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Calgary Flames

Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter CX: 54-53

Two more Flames defencemen are up in this edition of the countdown: Frank Musil and the legendary Brad McCrimmon.

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54. Brad McCrimmon

McCrimmon was a 5’11”, 200 lb. defenceman from Plenty, Saskatchewan. Born on March 29th, 1959, he spent most of his junior career playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings before being selected 15th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1979 NHL Draft. McCrimmon stepped into the NHL right away, and spent three seasons playing for Boston before he joined the Flyers. McCrimmon played five seasons for the Flyers. His first eight seasons in the NHL resulted in 241 points over 595 games.

Just before the 1987-88 season McCrimmon was traded to the Flames in exchange for a first and third round pick. In his Flames debut, McCrimmon played 80 games, scoring seven goals on 102 shots and adding 35 assists for 42 total points. He also recorded 98 penalty minutes, and finished a plus-48. McCrimmon helped the Flames to a 48-23-9 record and played in all nine of the Flames’ playoff games before they bowed out to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round. McCrimmon scored two goals, five points, and put up 22 penalty minutes over the run.

In 1988-89, McCrimmon scored 22 points over 72 games: five goals on 78 shots, and 17 assists. He also put up 96 penalty minutes, and finished with a plus-43 rating, helping the Flames to their division championship and 54-17-9 record. The Flames won the Stanley Cup over 22 games that season, and McCrimmon played in all of them, helping the team with three assists and 30 penalty minutes as he won his first and only Stanley Cup.

The 1989-90 season was McCrimmon's final with the Flames. Over 79 games he scored four goals, this time on 97 shots, and 15 assists for 19 points. McCrimmon rounded out his stats with 78 penalty minutes, and a plus-18 rating. The Flames finished with a 42-23-15 record that season, losing 4-2 in a first round series against the Los Angeles Kings. McCrimmon played all six games, putting up two assists and eight penalty minutes.

Following their first round exit, the Flames traded McCrimmon to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a second round pick. McCrimmon went on to play three seasons for the Wings, three seasons for the Hartford Whalers, and one season for the Phoenix Coyotes before retiring after the 1996-97 season. McCrimmon immediately went into coaching, and in addition to being a head coach in the WHL for two years, spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach in the NHL, including three seasons for the Flames. McCrimmon was to start his first professional league head coaching job with the KHL’s Yaroslavl Lokomotiv in 2011, but lost his life alongside his team in a plane crash just before the season began.

All-Time Statline: 231 games, 16 goals, 67 assists, plus-109 rating, 272 penalty minutes, 18.42 point shares.

53. Frantisek Musil

Musil was born on December 17th, 1964 in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia. A 6’3″, 215 lb. defenceman, he was a second round choice in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars, 38th overall. Musil joined Minnesota in 1986, and played four full seasons with them. At the start of his fifth season he was traded to the Flames in exchange for Brian Glynn.

Musil played 67 games for the Flames in 1990-91, scoring seven goals on 68 shots, and adding 14 assists for 21 points. His plus-minus instantly shot up to a plus-12 rating, and he recorded 160 penalty minutes. The Flames finished the season with a 46-26-8 record, but fell in a seven game series to the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs. Musil played all seven games, scoring no points, and recording 10 penalty minutes.

In 1991-92, Musil scored 12 points over 78 games, scoring four goals on 71 shots and eight assists. He rounded out his stat line with 103 penalty minutes, and continued his plus-12 rating. The Flames finished the season with a 31-37-12 record, and did not make the playoffs.

The 1992-93 season saw Musil's production rise back up. He scored six goals on 87 shots, and added 10 assists for 16 points over 80 games. Musil increased his penalty minutes and plus-minus rating as well, finishing with 131 minutes and a plus-28 rating as he helped the Flames to a 43-30-11 record. The Flames fell in the first round of the playoffs, this time in six games, to the Los Angeles Kings. Musil played all six games, scoring a goal and an assist, as well as recording seven penalty minutes.

Musil was back with the Flames for 1993-94, playing 75 games. He recorded just one goal on 65 shots, and scored eight assists for a total of just nine points. Musil also recorded 50 penalty minutes and finished a plus-38 en route to helping the Flames to a 42-29-13 record. The Flames once again lost in the first round, this time in a seven game series to the Vancouver Canucks. Musil was again present for all the post-season games, scoring just one assist and four penalty minutes.

In the 1994-95 lockout year, Musil played in the Czech and German leagues before coming back to play 35 games with the Flames. Over those 35 games he only scored five assists, finished a plus-6, and recorded 61 penalty minutes. The Flames finished the season with a 24-17-7 record, and again lost in the first round of the playoffs, this time in a 4-3 series against the San Jose Sharks. Musil played five games of the series, scoring just one assist.

Following the 1995 season, Musil was traded to the Ottawa Senators for a fourth round pick. He spent the remainder of his playing career playing for the Senators, Edmonton Oilers, and IHL’s Detroit Vipers and Indianapolis Ice. Musil’s final season was with the Oilers in the 2000-01 season, where he played just 13 games before retiring.

All-Time Statline: 335 games, 18 goals, 45 assists, plus-96 rating, 505 penalty minutes, 18.66 point shares.

by Kevin Kraczkowski