In the history of the Flames franchise, 606 players have tugged a red sweater over their heads and suited up for a regular season game. Of those, 22 played just a single game for either the Calgary or Atlanta Flames. We call them One Game Wonders.

Let’s talk about another One Game Wonder, John Ramage.

In the nearly five decades of Flames hockey, two sets of fathers and sons have played for the club. One set is Paul and Max Reinhart. The other? 1989 Stanley Cup winner Rob Ramage and his son John.

Born in Mississauga while his father played for the Toronto Maple Leafs but raised in the United States, Ramage came up through the U.S. National Development Program and grew into a sturdy, dependable defender. The Flames drafted him in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL Draft and he went pro after spending four seasons with the University of Wisconsin Badgers, including two as captain. During his amateur years he also captured medals at the Under-18 Worlds (gold) and World Juniors (gold and bronze, the latter as captain).

Unfortunately, Ramage wasn’t able to translate that excellence into success with the Flames. He spent two seasons in the minors, playing for Abbotsford and Adirondack primarily. His best success came during a demotion to the ECHL’s Alaska Aces that saw him win a Kelly Cup championship alongside fellow Flames prospect Turner Elson. His lone NHL twirl with the Flames was in the final game of 2014-15 when the Flames pulled their stars, called up Ramage, Brett Kulak, Emile Poirier and David Wolf. Ramage was minus-1 in a 5-1 loss to Winnipeg.

After that, Ramage signed with Columbus. But he didn’t have a ton of success getting to the NHL there, either, playing just one game in two and a half seasons there. He was traded to Arizona, then a month later traded again to Nashville. Then he signed with New Jersey. The commonality here? Ramage being coveted for being a damn fine AHL blueliner, but not coveted enough to get a call-up. Looking for new challenges, he went to Germany, and signed with the DEL’s Eisbaren Berlin.

Ramage was a pretty good depth prospect for the Flames that just never turned out. His key attributes – leadership and defensive smarts – will keep him employed as a pro for awhile, but unfortunately they aren’t likely to get him into the NHL on a full-time basis.