The Calgary Flames have been around, as a franchise, for five decades, and there have been a ton of really talented hockey players to suit up for them over the years. There have been so many, in fact, that sometimes players that should be lauded as all-timers get a bit forgotten about because of when they played.

With that in mind, let’s talk about a really important Flame that we probably don’t give enough kudos to.

An Ontario kid, Nieuwendyk played local hockey and then opted to attend Cornell University. At the time, American college hockey wasn’t a huge source for NHL talent. So when the Flames traded all-time leading scorer Kent Nilsson prior to the 1985 NHL Draft and used one of the picks from that trade, a second-rounder in 1985, to select Nieuwendyk after his freshman college season, fans were… conflicted.

Okay, that’s not true: they were livid. The headline “Joe Who?” was used by the Calgary Herald to introduce the kid to his new market. (And that’s not even meant to pick on the Herald! That’s a frankly amazing headline and reflected the reality that nobody really knew who the heck Nieuwendyk was outside of the very hardcore college hockey fans.)

After two more seasons at Cornell, and a brief nine game stint with the Flames in 1986-87, Nieuwendyk became a full-time NHLer in 1987-88. He scored 51 goals and 92 points to capture the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie, and played a big part in the Flames winning their first-ever Presidents’ Trophy. The following season, 1988-89, he ratted off another 51 goals (and 82 points) and played a big role in the Flames winning their second-ever Presidents’ Trophy and their first-ever Stanley Cup.

Joe Who?, indeed.

Nieuwendyk ended up playing eight full seasons with the Flames. He scored 20 goals twice, 30 goals twice, 40 goals twice and 50 goals twice. He was an incredible efficient and consistent 200-foot player, which was really helpful because as the 1980s turned into the 1990s, the Flames began getting hollowed out. You see, the stars of the 1980s contending teams were getting expensive as the league’s economics changed and salaries increased. So older stars were shipped out for future assets, and players like Joe Nieuwendyk were left to hold the fort.

Not only did Nieuwendyk acquit himself incredibly well with a lean supporting cast, he did so while serving as the team’s captain for four seasons – half of his tenure with the club. He was a frequent contender for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for gentlemanly conduct, and won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 1994-95 for leadership and humanitarian contributions.

But by the 1995 off-season, the forces that had led to the departures of the Flames’ other 1980s greats came for Nieuwendyk. In short: the Flames only had a certain amount of money to go around, and they had to take in revenue in the weak Canadian dollar and pay out salaries in the stronger American dollar. They had a difference of opinion on a new contract that even an arbitrator couldn’t solve, and Nieuwendyk held out to begin the 1995-96 season.

By December, general manager Al Coates found Nieuwendyk a new home, trading him to Dallas in exchange for depth forward Corey Millen and Western Hockey League star Jarome Iginla. Iginla went on to become a first-ballot Hall of Famer and the Flames’ all-time leading goal-scorer; oddly enough, Nilsson was their all-time leader when he was traded for Nieuwendyk, who was the all-time leader when he was traded for Iginla.

Nieuwendyk was a really important player for the Flames during a down period for the franchise. Not bad for a second-rounder.

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