A trio of announcements finished off a busy five-day period for the Calgary Flames organization on Monday. The team announced that acting general manager Jay Feaster has been upgraded to full-time general manager, following several months of personnel evaluations that resulted in the exits of assistant coaches Jamie McLennan, Rob Cookson and Ryan McGill. Feaster joined the Flames organization in July 2010 as assistant general manager and was named interim GM following Darryl Sutter’s resignation in late December. Feaster has a Stanley Cup ring from his tenure with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Flames also revealed three pieces of information:
- Left winger Curtis Glencross has signed a four-year contract worth $10.2 million, opting to return to the Flames rather than test free agent waters.
- Former Flames captain Craig Conroy will continue his role as special assistant to the general manager, which he began upon his retirement in early 2011.
- The Flames have exercised their option on Abbotsford Heat head coach Jim Playfair for the 2011-12 season.
In addition, Flames prospects Joey Leach and Max Reinhart and the Kootenay Ice captured the Ed Chenowth Cup as Western Hockey League champions on Friday night. Max Reinhart, son of former Flame Paul Reinhart, racked up 27 points over the Ice’s playoff run and scored (or assisted) on all four of the team’s series-winning goals. Next up for Kootenay is the Memorial Cup, opening Friday in Mississuaga.
Finally, Flames prospect Tim Erixon and forward Mikael Backlund won a silver medal with Sweden’s World Hockey Championship team on Sunday following a loss to Finland in the gold medal game. Backlund wasn’t featured extensively on the squad, playing third and fourth-line minutes, but was among the team’s leading scorers. Erixon played just under 20 minutes a game and looked strong. Erixon also represented Sweden at January’s World Juniors, finishing fourth (again, losing to Finland).
Ryan Pike has covered the Calgary Flames and the NHL Draft extensively since 2010 as a Senior Writer for The Hockey Writers and Senior Contributing Editor of FlamesNation.ca. A member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, he lives in Calgary.
