Is it managements decision not to commit to an actual rebuild or ownerships? It seems like Conroy knows what this team needs but isn't allowed to do it as Nonnis and malony are actually calling the shots. It's incredibly frustrating as a fan.
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FlamesNation Mailbag: The Stampede ends and the dog days of summer begin
Photo credit: Mike Gould
Gang, the 2025 edition of the Calgary Stampede is now complete. Hopefully everybody had a good time, or avoided it entirely, to their own personal preferences.
As we sweep all the hay out of Calgary’s streets, let’s check in with the mailbag!
All due respect, I think you – and others – are overestimating the influence Dave Nonis and Don Maloney have on Flames management. Craig Conroy is running the show and while he does consult with others, including his experienced colleagues such as Nonis and Maloney, he’s steering the ship. My read, from various chats with Conroy over the years in various settings, is that he legitimately believes that tearing it down to the studs was not the ideal option for the Flames when he took the reins, and so he’s embraced the “retool” or “hybrid rebuild” or whatever folks want to call it.
If Conroy holds on to Anderson and intends to trade him at the deadline, but he gets injured and cant be moved. Is it total meltdown in Flames land? And will the fans turn on Conroy?
This is probably a fair sentiment. Rasmus Andersson is arguably the last big sellable asset that Craig Conroy inherited from the previous regime, and if Andersson is going to be departing the organization and not signing a long-term deal to remain with the club, they need to get some assets back for him in order to keep the momentum of their retool rolling along.
And much like with Chris Tanev, who everyone seemed to wince alongside every time he blocked a shot during the 2023-24 stretch drive, it’s imperative that Andersson not get injured and become a diminished asset before he can be sold off.
I think Conroy has done enough good things thus far that he has a lot of banked goodwill with Flames fans, but not getting a sufficient return for Andersson should garner him criticism from fans and media in the event that it happens. It probably wouldn’t wash out all the smart things he’s done so far as general manager, but you never know.
Who is the Flame, new prospect, or whomever that can be the new Sam Bennett(similar playing style), but stays this time. Or maybe it's no one?
Sam Bennett was a unicorn in terms of having the size, smarts and snarl to be a really effective playoff player. I don’t know if anybody in the organization right now has those three attributes to the degree Bennett did.
However, I am excited to see Andrew Basha at 100% potentially playing pro hockey this coming season, because he has a lot of those Bennett-y attributes, albeit possibly not in the same amount. I’ll also single out Lucas Ciona, who probably doesn’t have the skill ceiling of Bennett or Basha, but feels like someone that opponents will hate playing against in the playoffs if he keeps progressing as a physical role player in the forward group.
But no, there’s no Sam Bennett clone out there.
Is there any news on the Zary signing?
On July 1, here’s what Craig Conroy said to us media folks when asked if he had any updates on Connor Zary and Morgan Frost:
“Talking to their agents. I think it’ll get done here at some point. So hopefully we’ve been busy with the draft and everything. So I think those will start to pick up. That’ll be our priority in the next couple weeks.”
Frost signed shortly afterwards, so we would suggest that Zary is their top priority right now.
Which current players do you think will be on the team in 2030? Also what’s your favourite new change to the CBA?
Current Flames that I think will be on the team in 2023 include, but are not limited to, Dustin Wolf, MacKenzie Weegar, Kevin Bahl, Jonathan Huberdeau and Matt Coronato. And because I want to throw some prospects on there, I’ll also say Cole Reschny, Zayne Parekh and Hunter Brzustewicz.
Via e-mail from David: “How many of the Flames and the prospects train in Calgary during the offseason?”
It varies, because some players stick around for awhile after the season ends – especially those with school-aged kids – and then head off elsewhere. I would estimate somewhere around 20-25% of the players under contract hang around town for a significant amount of the off-season.
Via e-mail from Steve: “I’ve been looking at the development maps for the area and I’m stumped at the “walking path” for the hockey fans from the LRT station to the new dome. I was there since the new station was finished and the only walking route is the “alley way” between the BMO and Cowboys. Something will replace the now demolished elevated partially covered walkway. I can’t find anything in any plans anywhere. To be clear from Victoria Park station to the Event Centre. If the Green Line gets built it will be across the street for the Event Centre but the Red Line walk way remains a mystery. Any news you have seen??”
The plan, as has been relayed to me by various people working on the various Stampede Park developments, is for there to be no dedicated indoor path from either Victoria Park LRT station (to the west) or the eventual Green Line station (to the north) to Scotia Place. The idea is that the planners want some foot traffic along the street level, and that would drive some business to the various places that pop up in the area.
They’re working on a couple more hotel developments for the area to go with the two that were just announced in recent weeks, and those hotels will have lobby bars and restaurants, as does the Cowboys Casino. The hope is that fans will pop in and out of all those places before and after games and concerts and make the area a fun, lively place.
Via the DMs from Ethan Williams: “What will be the first event at Scotia Place? Will it be a concert? Will it be the 2027 regular season home opener? Will it be a pre season game? IMO the regular season home opener should be the first ever event.“
In an ideal world, the hope is probably to have a few concerts before the 2027 NHL pre-season to stress test Scotia Place. It sounds incredibly stressful to launch a brand-new building with an NHL regular season game, and I think everybody involved would like to have a few smaller-scale rehearsals before the pre-season begins. Failing that, the two home pre-season games (and the early Calgary Hitmen regular season games in 2027-28) would probably work as stress tests.
But you can understand why they would like multiple outings with varied audiences to work out the kinks, and then use the Flames season-opener in 2027-28 as a big event to act as the building’s “grand opening,” so to speak.
Got a question for a future mailbag? Contact Ryan on Twitter/BlueSky at @RyanNPike or e-mail him at Ryan.Pike [at] BetterCollective.com! (Make sure you put Mailbag in the subject line!)
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