Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter V: 510-506

510. Sasha Lakovic

Lakovic, also known as “Pit Bull,” was a 6′, 198 lb. left winger from East Vancouver, British Columbia. Born on September 7th, 1971, he spent four seasons bouncing around the minors in the AHL, the IHL, the CHL, the ECHL and the CoHL. He made appearances with the Binghampton Rangers (three games), the Columbus Chill (27 games, seven goals, nine assists), the Chatham Wheels (41 games, 18 goals, 12 assists), the Brantford Smoke, the Toledo Storm (24 games, five goals, 10 assists), the Tulsa Oilers (40 games, 20 goals, 24 assists), and the Las Vegas Thunder (49 games, one goal, two assists). Calgary signed him to his first professional contract on October 10th, 1996.

On November 30th, Lakovic earned his first career NHL point, an assist in a 3-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes. It would be the only point he tallied with the Flames in 19 games that season, also racking up 51 penalty minutes and a minus-1 rating. He also appeared in 18 contests with the St. Johns Flames (one goal, eight assists, 182 penalty minutes) and the IHL’s Thunder (10 contests, 81 PIM). Calgary did not retain him after the season. Lakovic signed on with the New Jersey Devils on September 24th, 1997.

The ultimate "team player," Lakovic gained attention when the Flames played the Oilers on November 23rd. According to Wikipedia:

Lakovic gained widespread attention on November 23, 1996 when playing in his first, and only, Battle of Alberta game between the Flames and the Edmonton Oilers. Late in the game, played at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, a drunken fan reached over the glass, dumping his drink on the head of Flames assistant coach Guy Lapointe. Lakovic immediately jumped over the glass attempting to get at the fan. Held back from climbing over by his teammates, Lakovic was suspended two games for the incident.

Check out the video here.

Lakovic went on to play in 18 games for the Devils over two seasons. He totaled three assists and 64 PIM. Most of the rest of his career happened back in the minors and in Roller Hockey. He last appeared with the Sherbrooke Saint-Francois Windsor Papetiers in 2004-05.

All-Time Statline: 19 games, zero goals, one assist, 54 penalty minutes, -0.39 point shares.

509. Tom Chorske

Chorske, a left winger from Minneapolis, Minnesota, was a 6’1″, 212 lb. forward for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Before starting college, he was selected in the first round of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadians with the 16th overall pick. He would end up spending the next three seasons playing in college hockey’s top level, appearing in 123 contests and scoring 51 goals with 50 assists and 64 PIM.

After Chorske appeared for the Habs over parts of two seasons (71 contests, 12 goals, 12 assists, 34 PIM), he also spent playing time with the New Jersey Devils (244 games, 57 goals, 57 assists, 105 PIM), the Ottawa Senators (140 games, 33 goals, 22 assists, 37 PIM), the New York Islanders (84 games, 12 goals, 24 assists, 41 PIM) and the Washington Capitals (17 games, two assists, four PIM). The Caps traded him to Calgary with a ninth round pick for a seventh round pick on March 22nd, 1999.

Here's Chorske dekeing out Patrick Roy on a penalty shot.

Chorske didn’t tally any points as part of the Flames to close out the 1998-99 season, registering a minus-5 rating in seven career games with the club. He also spent two minutes in the penalty box. After the season, he signed on with the Pittsburgh Penguins (33 games, one goal, five assists, two PIM). He is currently employed by Fox Sports North as a hockey analyst on Minnesota Wild and UM Golden Gopher broadcasts.

All-Time Statline: Seven games, zero goals, zero assists, two PIM, -0.38 point shares.

508. Ben Street

Ben Street is a 5’11”, 185 lb. center from Coquitlam, British Columbia. Born on the 13th of February, 1987, he played five seasons for the University of Wisconsin, appearing in 171 contests for the Badgers. He totaled 47 goals and 45 assists with 92 penalty minutes with a plus-5 rating.

2010-11 would see Street split his season between the ECHL Wheeling Nailers (38 games, 24 goals, 27 assists) and the AHL Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins (36 games, 12 goals, 11 assists). He spent the next season with the WBS Penguins as well, appearing in 71 contests and scoring 27 goals and 30 assists.

Street's highlights with the Nailers.

Street signed a free agent contract with the Flames during the 2012 offseason. Most of the season was spent with Calgary's AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat. He put up 15 goals and 22 assists in 69 games. He also made his first ever NHL appearance, spending six games with the Flames over two callups. He made his first point in his last game, earning a helper in a 3-1 loss to the Chicago BlackHawks on April 26th. He finished his first season with a minus-1 rating.

In 2013-14, Street started the season with the Flames, making an assist in the first game of the year, a 5-4 loss to the Washington Capitals. After eight games with the big club, he rejoined the Heat, averaging just over a point per game with 28 goals and 31 assists in 57 games to go along with a minus-11 rating and 24 penalty minutes. Later in the season, he made five more appearances with Calgary.

All-Time Statline: 19 games, zero goals, two assists, four penalty minutes, -0.31 point shares.

507. Alex McKendry

A native of Midland, Ontario, the 6'4", 200 lb. McKendry was born on November 21st, 1956. Beginning in 1973-74, he played three complete seasons with the OHA's Sudbury Wolves, totaling 183 games, 66 goals, 101 assists, and 476 penalty minutes. The New York Islanders selected him in the first round of the 1976 NHL Entry Draft, 14th overall. At the same time, he was chosen in the second round of the 1976 WHA Amateur Draft by the Indianapolis Racers with the 15th overall pick. He chose wisely, signing with the Islanders.

1976-77 would see McKendry split his season between the CHL's Fort Worth Texans (65 games, seven goals, 14 assists, 80 PIM) and the IHL's Muskegon Mohawks (11 games, four goals, six assists, 31 PIM). He played most of the following season with the Texans again (72 games, 22 goals, 22 assists, 148 PIM), also making his NHL debut with the Islanders, earning an even rating and two penalty minutes in four appearances. He would repeat the pattern for most of the next two seasons, ultimately playing in 10 NHL contests over four seasons in the Islanders organization.

Just before the start of the 1980 season, McKendry found himself traded by the Islanders to the Flames for a third round pick, who would become Ron Handy. He played in 10 games that season for the CHL's Birmingham Bulls (one goal, five assists, 23 PIM), 19 games for the Texans (three goals, three assists, 25 PIM) and in a career high 36 contests with Calgary. He scored three goals on 30 shots, with six assists, a minus-6 rating and 19 penalty minutes.

McKendry played two more seasons of minor league hockey afterward, playing for the Oklahoma City Stars (80 games, 27 goals, 57 assists) and the Colorado Flames (72 games, 25 goals, 42 assists).

All-Time Statline: 36 games, three goals, six assists, 19 PIM, -0.31 point shares.

506. Dwyane Hay

Hay, a 6'1", 203 lb. left winger, was born on February 11th, 1977. The London, Ontario native first surfaced in 1994-95 in the OHL with the Guelph Storm, scoring 26 times with 28 helpers in 65 games. The Washington Capitals selected him in the second round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft with the 43rd overall pick. He stayed with the Storm for two more seasons, racking up an additional 45 goals and 47 assists in 92 games.

1997-98 would see Hay spend most of the first part of his season with the AHL’s Portland Pirates, playing in 58 games and scoring six times with seven assists. He would also make his NHL debut, playing in two games with the Capitals. Before the season played out, the Caps sent him via trade to the Florida Panthers organization for Esa Tikkanen. He finished the season with the Beast of New Haven, scoring three goals with two assists in 10 contests.

Hay played most of the next two seasons in the AHL between the Beast and the Louisville Panthers, also making NHL appearances with Florida (15 games, minus-3 rating, two PIM) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (13 games, one goal, one assist, even rating, two PIM). The Flames claimed him off the waiver wire just before the start of the 2000-01 season.

In his lone Calgary season, Hay played in 49 games with the big club, earning three assists, 16 penalty minutes and a minus-4 rating in around eight and a half minutes per contest. He scored his only Calgary goal on October 10th, providing all of the Flames offense in a 3-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

Hay later made appearances with the Saint John Flames (70 games, five goals, 12 assists), the St. Johns Maple Leafs (51 games, 10 goals, 19 assists), the Pensacola Ice Pilots (172 games, 66 goals, 76 assists), the Hershey Bears (four games, one assist), the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (62 games, 15 goals, 35 assists), and the Arizona Sundogs (22 games, six goals, 13 assists).

All-Time Statline: 49 games, one goal, three assists, 16 penalty minutes, -0.31 point shares.

Thanks for hanging in there with me as we count down all of Calgary's NHL heroes all the way up to number one. Tune in tomorrow for three centers and two players who manned the right wing.

by Kevin Kraczkowski