This article is the first of 146 that we'll run here at Matchsticks and Gasoline throughout the summer. We're running down all 530 players to have suited up for the Flames.
Welcome to the first Chapter in what will prove to be an epic, off-season long countdown. I used regular season point shares to rank the players from first to last. We're going to run them down from last to first. All Flames players, including the ones who played all or part of their Flames contests as part of the Atlanta Flames. A standard multiple was applied for each season, depending on how each players' collective win shares stacked up against the team's collective win shares. The five players listed here today are by no means the five who have meant the least to the Flames, they are, however, the five who had the lowest collected points share throughout their career.
530. Chris Dingman
Dingman was born on July 6th, 1976 in Edmonton, Alberta. He eventually grew into a 6'3", 243 lb. left winger. He first earned notice while playing with the AMHL with the 1991-92 Edmonton Mercurys, scoring 23 goals with 18 assists in 36 games. Later, he joined the Brandon Wheat Kings for four seasons, scoring 87 goals and 109 assists in 201 games. While there, he was selected by the Calgary Flames in the first round of the 1994 Entry Draft, with the 19th overall pick.
Although he made his professional debut in 1995-96 with the St. Johns Flames (one playoff game), he would not play a regular season game until the next season. He spent the entirety of the 1996-97 season with St. Johns, playing in 71 contests and scoring five goals and six assists. More impressively, he collected 195 penalty minutes.
Dingman, also known as "Dinger," made the Flames out of camp in 1997-98, and would remain with the club for the entire season. On October 3rd, in only his second career NHL contest, he scored his first goal. Unfortunately, it was Calgary's only marker in a 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. In total, he appeared in 70 games, racking up 149 penalty minutes along with three goals, three assists, and a minus-11 rating.
Dinger was a bit of a fighter. For a quick peek, check here.
1998-99 would see Dingman play 50 games back in St. Johns. He was called up in January and appeared twice with Calgary, spending 17 minutes in the penalty box (he only spent 16 minutes on the ice). The writing was on the wall, and on February 28th, the Flames traded him with Theoren Fleury to the Avalanche for Rene Corbet, Wade Belak, and Robyn Regehr.
Dingman played in 110 games for Colorado, helping the team to the 2001 Stanley Cup. He also later played for the Carolina Hurricanes (30 games) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (173 games), earning his second Cup in 2004. After spending 27 games with the AHL's Springfield Falcons in 2006-07, he later appeared professionally in Sweden and Denmark. He is currently the color commentator for the Lightning on Sun Sports.
All-Time Statline: 72 games, three goals, three assists, 166 penalty minutes, -1.42 point shares.
529. Lew Morrison
Morrison was a 6', 185 lb. right winger from Gainsborough, Saskatchewan. Born on February 11th, 1948, he eventually played in 563 NHL games. In 1967-68, he played 56 games with the Flin Flon Bombers of the WCJHL, scoring 26 goals and 23 assists. The Philadelphia Flyers selected him in the first round of the 1968 Entry Draft, with the eighth overall pick.
Morrison made his professional debut with the AHL's Alaska Aces the following season, scoring 12 goals and 13 assists in 70 contests. Starting in 1969-70, he played 202 games for the Flyers over the following three seasons, scoring 19 times with 22 helpers. Prior to the 1972-72 season, he was chosen by the brand-new Atlanta Flames in the NHL's Expansion Draft.
An adept penalty killer, Morrison played 78 contests for the Flames during their inaugural season, lighting the lamp six times and assisting on nine other goals. He played 52 games the following season, with a goal and four assists. Left unprotected, he was selected in another expansion draft, this time by the Washington Capitals.
After 18 games with Washington, Morrison played four seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, appearing in 214 contests and scoring 13 times with 13 assists. He closed out his career after 65 games spent with the Birmingham Dusters in the AHL in 1977-78.
All-Time Statline: 130 games, seven goals, 13 assists, 19 penalty minutes, -1.42 point shares.
528. Craig Berube
Berube was a 6'1", 205 lb. left winger from Calahoo, Alberta. Born on December 17th, 1965, he had nine goals and 24 assists in 33 games for the PCJHL's Williams Lake Mustangs. He also racked up 99 penalty minutes. The next four seasons would see him play for several WHL teams, including the Kamloops Jr. Blazers (four games), the New Westminster Bruins (140 games), the Kamloops Blazers (32 games), and the Medicine Hat Tigers (34 games). He scored 67 goals and 94 assists with 509 penalty minutes. After the 1985-86 season, he signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Berube played parts of five seasons with the Flyers, also spending 101 games with the team's AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. He played in 275 games for Philadelphia, spending 948 in the penalty box to go along with 16 goals and 26 assists. During the 1991 offseason, he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers then the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played in 40 games, scoring five goals and seven assists with 109 penalty minutes.
On January 2nd, 1992, Berube was traded to the Calgary Flames with Alexander Godynyuk, Gary Leeman, Michel Petit and Jeff Reese for Doug Gilmour, Jamie Macoun, Ric Nattress, Rick Wamsley, and Kent Manderville. He scored a goal and four assists with 155 penalty minutes in 36 Flames contests that season. He scored his first goal for the Flames on January 14th, in a 5-3 victory over the Quebec Nordiques.
Berube spent the entire 1992-93 season with Calgary. In 77 games he accrued a team leading 209 penalty minutes with four goals and eight assists. On November 8th, he scored and pitched in an assist in a 5-5 tie with Quebec (he wasn't called for any penalties that night, so no Gordie Howe hat trick). He earned an assist and 21 penalty minutes in six playoff games that season.
Click here for a nifty tribute to Berube.
During the 1993 offseason, the Flames traded Berube to the Capitals for a fifth round draft pick (Darryl LaFrance). He played in 397 games for Washington, later appearing with the Flyers (88 games), the Capitals again (22 games), and the New York Islanders (38 games).
2001's offseason would see Berube sign on for a second tour of duty with Calgary. He scored five goals with five assists in 121 games to close out his NHL playing career, getting penalized for 264 minutes over two seasons. He pursued his role as enforcer well into his 30's, finishing his career with 3,149 penalty minutes, seventh on the NHL's all-time list.
Berube went into coaching after retirement, and is currently the head coach of the Flyers.
All-Time Statline: 234 games, 10 goals, 17 assists, 628 penalty minutes, -1.42 point shares.
527. Rick Bowness
Bowness, a 6'1", 185 lb. right winger from Moncton, New Brunswick, was born on January 25th, 1955. He started out with the Quebec Remparts in the QMJHL in 1972-73. That season, he played in 30 games, kicking in two goals and seven helpers.
1973-74 would see Bowness split the season between the Remparts and the Montreal Red, White and Blues, playing in a total of 67 contests and scoring a combined 25 goals and 46 assists. In 71 games the following season with Montreal, he scored an assist per game along with 24 goals. In the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft, he was selected by the then Atlanta Flames in the second round, with the 26th overall pick.
Bowness spent most of 1975-76 in the CHL with the Tulsa Oilers, scoring 25 goals and 38 assists in 64 games. He played in two game for the AHL's Nova Scotia Voyageurs, and even made his NHL debut, playing five games in Atlanta. He took a total of six shots on goal, failing to score a point and finishing his hitch with a minus-5 rating.
In 1976-77, Bowness played a slight majority of the season with Tulsa, scoring 15 times with an equal amount of assists in 38 contests. In 28 contests with the Flames, he racked up four assists and a minus-9 rating. He spent 29 minutes in the penalty box, and failed to score a goal even though he put 29 shots on the net. During the 1977 offseason, the Flames traded him to the Detroit Red Wings for cash.
Bowness split the rest of his professional playing career between the CHL and the NHL. After 61 games with the Red Wings, he later appeared in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues (34 games) and the Winnipeg Jets (45 games). After his retirement, he went into coaching. He's spent the last 30 seasons as an assistant or head coach throughout the AHL and NHL, with the Sherbrooke Jets, the Winnipeg Jets, the Moncton Hawks (head coach), Winnipeg again (head coach), the Maine Mariners (head coach), the Boston Bruins (head coach), the Ottawa Senators (head coach), the New York Islanders (assistant and head coach), the Phoenix Coyotes (assistant and head coach), and the Vancouver Canucks (associate coach). He spent last season as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
All-Time Statline: 33 games, zero goals, four assists, 29 penalty minutes, -0.97 point shares.
526. Bob Bassen
Bassen, a Calgary native, was a 5'10", 180 lb. center. He came by his hockey ability honestly. His father was Hank Bassen, a goaltender with the Chicago BlackHawks, the Detroit Red Wings, and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Bassen was born on May 6th, 1965, he first gained attention while playing with the 1982-83 AJHL's Calgary Spurs. In 45 games, he lit the lamp 27 times and pitched in with 23 assists. He played the next two seasons in the WHL with the Medicine Hat Tigers, scoring a total of 64 goals and 81 assists in 141 games. He caught the eye of the New York Islanders scouting department, earning a free agent contract prior to the 1985-86 season.
After 184 games over parts of four seasons with the Islanders (16 goals, 31 assists), Bassen played with the Chicago Blackhawks (55 games, five goals, 13 assists), the St. Louis Blues (257 games, 34 goals, 60 assists), the Quebec Nordiques (84 games, 23 goals, 23 assists) and the Dallas Stars (117 games, eight goals, 12 assists). The Flames traded Aaron Gavey to the Stars during the 1998 offseason for him.
Bassen joined the Flames at the beginning of December 1998. He played a total of 41 games that season for Calgary, totaling just one goal. He scored that one on February 19th in a 6-3 Flames win over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He also had two assists and 35 penalty minutes, finishing the season with a minus-13 rating.
This is how Bassen earned his dough.
Bassen signed a free agent contract to rejoin the Blues for the 1999-00 season, and played 27 games for the team (one goal, three assists). He also played in 14 games for the Frankfurt Lions in the German League to close out his playing career. After three seasons assistant coaching for the AHL's Utah Grizzles, he would rejoin the Stars as the Director of Alumni Relations.
All-Time Statline: 41 games, one goal, two assists, 35 penalty minutes, -0.95 point shares
That's it for today. Join us tomorrow for two left wingers, two right wingers, and a center.