If you look at the illustrious history of the Calgary Flames, particular the salary cap era, often roster construction has amounted to a chemistry experiment. In particular, finding players to play with Jarome Iginla was a constant concern.

That’s not to say that Iginla was an issue – he was easily the team’s best player and undisputed leader for more than a decade – but finding players with the right set of skills to compliment him and maximize his performance often posed a challenge. (In my opinion, the team never found a better pair of compliments for him than Craig Conroy and Dean McAmmond.)

One player the Flames tapped a couple times to try to get Iginla a championship was Alex Tanguay, who the Flames brought in for five seasons over two stints. Tanguay was undeniably talented and worked well with Iginla, but the Flames never quite got the overall results they needed with him on Iginla’s flank.

As we dig into the history of two-time Flames with the return of Ryan Lomberg to the fold, let’s dig into Tanguay’s history.

A product of Ste-Justine, Quebec, Tanguay played his junior hockey with the Halifax Mooseheads and was a first-round pick, 12th overall, by the Colorado Avalanche in the 1998 NHL Draft. Colorado had three first-rounders that year, and took future Flames legend Robyn Regehr at 19th overall.

Tanguay broke into the NHL quickly, breaking camp with the Avalanche in 1999-2000 as a 20-year-old and becoming a pretty impactful offensive player right away. He was a key part of their 2001 Stanley Cup team and flirted with point-per-game production frequently, eventually exceeding it in his final two seasons with the Avalanche (on either side of the 2004-05 NHL lockout).

Tanguay’s strong play drew the attention of the Flames, who were hellbent on following up on their 2004 run to the Stanley Cup Final by pairing Jarome Iginla with strong puck distributors. Tanguay fit that need like a glove, and so the Flames made a move at the 2006 NHL Draft, packaging Jordan Leopold and second-round picks in 2006 and 2007 to the Avalanche for Tanguay.

Tanguay spent two seasons with the Flames following the trade. He had a very productive 2006-07 season, posting 81 points in 81 games, but his 2007-08 season didn’t click nearly as well, posting 58 points in 78 games.

Seeking to shake things up a bit, the Flames made a swap with Montreal at the 2008 NHL Draft, sending Tanguay and a 2008 fifth-rounder to Montreal in exchange for a 2008 first-rounder and 2009 second-rounder. The swap was made in tandem with another trade that saw the Flames acquire Mike Cammalleri from Los Angeles, effectively moving one attacking-oriented forward for another.

Tanguay spent two seasons away from the Flames, one apiece in Montreal and Tampa Bay, before the Flames got the itch to get the band back together. You see, Iginla was getting on in years and had tremendous chemistry and success with Tanguay over their two seasons together. So if the goal was to try to get Iginla a Stanley Cup before his time in Calgary ended, why not bring Tanguay back as a free agent? And with Tanguay coming off some injuries, he was a nice “buy-low” proposition.

The Flames added Tanguay on a one year deal for the 2010-11 season, then re-upped on a five year deal after he had a good showing in 2010-11. He spent three seasons with the Flames, but the club failed to make the playoffs in all three. Moreover, the club decided to move on from Iginla, giving their star player a chance to win elsewhere and beginning a full-tilt rebuild in 2013.

The Flames brought in Tanguay initially in an effort to have him compliment Iginla and help the team win. With a rebuild on, the reasoning for his acquisition didn’t hold anymore, and so the Flames traded him to Colorado during the 2013 off-season. Tanguay and Cory Sarich were sent to Colorado in exchange for Shane O’Brien and David Jones.

Tanguay played three more seasons in the NHL, primarily with Colorado, before retiring midway through the 2017-17 season. He got into coaching after his retirement, and is currently an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings.