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Throwback Thursday: Looking at the trade with the Bruins that turned Andrew Ference into TJ Brodie
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Ryley Delaney
Jan 8, 2026, 16:30 ESTUpdated: Jan 8, 2026, 16:43 EST
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On Thursday evening, the Calgary Flames take on the Boston Bruins.
The most recent trade between the two teams came in the summer of 2021, as the Bruins sent netminder Daniel Vladař to the Flames for a 2022 third-round pick. Of course, there was also the Dougie Hamilton in the summer of 2015, which is part of the larger Curtis Glencross trade tree. It’s still going on to this day if you’re wondering.
However, in this edition of Throwback Thursday, we’ll look at a trade between the two teams that occurred about a month out from the trade deadline. On Feb. 10, the Flames traded Andrew Ference and Chuck Kobasew to the Bruins in exchange for Wayne Primeau, Brad Stuart, and a 2008 conditional fourth-round pick.
Starting with Ference, the Flames had acquired him nearly four years to the day from the Pittsburgh Penguins, sending a 2004 third-rounder to the Penguins. Ference played 224 regular season games with the Flames, scoring10 goals and 63 points. He was also on the 2004 team that went to the Stanley Cup Finals, where he picked up three assists in 26 games.
The bulk of his career was spent with the Bruins and he finally won that Cup that alluded him with the Flames, as he scored four goals and 10 points in 25 games during the 2011 post-season. In seven games, the Bruins took down the Vancouver Canucks. After parts of seven seasons with the Bruins, where he scored 16 goals and 94 points in 373 regular season games, Ference returned to Alberta, this time joining the Edmonton Oilers beginning in 2013-14.
He was named their captain that year, and scored three goals and 18 points in 71 games during the 2013-14 season. The defenceman followed up that season with three goals and 14points in 70 games, but played just six games in 2015-16, his final season in the National Hockey League.
Kobasew, selected 14th overall by the Flames in 2001, scored 20 goals and 31 points in 77 games the season before the trade. In the 40 games before the Flames traded him, he had four goals and 17 points, then added a goal and two points in 10 games to finish the season.
The winger’s best seasons came with the Bruins, as he scored a career-high 22 goals and 39 points in 73 games with the Bruins in 2007-08. Then he set a new career-high in points in 2008-09, potting 21 goals and 42 points.
After those two seasons, Kobasew never reached double-digit goals again, playing seven more games with the Bruins, before playing with the Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Of the two players the Flames acquired, Primeau and Stuart, the former played the most games with the team. Primeau scored three goals and seven points in 27 games after the trade. He also played 43 games in 2007-08, scoring three goals and 10 points, followed by four assists in 24 games in 2008-09. 
In the summer of 2009, Primeau was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Anton Strålman, Colin Stuart, and a 2012 seventh. Stuart and that seventh didn’t make an impact in the league, but Strålman was eventually traded for the pick used to select Max Reinhart.
Stuart, the one named Brad, only played 27 games with the Flames, picking up five assists. At the end of the season, he signed with the Los Angeles Kings and went on to win the Cup with the Detroit Red Wings after a mid-season trade in 2007-08.
Remember that conditional fourth round pick? Well, the condition was that if Stuart signed elsewhere, the Flames would get that pick. Usually, a fourth round pick is inconsequential, but not this one, as the Flames selected TJ Brodie with the 114th overall pick.
The left-shot defenceman’s career with the Flames spanned 10 years, where he scored 48 goals and 266 points in 634 games. His best season was in 2014-15, where he scored 11 goals and 41 points in 81 games, earning Norris Trophy and All-Star Team votes. His career-high in points came in 2015-16, scoring six goals and 45 points. From 2013-14 until 2018-19, Brodie reached the 30-point mark in each of the six seasons.
His final season in 2019-20 saw him score just four goals and 19 points in 64 games, as he departed for the Toronto Maple Leafs at the end of the season. In four seasons with the Leafs, Brodie scored eight goals and 82 points in 274 games, then played an additional 54 games with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2024-25.
Overall, a pretty good trade for the Flames.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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