The best forward line in recent Calgary Flames history was undoubtedly the trio of Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk from 2021-22. That line rocked. Another superb trio was the 3M Line of Mikael Backlund, Tkachuk and Michael Frolik.

But decades ago, the Flames were buoyed by the MCI Line: Dean McAmmond, Craig Conroy and Jarome Iginla. The single best offensive season of Iginla’s Hall of Fame career, and the season that signalled his emergence as a superstar, came on that line. The fanbase obviously knows quite a bit about Iginla and Conroy, as they’re franchise icons.

But what about McAmmond? As we await the return of Ryan Lomberg to the C of Red, let’s delve into the history of another two-time Flame.

A product of Grand Cache, Alberta, McAmmond was a first-round selection by Chicago in the 1991 NHL Draft. He spent time with a few different clubs early in his career, including time with Chicago, Edmonton and Chicago (again) before ending up with Philadelphia.

On the second day of the 2001 NHL Draft, the Flames acquired McAmmond from the Flyers in exchange for a 2022 fourth-round pick. The Flames were looking to add some speed, two-way savvy and veteran presence to their lineup. McAmmond had put up 50 points (his career high at the time) in 1997-98 with Edmonton, but he wasn’t really expected to produce.

Well, he found a tremendous niche with the Flames… and produced. He landed on the left side of the top line, playing with Conroy and Iginla. All three players had awesome seasons in 2001-02. All three hit double-digits in even strength goals, and while Iginla registered 96 points overall, Conroy posted 75 points and McAmmond surpassed his previous career high with 51 points.

But McAmmond’s first stint with the Flames, while very successful, would be fairly short.

A week before the 2002-03 season began, the Flames made a pretty significant swap, trading McAmmond, Jeff Shantz and Derek Morris to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Chris Drury and Stephane Yelle. The Flames were hoping to build on some momentum from the prior season, and adding a smart all-around player in Drury and a reliable shutdown forward like Yelle would fill in some holes in their roster.

McAmmond dealt with some injuries during the 2002-03 campaign and was limited to just 41 games with the Avalanche. He was moved prior to the trade deadline.

Missing what McAmmond brought to their club, the Flames re-acquired McAmmond from the Avalanche in exchange for a 2003 fifth-rounder. But there was just one problem: McAmmond wasn’t allowed to play for the Flames for the rest of the season.

So here’s the deal: before it was eliminated in the 2005 collective bargaining agreement, the NHL held a waiver draft every year prior to the start of the season. It was essentially a dispersal draft, where teams had a chance to nab eligible players who weren’t protected by other clubs – each team had to protected two goalies and 18 skaters, effectively their regular NHL roster, under specific eligibility conditions.

Not wanting teams to skirt the waiver draft rules by trading players away and then re-acquiring them later on, the NHL’s rules stated that any player traded by a club prior to a season’s waiver draft wasn’t allowed to play for that team for the rest of the season. So when the Flames traded McAmmond in October, three days before the waiver draft, he wasn’t allowed to play for them for the rest of the season. (According to newspaper reports at the time, neither of the teams involved in the trade were aware of the rule when they agreed to the swap, but the league decided not to nullify the trade.)

McAmmond returned to action the following season, and had 17 goals and 30 points for the club in 2003-04 before his season was ended prematurely due to a back injury.

McAmmond didn’t seem to factor into the Flames’ plans after the 2004 playoff run, unfortunately. He played during the 2004-05 lockout on an AHL deal with the Albany River Rats, and then signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Blues after the lockout concluded. He played six NHL seasons after departing the Flames before retiring following the 2009-10 campaign.