Brian McGrattan Waived

McGrattan (CAL) is on waivers today.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 9, 2015

The evolution of the Calgary Flames through this rebuild continued this morning as news broke of Brian McGrattan being waived. I woke up to my phone buzzing and with tears in my eyes, I sit here writing this touching goodbye to Mr. McGrattan. With the pursuit of maximizing the talent in the line (yeah I know Bollig is there still), this should prove to naysayers that Brian Burke is driving the bus.

The opportunity of rolling for four capable lines in the NHL is and has been in full swing for years now. Though lots of teams got away with rolling a line with say Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton. Now it’s more important than ever to have capable players who can contribute in various non-fighting roles.

McGrattan who has been a healthy scratch much of the season, who last played December 6th against the San Jose Sharks played eight games this season registering zero goals, zero assists, four PIMs, and a -2 rating. Oh and zero scraps this season in any of the games he was in. If he isn’t claimed, he’ll report to the Adirondack Flames of the AHL. Last season he played a career high 76 games with the Flames registering four goals, four assists, and 100 PIMs.

The underlying numbers are a small sample size for McGrattan:

Now, when it comes to an interesting and somber story; many of you remember that Brian had battled addiction and substance abuse. Thankfully he beat his demons and is living a sober lifestyle now. Something that I respect immensely as a person and admire greatly. He's been a huge ambassador to the game in Calgary and is beloved for fans for his kindness off the ice.

All the best dude, I'm not your biggest fan but you're good to the community.

Let's look back on some great McGrattan moments, shall we?

Finally, if you're feeling sad and need to cry

by Mike Pfeil