Two announcements out of Flames land.
The first, a bit of a surprise, was Jim Playfair accepting the head coaching job with the AHL club of the Calgary Flames (aptly named the Abbotsford Heat). The news is welcomed for the baby Flames but one had to wonder if Playfair was going to stick with a club that gave him the runaround.
Playfair is from Fort St. James, British Columbia, and played nine seasons of professional hockey including 21 games in the National Hockey League with the Edmonton Oilers and the Chicago Blackhawks. Playfair was selected as Edmonton’s first choice, 20th overall, in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. He captained the Indianapolis Ice (IHL) to the 1990 Turner Cup championship but was forced to retire from playing due to an eye injury suffered during the 1991-92 campaign. As a junior, Playfair played with the Portland Winterhawks for two seasons where he captured a Memorial Cup in 1983.
In other news, there probably won’t be a new backup netminder for the Flames after Curtis McElhinney signed another one year deal. Let’s see if the club plays better in front of him.
[tags]mcelhinney, playfair, abbotsford, ahl, nhl, flames[/tags]