Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter LXXXIII: 136-133

136. Larry Carriere

Carriere, a 6’1", 190 lb. defenseman, was born on Montreal, Quebec on January 30th, 1952. The Buffalo Sabres selected him in the second round of the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft with the 25th pick off the board.

Carriere played three seasons with the Sabres, scoring nine goals and 43 assists in 198 contests. Buffalo traded him to the Flames just before the start of the 1975-76 season with a first round pick (Greg Carroll) for Jacques Richard.

1975-76 would see Carriere play in 75 games for Atlanta. He scored four times on 126 shots, a 3.2 shooting success rate. He pitched in with 15 assists, a team sixth plus-5 rating, and a team third 96 penalty minutes. One goal and one assist were of the short-handed variety, which ranked him second on the team with two short-handed points. The Flames qualified for the postseason with a 35-33-12 record, but lost in the preliminary round in two games to the Los Angeles Kings. Carriere earned two minutes in the box over his two appearances.

In 1976-77, Carriere appeared in 25 games for the Flames. He scored two goals (including one game winner) on 28 shots with three helpers, a plus-3 rating, and 16 penalty minutes. Atlanta traded him on December 2nd to the Vancouver Canucks with Hilliard Graves for John Gould and a draft pick (Brian Hill).

Carriere survived on the edge of the NHL for the next three seasons, appearing with the Canucks (56 games, one goal, 12 assists), the Los Angeles Kings (two games), the Buffalo Sabres (nine games), and the Toronto Maple Leafs (two games, one assist).

All-Time Statline: 100 games, six goals, 18 assists, plus-8 rating, 112 penalty minutes, 6.33 point shares.

135. Chuck Kobasew

Kobasew, born on April 17th, 1982, was a 6’, 192 lb. native of Vancouver, British Columbia. He played right wing, and first appeared for two seasons in the BCHL with the Penticon Panthers (88 games, 65 goals, 69 assists, 101 PiM) and one year with the Boston College Eagles (43 games, 27 goals, 22 assists). He was Calgary’s first round selection in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, 14th overall.

After his selection, Kobasew played a year with the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL (55 games, 41 goals, 21 assists, 114 PiM). 2002-03 would see him play 48 games with the Saint John Flames (48 games, 21 goals, 12 assists), and also join Calgary for 23 contests. He scored his first NHL goal in his third game, a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on October 14th. On November 4th, he scored the game winning goal and an assist in a 4-2 win against the New York Islanders. He totaled four goals on 29 shots with two assists, a minus-3 rating, and eight penalty minutes while playing 11:48 per game. The Flames finished at 29-36-13-4.

In 2003-04, Kobasew played an average of 10:22 per game in 70 games over the season. He scored six goals on 78 shots with 11 assists, a team worst minus-12 rating, and 51 penalty minutes. On October 28th, he earned two assists as the Flames dropped a 4-2 contest to the Colorado Avalanche. He did it again on January 19th, in a 5-1 win over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Calgary went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals after posting a 42-30-7-3 record. Kobasew appeared in all 26 postseason contests, earning one assist and 24 penalty minutes.

Kobasew played the 2004-05 season with the Lowell Lock Monsters, scoring 38 goals and 37 assists with 110 penalty minutes in 79 games. When the 2005-06 season got underway, he rejoined Calgary for a team-seventh 77 contests. He scored a team-third 20 goals on 143 shots, 11 assists, a team second-worst minus-10 rating, and 64 penalty minutes. He also lit the lamp with the game winner four times to rank fourth on the club. The team went 46-25-11 to win the Northwest Division title. On October 20th, he scored twice as the Flames dropped the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1. He scored his first hat trick on January 24th, as the Flames lost to the Avalanche, 7-4. He scored one goal for the Flames in seven playoff games, a series loss to the Ducks.

Kobasew scored four goals on 69 shots for the Flames, playing 40 games. He played 13:13 per game, totaling 13 assists, a plus-7 rating and 37 penalty minutes. On February 10th, he was traded to the Boston Bruins with Andrew Ference for Brad Stuart, Wayne Primeau, and a draft pick (TJ Brodie).

Kobasew played in parts of four seasons with the Bruins (158 games, 44 goals, 40 assists), later playing with the Minnesota Wild (105 games, 18 goals, 12 assists), the Avalanche (95 games, 12 goals, 11 assists), and the Pittsburgh Penguins (33 games, two goals, zero assists). He’ll be starting his first season with Bern in 2014-15.

All-Time Statline: 210 games, 34 goals, 37 assists, minus-18 rating, 160 penalty minutes, 6.33 point shares.

134. Chris Butler

Butler is a 6’1", 196 lb. defenseman from St. Louis, Missouri. Born on October 27th, 1986, he played in the USHL with the Sioux City Musketeers for two seasons starting in 2003-04, scoring nine goals with 28 assists in 115 contests. The Buffalo Sabres selected him in the fourth round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft with the 96th overall choice.

Butler joined the University of Denver’s hockey program in 2005-06, and ended up playing three seasons with the Pioneers. He totaled 20 goals with 46 assists in 115 games. He split his first professional season (2008-09) between the Portland Pirates (AHL, 27 games, two goals, 10 assists) and the Sabres, who he played about two and a half seasons with. He scored five times with 31 assists in 155 games with Buffalo.

The Sabres traded him to the Flames during the 2011 offseason with Paul Byron for Robyn Regehr and Ales Kotalik. His first season with the Flames would see him rank eighth on the club with 68 game appearances. He ranked third amongst Calgary’s skaters by spending 21:36 per game on the ice. He scored twice on 62 games, with a team-eighth 13 helpers, a minus-9 rating and 34 penalty minutes. He earned his first points with the Flames when he tabbed two assists in the third game of the season, a 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on October 13th. It was the only time he scored more than one point in a game. Calgary went 37-29-16 to fall short of the postseason.

In 2012-13, Butler played in a Flames-fifth 44 games, averaging 17:02 per appearance. He scored a single goal on 40 shots with seven assists, a minus-10 rating and 19 penalty minutes. His only goal of the season happened on his final shot of the year, a shorthanded marker on April 26th in a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Calgary went 19-25-4, finishing the season fourth in the Northwest Division.

2013-14 would see Butler play in every Calgary game, holding down a 75-way tie for second in the league behind David Legwand, who appeared in 83 games. He scored twice on 83 shots with 14 assists, a team-worst minus-23 rating, and 39 penalty minutes in 20:16 per game. On December 12th, he scored the game winning goal with four seconds left in overtime as the Flames defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1. He earned two assists on February 1st, in a 4-3 overtime win against the Minnesota Wild. Butler is currently signed with the St. Louis Blues.

All-Time Statline: 194 games, five goals, 34 assists, minus-42 rating, 92 penalty minutes, 6.36 point shares.

133. Karri Ramo

Ramo is a 6’, 215 lb. goaltender from Asikkala, Finland. Born on July 1st, 1986, he first came to notice with the Lahti Pelicans in 2003-04, going 0-2-0 in three appearances. He posted a 4-12-4 record the following season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning chose Ramo in the with round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, selecting him 191st overall. Ramo appeared in three different seasons with the Bolts (11-21-10, .895, 3.35), also playing for the Springfield Falcons (15-24-1, .906, 3.13) and the Norfolk Admirals (9-18-4). In 2009-10, he joined Omsk Avangard in the KHL for the first of four seasons. He totaled a 99-49-22 record for them.

While spending his seasons in Omsk, Ramo’s rights were traded to the Montreal Canadiens, then later to the Flames (with Mike Cammalleri and a draft choice (Ryan Culkin) for Rene Bourque, Patrick Holland and another draft choice (Zachary Fucale).

Ramo started out the 2013-14 season in a 1a/1b goaltender duo with Reto Berra, but eventually earned the top spot. In a team high 40 contests, he went 16-15-4, stopping 91.1% of the shots he faced and allowing 2.65 goals per 60 minutes. On January 13th, he earned his first career shutout by blanking the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-0 with 23 saves. He stopped 99-of-102 shots over a five game span from January 28th through March 24th. He earned a 1-0 shutout over the New Jersey Devils, stopping all 31 shots on April 7th. The Flames finished the season pretty strong but ended up with an underwhelming 35-40-8 record.

All-Time Statline: 40 games, 16-15-4, two shutouts, 1091 shots faced, 994 saves, .911 save percentage, 2.65 goals against average, 6.38 point shares.