Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan Coke
I view that as a trade that was easy to forgive because they won the cup. But if they hadn’t it would’ve been crucified as a big mistake.
Trading away one of the best goal scorers ever for a decent backup and an ageing defencemen isn’t great asset management. I doubt Fletcher knew what Hull would become or I doubt he would’ve made that deal.
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Calling Ramage an 'aging defenseman' is pretty unfair. He had just turned 29 at the time of the trade, and had just been to his third all star game a few weeks before the trade. He had 42 points in 67 games at the time of the trade. He had three previous years with 60 or more points in a season. He was tough and very good defensively as well.
Sure his point totals dipped while in Calgary, but Suter and MacInnis were scooping up all the prime offensive opportunities and Ramage played more of a shut down role. He finished his career with 564 points in 1044 games. Not HoF numbers, but not way off either.
It was a big pick up at the time. With Suter being hurt for the playoffs in 89, his acquisition was a big part of the cup win.
Those late 80s Flames teams had no shortage of goal scorers, but just like now, quality defensemen cost a lot to acquire. So giving up Hull in retrospect was an overpayment, but the players the Flames got weren't spare parts, especially in the case of Ramage.