Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter XVIII: 445-441

445. Scott Morrow

Morrow was a 6’1″, 185 lb. left winger from Chicago, Illinois. Born on June 18th, 1969, he was a four year starter with the University of New Hampshire. In 114 games with the Wildcats, he totaled 56 goals with 52 assists and 164 penalty minutes. The Hartford Whalers had selected him prior to his having played at the college level, in the fifth round of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft with the 95th overall pick. He went pro after he graduated with the Class of 1992. He played two games for the Springfield Indians to close out the 1991-92 season.

Morrow played two more seasons with Springfield, scoring 34 goals and 44 assists in 100 contests. Midway through the 1993-94 season, the Whalers traded him to the Flames for Todd Harkins. He scored a pair of goals and as many assists in eight games for the Saint John Flames to finish up the season.

In 1994-95, Morrow appeared in 64 games for Saint John, totaling 18 markers and 21 assists and 105 penalty minutes. In February, he earned his first and only NHL callup to Calgary. He played four games, earning an even rating and taking a single shot on goal. After the season, the Philadelphia Flyers signed him as a free agent.

Morrow played for the Hershey Bears in 1995-96 (79 games, 48 goals, 45 assists). He later played with the Cincinnati Cyclones (202 games, 58 goals, 57 assists), the Providence Bruins (16 games, four goals, eight assists), the Binghampton Icemen (eight games, three goals, two assists), the Augusta Lynx (141 games, 61 goals, 99 assists) and the Manitoba Moose (eight games, one goal, two assists).

All-Time Statline: Four games, zero goals, zero assists, even rating, zero penalty minutes, -0.09 point shares.

444. Richard Zemlak

Zemlak, a Wynyard, Saskatchewan native, was a 6’2″, 190 lb. right winger. Born on March 3rd, 1963, he scored 19 goals and 19 assists with 132 penalty minutes in 72 games for the 1980-81 Spokane Flyers. The St. Louis Blues chose him soon afterward, in the 10th round of the 1981 NHL Entry Draft with the 209th overall pick.

Over the next two seasons, Zemlak split his playing time between four WHL teams, the Flyers (26 games, nine goals, 20 assists), the Winnipeg Warriors (two games, one goal, two assists), the Medicine Hat Tigers (92 games, 31 goals, 37 assists), and the Nanaimo Islanders (18 games, two goals, eight assists). He also made six starts in the CHL with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, earning two assists.

Before beginning his Flames career, Zemlak appeared with the Toledo Goaldiggers (45 games, eight goals, 19 assists), the Montana Magic (14 games, two goals, two assists), the Fredericton Express (102 games, 18 goals, 15 assists, 565 PiM), the Muskegon Lumberjacks (146 games, 42 goals, 63 assists, 575 PiM), and the Kalamazoo Wings (two games, one goal, three assists). He also made NHL stops with the Quebec Nordiques (20 games, zero goals, two assists, 47 PiM), the Minnesota North Stars (57 games, one goal, four assists, 320 PiM) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (50 games, one goal, five assists, 178 PiM). He signed with the Flames as a free agent on November 8th, 1990.

After signing with Calgary, Zemlak rejoined the Golden Eagles (59 games, 14 goals, 20 assists, 194 PiM) for most of the season. He earned a callup to play with the Flames in mid-December, appearing in five contests. He tallied his lone point for Calgary on December 17th, an assist in a 7-4 win over the Winnipeg Jets. In the return engagement four days later, he earned 26 penalty minutes as the Jets got revenge to the tune of 7-2.

Zemlak played two more seasons of minor league hockey with the Milwaukee Admirals (123 games, six goals, 17 assists, 542 PiM). He retired following the 1993-94 season, and is currently a realtor in Minnesota.

All-Time Statline: Five games, zero goals, one assist, minus-2 rating, 42 penalty minutes, -0.09 point shares.

443. Eric Landry

Landry was a 5’11”, 185 lb. center from Gatineau, Quebec. Born on January 20th, 1975, he played three seasons with St-Hyacinthe Laser beginning in 1993-94 (144 games, 87 goals, 73 assists). After one season in the AHL with the Cape Breton Oilers (74 games, 19 goals, 33 assists) and one with the Hamilton Bulldogs (74 games, 15 goals, 17 assists), he signed on as a free agent with Calgary.

Landry started out the 1997-98 season with the Saint John Flames (61 games, 17 goals, 21 assists). He was called up to the Flames on three occasions through the season, totaling 12 appearances. He tallied his first NHL goal on New Years Eve as the Flames lost a match to the visiting Montreal Canadiens, 3-2.

In 1998-99, Landry spent most of the season with Saint John, playing 56 games and scoring 19 goals with 22 assists. Calgary called him up in late February, where he played in three games. He earned an assist on February 22nd, in a 6-2 victory over the New York Rangers. During the 1999 offseason, the Flames traded him to the San Jose Sharks for Fredrik Oduya.

Landry appeared in 53 more NHL games with the Montreal Canadiens between 2000-01 and 2001-02, scoring four goals with eight assists. He later played for several seasons with several Swiss and Russian teams, retiring after the 2011-12 season.

All-Time Statline: 15 games, one goal, one assist, minus-1 rating, four penalty minutes, -0.09 point shares.

442. Vesa Viitakoski

Viitakoski, a Lappeenranta, Finland native, was born on February 13th, 1971. The 6'3", 209 lb. left winger played five seasons beginning in 1998-99 in the top Finnish league between his hometown SaiPa and Tappara Tampere, totaling 91 goals and 80 assists in 188 contests. In the meantime, the Flames selected him in the second round of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft with the 32nd overall pick.

Viitakoski jumped the pond for the 1993-94 season. He started out the season in Calgary, earning a goal in his third career contest on October 16th, in an 8-4 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. He would add two assists in eight games with the parent club through the season, also spending 67 games with the Saint John Flames (28 goals, 39 assists).

In 1994-95, Viitakoski played most of the season in Saint John, scoring 17 times with 26 assists in 56 contests. In March, he earned a return visit to Calgary. In his first game back, he scored his second career NHL marker in a 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on March 7th. He would total 10 games with Calgary, again adding two assists.

1995-96 would see Viitakoski play the first five games of the season with Calgary. He didn't score, taking seven shots on goal. He went on to play 58 games between Saint John and the Cornwall Aces, totaling 25 goals and 35 helpers. He has since played 12 more seasons in Finland, also appearing in Sweden.

All-Time Statline: 23 games, two goals, four assists, minus-2 rating, eight penalty minutes, -0.09 point shares.

441. Kay Whitmore

Whitmore was a 5'11", 175 lb. goaltender from Sudbury, Ontario. Born on April 10th, 1967, he was a second round selection of the Harford Whalers in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, 26th overall. After four seasons in juniors with the Peterborough Petes, he joined the AHL's Binghampton Whalers in 1987-88.

His first season as a professional would see Whitmore post a 17-15-4 record in Binghampton. Starting in 1988-89, he started spending a larger and larger portion of his season in Hartford, actually becoming the Whalers number one goaltender in 1991-92. He posted a cumulative 23-33-10 record with Hartford, with a .875 save percentage and 3.61 goals against average and three shutouts.

Whitmore would go 36-28-6 over the next three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, with a .877 save percentage and a 3.41 GAA. Starting in 1995-96, he would play the next six seasons toiling between the IHL and the AHL, even spending one season in Sweden with Sodertalje SK. He wouldn’t resurface in the NHL until the 2000-01 season, with the Boston Bruins (1-2-0, .809, 5.32).

During the 2001 offseason, Whitmore signed a free agent contract with Calgary. He went 10-16-8 with the Saint John Flames, stopping 90.8% of his shots faced and allowing 2.49 goals per 60 minutes on the ice. He was called up for one game with Calgary, a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He stopped 18-of-21 shots in the loss. He retired following the season, enjoying a few years in broadcasting. He is currently the NHL’s goaltending supervisor.

All-Time Statline: One game, 0-1-0, 18 saves, 21 shots faced, .857 save percentage, 3.10 GAA, 0.00 point shares.

Thank you for reading today's chapter of our off-season long countdown. Chapter 19 will go live on Tuesday.

by Kevin Kraczkowski