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Calgary Flames

Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter XCIX: 84-82

Hometown boy Dana Murzyn comes in at 83rd on the countdown, bordered by Barry Gibbs and Steve Chiasson.

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84. Barry Gibbs

Gibbs was born on September 28th, 1948. A Lloydminster, Saskatchewan native, he grew into a 5'11", 195 lb. defenseman.

Gibbs was the first overall selection of the 1966 NHL Amateur Draft. The Bruins selected him; however, he would only play 24 games for them over two seasons, scoring no points and picking up four penalty minutes, before he was traded to the Minnesota North Stars. He was with the North Stars from 1969-1975, playing 375 games for them. In that time he scored 35 goals, 156 points, and a whopping 600 penalty minutes.

Partway through the 1974-95 season, Gibbs was traded to the Atlanta Flames for Dwight Bialowas and Dean Talafous. Gibbs spent his first season for the Flames playing 39 games. He scored three goals on 60 shots, recorded 16 points, and put up 39 penalty minutes. The Flames finished the season with a 34-31-15 record, and failed to make the playoffs.

In Gibbs’ first full season with the Flames, 1975-76, he set a career high for games played with 76. Over those 76 games he scored eight goals on 120 shots, registered 21 assists, and recorded 92 penalty minutes. That year Atlanta had a 35-33-12 record, and were swept by the Los Angeles Kings two games in the post-season. Gibbs played both games, scoring one goal.

The 1976-77 season saw Gibbs play 66 games. That year, he only scored one goal off of 80 shots, registered 17 points, and 63 penalty minutes. The Flames would once again make the post-season with a 34-34-12 record, and once again fell to the Kings, although this time by a 2-1 series loss. Gibbs played all three games, but failed to register any points.

In 1977-78, Gibbs played just 27 games for the Flames, scoring a goal, five assists, and 24 penalty minutes before he was traded to the St. Louis Blues, alongside Curt Bennett and Phil Myre, for Yves Belanger, Dick Redmond, Bob MacMillan, and a 1978 second round pick that turned into Mike Perovich. Gibbs was in St. Louis for two seasons before being traded to the Kings for his final NHL season. He rounded out his hockey career by playing for three different CHL teams, Oklahoma City, Birmingham, and Houston, over the 1980-81 season.

All-Time Statline: 208 games, 13 goals, 55 assists, minus-12 rating, 218 penalty minutes, 12.75 point shares.

83. Dana Murzyn

Murzyn, a 6’2″, 200 lb. defenseman from Calgary, Alberta, was born on December 9th, 1966. He first played for the AJHL’s Calgary Canucks, and then Spurs, in the 1982-83 season, scoring 27 points in 34 games before graduating to the WHL to play three games, as well as ten playoff games, in which he scored three assists. Murzyn spent the 1983-84 and 84-85 seasons playing for the Calgary Wranglers. He put up 123 points and 368 penalty minutes over 172 games, as well as playing an additional 10 playoff games.

Murzyn was selected fifth overall in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft by the Hartford Whalers. From 1985-88 he played for Hartford, 61 points and registered 265 penalty minutes over 185 games. On January 3, 1988, Murzyn, alongside Shane Churla, was traded to the Calgary Flames for Neil Sheehy, Carey Wilson, and the rights to Lane MacDonald.

Murzyn finished the 1987-88 season with Calgary. He played 41 games for the Flames, scoring six goals on 58 shots, and registering five assists, 94 penalty minutes, and a plus-9 rating. The Flames had a 48-23-9 record that season, good for first in the Smythe Division. They defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs, before falling 4-0 to the Edmonton Oilers. Murzyn played in just five of the playoff games, scoring two goals.

The 1988-89 season was Murzyn's first full season with the Flames. He scored three goals on 91 shots that season, and scored 19 assists for a total of 22 points. He also registered 142 penalty minutes, and finished a plus-26. The Flames once again won their division that season, putting up a 54-17-9 record, and topping it off with the Stanley Cup. Of the Flames' 22 playoff games, Murzyn played in 21 of them, scoring three assists along the way and putting up 20 penalty minutes.

In 1989-90, he played 78 games for the Flames, scoring seven goals on 97 shots and totalling 20 points, 140 penalty minutes, and a plus-19 rating. The Flames once again finished first in their division, this time with a 42-23-15 record, but fell to the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the playoffs in six games. Murzyn played all six games, scoring two goals, two assists, and registering two penalty minutes.

Murzyn only played 19 games for the Flames in the 1990-91 season. In those 19 games he only had two assists, 30 penalty minutes, and was a minus-4. He was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for Ronnie Stern and Kevan Guy.

Murzyn spent the rest of his career with the Canucks. He played 452 games for them over nine seasons, scoring 23 goals, 88 points, and amassing 900 penalty minutes. He played just 12 games for the Canucks in the 1998-99 season before joining the AHL's Syracuse Crunch, where he played 20 games before retiring.

All-Time Statline: 201 games, 16 goals, 39 assists, plus-50 rating, 406 penalty minutes, 12.88 point shares.

82. Steve Chiasson

Chiasson, a Barrie, Ontario native, was born on April 14th, 1967. He spent two seasons playing for the OHL’s Guelph Platers, scoring 40 points over 116 games, before the Detroit Red Wings selected him in the third round, 50th overall, of the 19885 NHL Entry Draft. He returned to Guelph for an additional season, more than doubling his junior points total with 41 points over 54 games. With a brief, 23-game AHL stint, Chiasson joined the Red Wings for eight seasons, scoring 267 points and putting up 886 penalty minutes and amassing a plus-39 rating.

Following the conclusion of the 1994 NHL season, the Flames traded Mike Vernon for Chiasson. Chiasson played 45 games for the Flames over the 1994-95 season. He scored two goals on 110 shots for the second-lowest shooting percentage of his career – 1.8% – and totalled 25 points, in addition to amassing 39 penalty minutes and finishing the season with a plus-10 rating. The Flames qualified for the post-season with a 24-17-7 record, but lost 4-3 to the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs. Chiasson played all seven games, scoring a goal, two assists, and registering nine penalty minutes.

In 1995-96, Chiasson’s goal scoring rebounded. He scored eight goals on 175 shots, and his shooting percentage improved to 4.6%. Over 76 games he scored 33 points, amassed 62 penalty minutes, and finished a plus-three. Calgary had a 34-37-11 record that season, and were swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Chicago Blackhawks. Chiasson scored two goals and one assist over the four games.

Chiasson only played 47 games for the Flames in the 1996-97 season. He scored five goals, 16 points, and put up 32 penalty minutes before he and a third round pick were traded to the Hartford Whalers for Hnat Domenichelli, Glen Featherstone, a second and a third round pick.

Chiasson finished his career with Hartford, later Carolina. He played with them until his death in 1999 following the Hurricanes‘ post-season elimination.

All-Time Statline: 168 games, 15 goals, 59 assists, plus-2 rating, 133 penalty minutes, 12.89 point shares.

by Kevin Kraczkowski