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Calgary Flames

Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter IV: 515-511

In today's Chapter, we take a look at two Canadians, two Americans, and a right winger from Moscow.

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515. Sandy McCarthy

McCarthy was a 6’3″, 222 lb. right winger from Toronto, Ontario. Born on June 15th, 1972, he first came to the Flames attention while part of the QMJHL’s Laval Titan. For two seasons starting with 1989-90, he played in 133 contests, scoring 31 goals with 30 assists and a staggering 566 penalty minutes. The Flames selected him in the third round of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft with the 52nd overall pick. He remained with the Titan the following season, increasing his output to 39 goal, 51 assists, and 326 penalty minutes in 62 games.

1992-93 would see McCarthy make his professional debut with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles in the IHL. He earned a minus-14 rating and 220 penalty minutes in 78 games, scoring 38 points on 18 goals and 20 assists. He made the Flames out of camp for the 1993-94 season. He scored his first goal in his seventh game, a 5-3 Flames victory over the Edmonton Oilers on October 20th. On December 30th, he scored a goal and two assists in a 7-1 win, also over the Oilers. He wound up with five goals and five assists in 79 contests, along with 173 penalty minutes (Flames fourth).

In 1994-95, McCarthy played in 37 games out of the abbreviated 48 game schedule. On February 23rd, he scored a goal and an assist in a 3-3 Calgary tie with the Los Angeles Kings. Altogether, he totaled five goals and three assists with 101 penalty minutes (Flames sixth). The following season, he scored nine goals with seven helpers and a team leading 173 penalty minutes in 75 games. He tallied two assists on December 1st in an 8-2 win over Edmonton.

1996-97 would see McCarthy miss four months out of the season with two stints on the disabled list. He still played in 33 contests, scoring three goals with five assists and 113 penalty minutes. In 1997-98, he had 13 points (eight goals, five assists) with 170 PIM and a minus-18 rating in 52 contests. On March 24th, the Flames traded him to the Tampa Bay Lightning with Mikael Andersson for Colin Forbes and a fourth round pick (Michel Lanicek).

Oh, and by the way, McCarthy was AWESOME!!!!

McCarthy would go on to play 81 games over two seasons with the Bolts (five goals, 12 assists), later joining the Philadelphia Flyers (71 games, six goals, six assists), the Carolina Hurricanes (13 games), the New York Rangers (245 games, 27 goals, 32 assists), and the Boston Bruins (37 games, three goals, one assist), rejoining the Rangers again for 13 games near the end of the 2003-04 season. He totaled one goal to close out his career.

All-Time Statline: 276 games, 30 goals, 25 assists, 730 PIM, -0.50 point shares.

514. Sergei Pryakhin

Pryakhin, a left handed 6'3", 210 lb. right winger from Moscow, USSR, was born on December 7th, 1963. For seven seasons starting in 1981-82, he played with Krylja Sovetov in the Russian league, scoring 81 goals with 84 assists in 234 games. The Flames selected him in the 12th round of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft with the 252nd overall pick. Pryakhin was already 24-years-old.

The following season would see Pryakhin play 44 games with his home team, scoring 11 goals and 15 assists. On March 31st, 1989, he made his first NHL appearance, finishing a 4-1 Flames win over the Winnipeg Jets with a plus-1 rating. In 1989-90, he played in 20 contests for Calgary. He scored a goal in his first game of the season, a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. Ultimately, he ended up with two goals, two assists, a minus-7 rating and zero penalty minutes.

Pryakhin played 24 games for the Flames in 1990-91. In an 8-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on November 8th, he tallied a career high two assists. He finished with a goal and six assists, with a minus-3 rating and zero penalty minutes on the season. He had played his final NHL game.

After his NHL experience, Pryakhin played extensively in German, Russian, Italian and Japanese Leagues.

All-Time Statline: 46 games, three goals, eight assists, two penalty minutes, -0.49 point shares.

513. Joe Piskula

Joe Piskula is a 6’3″, 214 lb., left-handed defenseman. A native of Antigo, Wisconsin, he was born on July 5th, 1984. He played three collegiate seasons with the University of Wisconsin Badgers, scoring four goals with 16 assists and 80 penalty minutes in 112 contests. After competing his final season, he signed his first professional contract with the Los Angeles Kings on March 21st, 2007. He played five games with the team soon after signing, failing to score and earning six penalty minutes with a minus-3 rating.

Piskula spent the next three seasons with the Kings' AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, totaling two goals and 28 assists in 194 games, with a plus-26 rating and 148 penalty minutes. During the 2010 offseason, he signed a minor league contract to play for the Abbotsford Heat. He scored a goal and 11 assists in 71 games, racking up 73 PIM.

In 59 games with the Heat in 2011-12, Piskula scored three times with 15 helpers and 48 penalty minutes. He joined Calgary’s third pairing for five contests in December, earning two PIM and a minus-5 rating. After another half-season with the Heat, he was traded to the Nashville Predators for Brian McGrattan on February 8th, 2013. He’s spent most of his time since with the Milwaukee Admirals, playing in two games with Nashville.

Piskula scores for the Admirals.

All-Time Statline: Five games, zero goals, zero assists, two penalty minutes, -0.44 point shares.

512. Bert Wilson

Wilson was a 6', 180 lb. left winger from Orangeville, Ontario. Born on October 17th, 1949, he was a fixture in the NHL's feeder system for seven seasons before making his big-league debut. He was drafted by the New York Rangers in the second round of the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft with the 23rd overall pick. He spent time with the London Nationals (45 games), the London Knights (54 games), the Omaha Knights (101 games) and the Buffalo Bisons before joining the Providence Reds in 1971-72. In three seasons with them, he picked up 50 goals and 67 assists in 203 games, also earning 436 penalty minutes. He saw five games with the Rangers, late in the season (one goal, one assist).

Click here for a look at yesteryear.

After a full season each with the Rangers (61 games, five goals, one assist, 66 PIM) and the St. Louis Blues (45 games, two goals, three assists, 47 PIM), Wilson was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. He played with the Kings for five seasons, appearing in 317 games and scoring 24 goals with 32 assists and 437 PIM and a minus-33 rating. The Kings traded him to Calgary during the 1980 offseason, with Randy Holt. The Kings got Garry Unger in return.

Wilson’s first season in Calgary would be his last in the NHL. In 50 games, he lit the lamp five times with seven helpers and 94 penalty minutes as the Flames went 39-27-14. They cut through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs before getting eliminated in the Semifinals by the Minnesota North Stars. Wilson appeared in just one postseason contest. He passed away on February 28th, 1992 of stomach cancer. He was only 42.

All-Time Statline: 50 games, five goals, seven assists, 94 penalty minutes, -0.41 point shares.

511. CJ Young

Young was born on New Years' Day in 1968 in Waban, MA. He matured into a 5'10", 180 lb. right winger for Harvard University. He played four collegiate season with the Crimson, graduating with the Class of 1990 as a veteran of 124 contests. He scored 84 goals with 78 assists and 126 PIM. He had been drafted after his junior season in the 1989 Supplemental Draft by the New Jersey Devils, but earned his degree instead (it was a good choice, considering how short his NHL career would be).

Having given up his chance to sign with the Devils, Young signed a free agent contract with the Flames just before the 1990-91 season got underway. Over the next two seasons, he appeared in 89 games with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, who were the Flames IHL affiliate, totaling 33 goals and 38 assists.

Young made the Flames opening day roster out of training camp for the 1992-93 season. In 28 career games for the Flames, he totaled five points, four of them in consecutive games. On New Years' Eve, he scored his first two career goals in a 5-3 win against the Montreal Canadians. Then on January 2nd, he had two assists as the Flames defeated the Flyers, 7-3. He scored his final goal two weeks later in a 4-4 tie with Philadelphia. He also earned 20 PIM and a minus-7 rating. On February 1st, he was traded to the Boston Bruins for Brent Ashton.

In 15 games with Boston, Young scored four goals with five assists. He would never again appear on an NHL roster. In fact, he didn't appear on any roster after the 1992-93 season.

All-Time Statline: 28 games, three goals, two assists, 20 PIM, -0.39 point shares.

Thanks for checking out today's review of Flames' heroes past. Tune in tomorrow for four left wingers and one center as we keep moving towards smaller numbers in our summer-long countdown of every-Flame ever.

by Kevin Kraczkowski