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Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter X: 485-481

Today's installment of the countdown features Todd Harkins, Paul Kruse, Blake Sloan, Kyle Greentree, and Carsen Germyn

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485. Todd Harkins

Harkins was a 6’3″, 210 lb. center from Cleveland, Ohio. Born on October 9th, 1968, he was a second round selection of the Calgary Flames in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, 42nd overall.

Prior to the draft, Harkins had been skating for the University of Miami (Ohio) Redskins, and he would stay with the team for two seasons after his selection. Over his three seasons, he totaled 44 goals and 41 assists in 110 contests. 1990-91 would see him make his first professional appearance, with Calgary's IHL affiliate, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles (79 games, 15 goals, 27 assists, 113 PiM).

In 1991-92, Harkins enjoyed a 32 goal, 30 assist season with the Golden Eagles, with 67 PiM in 72 games. He also made his first NHL appearance with Calgary, playing five games from late November through mid-December. The club went 1-3-1 with him on the ice, but he didn’t score, and he finished with seven PiM and a minus-2 rating. The following season would see him spend 53 games with Salt Lake (13 goals, 21 assists, minus-2 rating, 90 PiM), also playing 15 games with the Flames from December through January. He tallied his first NHL goal in a 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets on December 23rd, and totaled two goals with three assists with a minus-4 rating and 22 PiM.

Harkins later played with the Hartford Whalers (28 games, one goal, minus-4 rating, 49 PiM), signing a free agent contract with the Florida Panthers during the 1995 offseason. He wouldn’t appear in the NHL again, but he continued to play professional hockey in the IHL, the NHL, and in German and Swiss leagues, last with “Zug” in the Swiss-A League in 2000-01. He has since appeared in several hockey related movies, including Slap Shot 3, Making the Cut, and Miracle. Later still he went into management.

All-Time Statline: 20 games, two goals, three assists, minus-6 rating, 29 PiM, -0.19 point shares.

484. Paul Kruse

Kruse, a 6'2", 202 lb. left winger, was born on March 15th, 1970. A Merritt, British Columbia native, he was a fourth round selection of Calgary in the NHL Entry Draft of 1990, 83rd overall while a member of the WHL Moose Jaw Warriors.

After his two WHL seasons (136 games, 30 goals, 38 assists, 500 PiM), Kruse joined the IHL’s Salt Lake Golden Eagles, appearing in 83 games in 1990-91 as a rookie (24 goals, 20 assists, 313 PiM). March 31st would mark his first NHL appearance, in a 5-3 Calgary win over the Los Angeles Kings. Kruse had a minus-1 rating and seven minutes spent in the penalty box.

In 1991-92, Kruse split his time between the Golden Eagles (57 games, 14 goals, 15 assists, 267 PiM) and the Flames. He scored his first career NHL goal on February 16th in a 5-5 tie with the Chicago Blackhawks, and scored two more goals in his next three games. Along with his three goals that year, he also made one assist and earned 65 penalty minutes in 16 games.

Kruse repeated the pattern of splitting his season between the two clubs in 1992-93, playing in 35 games with Salt Lake (one goal, four assists, minus-11 rating, 206 PiM). He also played in 27 games for Calgary. He enjoyed his first career two point night on April 9th, scoring a goal and an assist in an 8-1 destruction of the Vancouver Canucks.

1993-94 would see Kruse finally play in a full NHL season. In 68 games with the Flames, he ranked third on the team with 185 PiM. He also had three goals with eight assists and a minus-6 rating. On January 24th, he dished out two helpers in a 3-3 tie with the Los Angeles Kings. In his first chance to play in the postseason for the Flames, he went scoreless in seven contests, racking up 14 penalty minutes as the Flames were eliminated by the Canucks, four-games-to-three.

In 1994-95, Kruse scored a career high 11 goals in just 45 games due to the NHL’s lockout. He also had five assists, a career best plus-13 rating, and a team second 141 penalty minutes. On April 7th, he scored two goals for the first time in his career, as the Flames defeated the Kings, 7-4. Unlike the prior season, Kruse played like a man possessed in the playoffs, totaling four goals and two assists in seven games. This includes a goal and an assist in both game six and seven in the opening round series against the San Jose Sharks. Unfortunately, the Flames lost, 5-3 and 5-4, respectively.

Kruse played in a career high 75 games for Calgary in 1995-96. He totaled three goals and 12 assists with a minus-5 rating and 145 PiM. Between December 1st and 3rd, he scored a goal with three assists in two games, an 8-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers and a 5-2 loss to the Jets. He scored two goals in 14 games for the Flames the following season. He was traded to the New York Islanders on November 27th for a third round draft pick, who later became Francis Lessard.

Kruse played in 110 contests with the Islanders (10 goals, three assists, minus-17 rating, 249 PiM), later playing with the Buffalo Sabres (66 games, four goals, one assist, minus-1 rating, 206 PiM) and the San Jose Sharks (one game, five PiM).

All-Time Statline: 246 games, 24 goals, 29 assists, even rating, 614 PiM, -0.18 point shares.

483. Blake Sloan

Sloan, a right winger from Park Ridge, Illinois, was born on July 27th, 1975. A four year letterman for the University of Michigan, he totaled 12 goals and 58 assists in 159 contests for the Wolverines, graduating with the Class of 1997.

1997-98 would see Sloan score two goals with 13 assists in 70 games for the IHL’s Houston Aeros, adding another eight goals and 10 assists in 62 games the following season with the club. He signed his first NHL contract with the Dallas Stars on March 10th, 1998.

Sloan played in 114 games for the Stars over parts of the next three seasons (six goals, 15 assists, plus-8 rating, 64 PiM). The Columbus Blue Jackets claimed him off waivers on March 13th, 2001. In parts of two seasons with them, he totaled 74 games, three goals, seven assists, a minus-20 rating and 59 PiM. The Jackets traded him to the Flames on March 19th, 2002 for Jamie Allison.

Sloan played seven games for the Flames to close out the 2001-02 season, earning two assists on March 25th against the Jackets for sweet revenge in a 6-1 Calgary win. He played a total of 86 minutes and took seven shots on goal, a plus-1 rating, and four PiM.

2002-03 would see Sloan enjoy a full season with the Flames. He scored two goals with eight assists in 67 games playing mostly on Calgary’s third line. He also earned 28 PiM and a minus-5 rating. On December 23rd, he scored his first Flames goal in a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild.

Sloan wasn’t on an NHL roster to begin 2003-04. He signed a free agent contract with the Detroit Red Wings on December 1st, but was waived two days later, where the Stars picked him up the same way they lost him. He closed out his NHL career with Dallas, going scoreless through 28 games with the team.

Following the 2004 offseason, Sloan went on to play AHL hockey with the Grand Rapids Griffins for one season (78 games, 15 goals, 11 assists), later joining Timra IK in Sweden (38 games, two goals, two assists). He then played seven seasons in Germany (327 games, 18 goals, 67 assists, 434 PiM).

All-Time Statline: 74 games, two goals, 10 assists, minus-4 rating, 32 PiM, -0.12 point shares.

482. Kyle Greentree

Greentree is a 6’3″, 212 lb. left winger from Victoria, British Columbia. Born on November 15th, 1983, he played five seasons in the British Columbia Hockey League with the Victoria Salsa (255 games, 184 goals, 193 assists, 466 PiM). In 2004-05, he started his college career with the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Ultimately, he played three seasons with the Nanooks, lighting the lamp 41 times with 60 helpers and 167 PiM in 115 games. He signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on March 15th, 2007.

Greentree played in eight games for the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms, scoring two goals near the end of the 2006-07 season in his first professional action for the Flyers top farm club. He would put up 24 goals with 24 assists in 72 games for them the following season. He also earned a minus-1 rating in 18 minutes on ice for the Flyers over two games. He took three shots on goal, but failed to make a mark on the scoresheet.

During the 2008 offseason, the Flyers traded Greentree to the Flames for Tim Ramholt. He played in 79 games for the Flames then-AHL affiliate, the Quad City Flames, scoring 39 goals with 37 assists, 63 PiM and a minus-4 rating. Calgary called him up for two games in February. He totaled 19 minutes on the ice, took three shots, and finished the season at minus-1. Just prior to the next season, the Flames traded him to the Chicago Blackhawks for Aaron Johnson.

Greentree has yet to resurface at the NHL level. He has since played for the Rockford Ice Hogs (64 games, 25 goals, 20 assists), the Hershey Bears (124 games, 41 goals, 56 assists), and KHL Medvescak Zagreb in Croatia (51 games, 24 goals, 30 assists). He is currently a member of the Swiss-B team, EHC Basel.

All-Time Statline: Two games, zero goals, zero assists, minus-1 rating, zero PiM, -0.11 point shares.

481. Carsen Germyn

Germyn, born February 22nd, 1982, is a 5'10", 187 lb. left winger from Campbell River, British Columbia. He played five WHL seasons (324 games, 116 goals, 167 assists) between the Kelowna Rockets and the Red Deer Rebels. He signed with the Flames as a free agent on July 6th, 2004.

Before making his NHL debut, Germyn appeared with the Norfolk Admirals (77 games, 11 goals, 16 assists, 104 PiM), the Lowell Lock Monsters (60 games, nine goals, 11 assists, 115 PiM), and the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights (77 games, 24 goals, 31 assists). He appeared twice for the Flames in April, 2006, totaling 14 shifts, two shots on goal, and a minus-1 rating.

In 2006-07, Germyn again spent the majority of his season with the Knights (77 contests, 28 goals, 32 assists). He skated 28 shifts over two games for Calgary in December and January, taking three shots on goal and finishing with another clean scoresheet.

Germyn spent three more seasons with Calgary's AHL farm clubs. He played two seasons with the Quad City Flames (152 games, 32 goals, 76 assists) and one with the Abbotsford Heat (21 games, five goals, 10 assists). He has since spent playing time with Swiss, German, and Swedish Leagues.

All-Time Statline: Four games, zero goals, zero assists, minus-1 rating, zero PiM, -0.11 point shares.

That's all for today's installment of the countdown. Check back tomorrow as we continue our march straight to the top.

by Kevin Kraczkowski