It certainly took long enough for rookie general manager Craig Conroy to take a firm step towards addressing the toughness issue.
Keeping Dennis Gilbert on the roster? Not bad. Concussion issues have dulled the blade, but he hits still.
AJ Greer? Just so-so until he stopped fighting in late December. Then he suffered an ugly lower body injury. With Sam Carrick being traded from the Ducks to the Oilers, we may see a rematch of – whatever this was.
Greer resumed skating with the team earlier in the week.
Both guys have, more or less, become non-solutions.
Conroy provided a glimpse of hope on Friday afternoon in acquiring hard-nosed defenceman Nikita Okhotiuk in exchange for a conditional 2024 fifth round draft pick. The fifth was acquired in the Zadorov trade and will be the best of the two Chicago has this draft.
Quoting mid-2000s nu metal band STAIND is getting old, but it’s been a while.
That’s right. The Flames once again have a player with age restricted highlights.
Interestingly enough, for a long stretch during the 2023-2024 campaign, the Flames had only one player with a fighting major on the season. Elias Lindholm had been traded. As had Nikita Zadorov. AJ Greer was injured. That left Nazem Kadri as the sole pugilist after his harrowing bout with 20 year old Cole Sillinger.
Blake Coleman has since logged a fight with Brandon Tanev, and Joel Hanley managed to drag Brad Marchand into fisticuffs, but it’s simply nice to see the Flames add a mean boy on the back end.
The 6-foot-1 is on contract until the end of the season and becomes a restricted free agent on July 1.
Trevor Neufeld
Fitzgerald Regarding Conroy and the #flames : "There is a market. People performing have set that market. All I'm trying to do is be fair in that market, but you also need a team that wants to make fair deals, too, versus just extorting you for every big asset you have."
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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