Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter XIII: 470-466

470. Jason Muzzatti

Muzzatti was a 6’1″, 190 lb. goaltender from Toronto, Ontario. Born on February 3rd, 1990, he was selected out of college in the first round of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by the Flames, 21st overall. He’s the first of 44 goaltenders in our countdown.

As a four year starter with the Michigan State Spartans, Muzzatti accrued an 83-34-6 record before graduating with the Class of 1991. He had a 3.23 goals against average over his collegiate career. After school, he played two IHL seasons between two teams, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles and the Indianapolis Ice, totaling a 34-34-7 record and a 3.57 GAA.

1993-94 would see Muzzatti go 26-21-3 with the AHL’s Saint John Flames, at .877 and 3.74. On October 16th, he earned his first ever NHL callup, playing a full 60 minutes against the Los Angeles Kings in an 8-4 loss. He made 27 saves.

Muzzatti went 10-14-4 for Saint John in 1994-95, and got another shot at the NHL level with a .892 save percentage. He played just under 10 minutes in relief of starter Trevor Kidd on January 26th in a 5-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, making saves on each of the eight shots he faced. Just before the puck dropped on 1995-96, he was waived by the Flames, and picked up by the Hartford Whalers.

After parts of two seasons with Hartford (13-21-8, .898, 3.23), Muzzatti also appeared in the NHL with the New York Rangers (0-3-2, .891, 3.26) and with the San Jose Sharks (0-0-0, .846, 4.44). He later played professionally in Germany, Finland, and Italy, finishing his career with the UHL’s Flint Generals in 2006-07. He went 18-15-6 with them, and stayed on after the season as head coach for the next three seasons.

All-Time Statline: Two games, 0-1-0, 35 saves, 43 shots faced, .814 save percentage, 6.86 goals against average, -0.10 point shares.

469. Alan Letang

Letang, a Renfrew, Ontario native, is a 6’1″, 187 lb. defenseman. Born on September 4th, 1975, the Montreal Canadiens chose him out of juniors with their eighth round pick in the 1993 NHL Draft, 203rd overall. He played with two teams over his four seasons in juniors, the Cornwall/Newmarket Royals (171 games, five goals, 50 assists) and the Sarnia Sting (62 games, five goals, 36 assists). He joined the Fredericton Canadiens to start the 1995-96 season, in two seasons playing 131 games and scoring twice with 35 assists.

Letang played in Switzerland and Germany for a few seasons. On March 22nd, 1999, the Dallas Stars signed him to a two-way contract. He played most of two seasons with the Michigan K-Wings (63 games, four goals, 15 assists). He also suited up for the Stars for eight games early in the 1999-00 season, going scoreless with a minus-5 rating and two penalty minutes. He played in 79 contests with the IHL’s Utah Grizzlies in 2000-01, scoring six times with 24 assists.

Calgary signed Letang during the 2001 offseason. He played most of the year with the Saint John Flames (61 games, four goals, 24 assists). He was called up to the parent club for two contests late in October. On the 23rd, he played 15 minutes and finished at minus-2 in a 6-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Two days later, he played seven minutes in a 5-4 loss to the Nashville Predators.

During the following offseason, Letang hooked on with the New York Islanders. After two seasons with their AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (146 games, four goals, 34 assists), he played four seasons in the top German League, followed by four seasons in Austria.

All-Time Statline: Two games, zero goals, zero assists, minus-2 rating, zero penalty minutes, -0.10 point shares.

468. Ryan Christie

Christie, born in Beamsville, Ontario on July 3rd, 1978, was a 6'2", 175 left winger with the Owen Sound Platers for three seasons. The Dallas Stars chose him 112th overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, in the fifth round. He would play two more season with the Platers, earning three season totals of 198 games, 91 goals and 87 assists.

Starting in 1998-99, Christie spent most of the next two seasons in the IHL with the Michigan K-Wings, lighting the lamp 28 times with 30 helpers in 124 contests. He was twice called up to Dallas, for three games in November and two games in January, going scoreless with a minus-1 rating.

Letang scored 22 goals with 16 assists in 69 games for the IHL's Utah Grizzlies, earning 88 penalty minutes and going minus-31. He signed as a free agent with Calgary during the following offseason. His first season in the organization would see him play in 77 contests for the Saint John Flames (21 goals, 18 assists, minus-19 rating), also getting called up to play for the Flames in April. He skated 16 shifts over two games, finishing with a minus-1 rating.

Letang spent another season in Saint John, making 10 goals and 14 assists in 67 contests. He later played in French, Italian, and Australian Leagues.

All-Time Statline: Two games, zero goals, zero assists, minus-1 rating, zero penalty minutes, -0.10 point shares.

467. Raitis Ivanans

Ivanans was a 6’4″, 240 lb. left winger from Riga, Latvia. Born on January 3rd, 1979, he was a six year minor league veteran when signed by the Montreal Canadiens during the 2004 offseason. Before joining the Habs organization, he played at several minor league levels, including the ECHL, the AHL, the CHL, and the UHL. He appeared with the Flint Generals (18 games, one assist), the Macon Whoopees (18 games, one goal, one assist), the Tulsa Oilers (32 games, two goals, seven assists), the Pensacola Ice Pilots (59 games, three goals, seven assists, 146 penalty minutes), the Hershey Bears (two games), the New Haven Knights (66 games, four goals, 10 assists, 270 penalty minutes), the Toledo Storm (16 games, two goals two assists), the Baton Rouge Kingfish (40 games, four goals, five assists, 180 penalty minutes), the Milwaukee Admirals (71 games, one goal, seven assists, 204 penalty minutes), and the Rockford IceHogs (51 games, four goals, two assists, 208 penalty minutes).

2004-05 would see Ivanans play the entire season with the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs (75 games, two goals, five assists, 259 penalty minutes). He also played most of the next season with Hamilton (43 games, two goals) before earning his first NHL callup to Montreal. He played in four games for the Habs in October and near the end of January, going minus-1 with nine penalty minutes.

Ivanans signed a free agent contract to play for the Los Angeles Kings during the 2006 offseason. In a new twist, he never played a minute of farm league hockey while a member of the organization, playing in 276 NHL games over the next four seasons. He scored 12 goals with six assists and 555 penalty minutes with a minus-38 rating.

On July 2nd, 2010, Ivanans signed with the Flames. In the season opening, 4-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, he got in a fight with fellow enforcer Steve MacIntyre, suffering a season-ending concussion with a minus-1 rating in eight minutes of time-on-ice. In 2011-12, he played 27 games with the Abbotsford Heat, making two goals and three assists with 37 PiM. In his second callup to Calgary in January, he played 11 minutes and finished at minus-1 in a 9-0 Calgary loss to the Boston Bruins. He has yet to appear in another NHL contest.

Ivanans just completed a two year deal with Dynamo Riga in the KHL.

All-Time Statline: Two games, zero goals, zero assists, minus-2 rating, five penalty minutes, -0.10 point shares.

466. Tyrone Garner

Garner, a Stoney Creek, Ontario native, was a 6', 215 goaltender born on July 27th, 1978. The Islanders drafted him off the OHL's Oshawa Generals in the fourth round of the 1996 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders, 83rd overall. In four OHL seasons, he totaled a 64-48-15 record with a 3.31 GAA and a .903 save percentage.

In January, 1999, Garner was called up for a look at the NHL level with Calgary. On the 2nd, he stopped 11-of-13 shots in the third period of a 7-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. He played twice more that week, allowing 10 goals on 61 shots and earning two losses. It would be the last time that Garner would get a crack at the NHL.

Garner played the next four seasons amongst several ECHL teams, racking up a 58-53-16 record and a .914 save percentage with a 2.78 GAA. After a groin injury suffered in Norway during the 2005-06 season, he was advised by doctors to no longer play at the goaltender position for at least a year. So, he suited up as a forward for the SPHL's Jacksonville Barracudas, scoring 24 goals with 49 assists in 88 contests.

All-Time Statline: Three games, 0-2-0, 62 saves, 74 shots faced, .838 save percentage, 5.18 goals against average, -0.10 point shares.

Thank you for stopping by and reading about some old friends and barely-mets. Check back tomorrow as we keep on counting towards the top with a guy they called "The Grim Reaper."

by Kevin Kraczkowski