On Tuesday, the Calgary Flames head to Tennessee to play the Nashville Predators for the second time this season.
Their last meeting ended with the Flames winning 2-0, with rookie netminder Dustin Wolf picking up his first career shutout. Maybe in the future when Wolf is a five-time Vezina Trophy winner, a Throwback Tuesday will be written about that game.
However, the history between the Flames and Predators is limited, to say the least. The two teams have never had a postseason series, they have had any notable games, and there have been six trades between the two teams.
One of those trades we’ll look at, as the Flames sent defenceman Joe Piskula to the Predators in exchange for Brian McGrattan.

The trade

Joe Piskula was an undrafted player who only played 13 National Hockey League games and a whole whack of American Hockey League games. He made his debut in 2006-07 with the Los Angeles Kings, playing five games after signing out of the University of Wisconsin, before playing three consecutive seasons with the Manchester Monarchs in the AHL.
After the conclusion of the 2009-10 season, Piskula signed with the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL, spending the entirety of the 2010-11 season with them, before playing five games with the Flames in 2011-12. Still on the Heat in 2012-13, Pisukla helped mentor young, up-and-coming defence prospect, TJ Brodie.
When Brodie was ready, the Flames traded Piskula to the Predators in exchange for enforcer Brian McGrattan.
This wasn’t McGrattan’s first stint with the Flames. McGratten was a regular on the 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 Ottawa Senators, but signed with the Phoenix Coyotes to begin the 2008-09 season. After entering rehab for substance abuse, McGrattan returned towards the end of the season and injured his shoulder. To begin the 2009-10 season, McGrattan signed with the Flames.
In 2009-10, McGrattan scored his third career goal and picked up four assists, along with 86 penalty minutes and 14 fights. One of those fights was in the game where he scored and picked up an assist, giving him a Gordie Howe hat trick.
Fast forward to after the trade, in his first game with the team on Mar. 3, 2013, McGrattan got into a fight with Vancouver Canucks forward Tom Sestito. He decisively won the fight and saluted the Flames faithful after, earning him one of the softest 10-minute misconducts in league history.
In the 19 games he played with the Flames after the trade, McGrattan scored a career-high three goals and picked up 49 penalty minutes, nearly a third of which came in that game against the Canucks. He earned a two-season extension following the season.
Speaking of the Canucks, McGrattan had another notable moment against the Flames’ Pacific Division rival. On Jan. 18, Flames’ head coach Bob Hartley started the Flames’ fourth line that included McGrattan. Canucks’ head coach John Tortorella wasn’t happy about that, starting his own fourth line, and a good old fashion line brawl started.
McGrattan dropped the mitts with Sestito again, while four other fights broke out. Funnily enough, defenceman and current on-air host for Sportsnet Kevin Bieska took the opening faceoff. In the intermission, Tortorella went towards the Flames’ hallway and wanted to fight someone, with McGrattan stepping in to prevent any incidents.
The 2013-14 season was McGrattan’s best season in the league, playing a career-high 76 games with a career-best four goals and eight points with 100 penalty minutes. In 2014-15, he spent eight games with the Flames along with 16 games with the American Hockey League team.
Following the end of his contract, he signed with the Anaheim Ducks but spent the season with their AHL team. His final season was in 2016-17, playing with the Nottingham Panthers of the Elite Ice Hockey League in the United Kingdom before calling it a career. McGrattan eventually joined the Flames as a member of their player development team.
All in all, it was a good trade that provided us with several long-lasting memories.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.