames’ amateur scouting guru before the draft in the next few days.

Which head amateur scout had the most impressive draft haul during their run? Let us know in the comments!

Sponsored by bet365: