Gaudreau article from Wes Gilbertsen

[SebC]

Most interesting tidbit to me:

“Peter and I were having dinner and I called Brian Burke and said, ‘Listen, it hasn’t gone quite the way that I imagined it would,’ ” Conroy said. “And he was unbelievable. He said, ‘No problem, Craig.’ And I’m like, ‘Really?!?’

“The advice that Brian did give me was, ‘Hey, tell him we love him, but pull the contract at some point. And when you pull the contract, they’ll have to make a decision either way.’ So we did do that. I was waiting until the bitter end, but I finally called Lewis and I said, ‘Hey I think we’re going to pull the contract. We understand he wants to go back. We’re good. We are going to be sitting in the same spot next year and we’ll love him just as much as we love him now. So I think we’re going to take the contract … ’

”And Lewis said, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. Give me just a few minutes.’ He said, ‘Johnny hasn’t talked to his parents about it yet. They’re driving back home, and they’re going to talk about it.’ It was probably about an hour after that and I got a call back.”

With good news.

Calgary Sun

[transplant99]

I feel like the Skittles makers and Gaudreau are missing out on a marketing opportunity here somehow.

[Thor]

So happy we have Craig Conroy, he is one of the most genuinely kind and awesome people on this planet.

When you are trying to sign or attract people to your city, having Craig is a secret weapon for Calgary.

[FaFaFlamey]

Can somebody refresh my memory as to why his mom was upset he signed?

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by FaFaFlamey

Can somebody refresh my memory as to why his mom was upset he signed?

Wanted him to finish school and get his degree.

[Moneyhands23]

I really hope in a year or two BT moves up in to president of hockey ops with Conroy becoming our long term GM.

[Calgary_81]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Wanted him to finish school and get his degree.

Which he ended up finishing in the summer.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Thor

So happy we have Craig Conroy, he is one of the most genuinely kind and awesome people on this planet.

When you are trying to sign or attract people to your city, having Craig is a secret weapon for Calgary.

The guy's genuine positivity is infectious. You can't help but be positive when around him. I remember meeting him in Penticton, and the guy was so nice to everyone.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Wanted him to finish school and get his degree.

I am pretty sure there was more to it than just that. I recall her also worrying about how big and fast NHL players are. And she’s a mom who was sad about seeing her boy growing up and moving far away.


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[Delthefunky]

Unreal, 360 points already

[Sylvanfan]

I think Conroy is as good of a guy as you can have to sell American players on a place like Calgary. Right now the USA is producing a lot of quality young players. So a guy like Conroy who seems down to Earth and engaging is pretty much the Anti-Kevin Lowe.

[Johnny Makarov]

Conroy.. haha

‘Jeez, he really does loves Skittles.’ ”

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

I think Conroy is as good of a guy as you can have to sell American players on a place like Calgary. Right now the USA is producing a lot of quality young players. So a guy like Conroy who seems down to Earth and engaging is pretty much the Anti-Kevin Lowe.

There are a bunch of US-born players on the Flames roster:

Gaudreau
Tkachuk
Hanifin
Ryan


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[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Moneyhands23

I really hope in a year or two BT moves up in to president of hockey ops with Conroy becoming our long term GM.

This might not be popular but ...

I love the guy. Great human being, and a pretty important part of Flames history for the person he is and who he was on the ice. Former captain, was the number one center on a team that went to the finals.

But what have we seen or heard about that suggests he should be a GM?

I'll stand down if I've missed things, but I don't recall a "Craig pushing for a trade", or "this was Craig's guy at the draft".

I'm sure he's contributing in a million ways and is a huge part of an executive team, but that doesn't mean he should be at the top of it.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

There are a bunch of US-born players on the Flames roster:

Gaudreau
Tkachuk
Hanifin
Ryan


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By Nationality we're pretty balanced except for Finns and Russians

US
Gaudreau
Tkachuk
Hanifin
Ryan
Hathaway
Czarnik
(Gillies/Parsons)

Canada
Giordano
Brodie
Monahan
Hamonic
Bennett
Jankowski
Neal
Mangiapane
Dube
Quine
Stone
Smith
Prout

Sweden
Backlund
Lindholm
Kylington
Andersson

Czech
Rittich
Frolik

Finland
Valimaki

Russia


Gotta get Tuulola up here in the NHL or somerhing haha.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Bingo

But what have we seen or heard about that suggests he should be a GM?

I'll stand down if I've missed things, but I don't recall a "Craig pushing for a trade", or "this was Craig's guy at the draft".

I'm sure he's contributing in a million ways and is a huge part of an executive team, but that doesn't mean he should be at the top of it.

This is my line of thinking as well. Perhaps he still is, but being a great guy has nothing to do with being a great GM.

Also, considering how solid of a job Treliving is doing as GM, I'm not sure why we would want to promote him away from the role. Keep him there as long as possible I say.

[AC]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I'll stand down if I've missed things, but I don't recall a "Craig pushing for a trade", or "this was Craig's guy at the draft".

The only one I can remember is Matthew Phillips. I recall an article stating Conroy pushed hard for him.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Bingo

This might not be popular but ...



I love the guy. Great human being, and a pretty important part of Flames history for the person he is and who he was on the ice. Former captain, was the number one center on a team that went to the finals.



But what have we seen or heard about that suggests he should be a GM?...

These are often not the sorts of things one hears about any NHL executives not working in the top-job. The one thing we might have to point to is the fact that Conroy is now starting to garner attention as a potential candidate for new GM openings. Conroy’s name has been brought up along with Mike Futa, Mark Hunter and Kelly MacCrimmon for the Oilers job.

But for my part, I have no interest in seeing any changes to the Flames executive. I think Brad Treliving is doing a hell of a job and hope he remains this team’s GM for a long time. Ken Holland and David Poille are still working the same job after two decades. Why not Treliving?


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[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

These are often not the sorts of things one hears about any NHL executives not working in the top-job. The one thing we might have to point to is the fact that Conroy is now starting to garner attention as a potential candidate for new GM openings. Conroy’s name has been brought up along with Mike Futa, Mark Hunter and Kelly MacCrimmon for the Oilers job.

And that's fair ... I certainly don't have insider information that says he's a boat anchor. I just wonder sometimes when former players get this "should be GM" tag when they really haven't done anything.

He certainly could be a budding star.

The one thing with names coming up though, how much of that is the next big guy and how much of that is a media guy or two just posting assistant GM names out of a hat?

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Conroy would need to learn to keep his mouth shut though. The quotes are great but I think as a GM you would need to keep quiet for a longer period of time so as not to potentially embarrass another GM or player.