Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter LXXVI: 164-161

164. Bob Murray

Murray, born July 16th, 1948, was a 6'1", 195 lb. defenseman from Burlington, Ontario. He played with the Peterborough Petes in 1966-67, scoring three goals with nine assists in 48 contests. Five years later, he resurfaced with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs (133 games, five goals, 34 assists), playing two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens top minor league team.

In 1973-74, Murrary played his first NHL season with the Flames. He played in 62 contests for Atlanta, going scoreless on 67 shots and earning three assists and a team worst minus-20 rating, along with 34 penalty minutes. He scored a goal in four postseason games following the regular season.

1974-75 would see Murray score three goals on 34 shots with three assists in 42 games. He posted a plus-5 rating over the course of the season with 22 minutes spent in the penalty box. On March 9th, 1975, the Flames traded him to the Vancouver Canucks for Gerry Meehan.

Murray played three seasons with Vancouver (90 games, three goals, 10 assists) before closing out his North American playing career in 1976-77 with the Tulsa Oilers (CHL, 58 games, five goals, 16 assists). He played in Germany for 11 seasons afterward.

All-Time Statline: 104 games, three goals, six assists, minus-15 rating, 56 penalty minutes, 4.39 point shares.

163. Brian MacLellan

MacLellan was a 6'3", 220 lb. left winger from Guelph, Ontario. Born on October 27th, 1958, he played four seasons of collegiate hockey with Bowling Green University (160 games, 64 goals, 79 assists, 345 PiM), graduating with the Class of 1982.

MacLellan spent most of the 1982-83 season with the New Haven Nighthawks (71 games, 11 goals, 15 assists), making his first NHL appearance with the Los Angeles Kings (eight games, three assists). He totaled parts of four seasons with the Kings (187 games, 61 goals, 94 assists), also playing with the New York Rangers (51 games, 11 goals, 21 assists) and the Minnesota North Stars (211 games, 64 goals, 86 assists). On March 4th, 1989, Minnesota traded him with a draft pick (Robert Reichel) to the Flames for Shane Churla and Perry Berezan.

MacLellan played 12 games for the Flames near the end of the 1988-89 season, and scored twice on 23 shots with three assists, a plus-3 rating and 14 penalty minutes. On March 24th, he tallied a goal and an assist in a 4-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. He played in 21 playoff games on Calgary’s march to their first Stanley Cup following the regular season, scoring three goals and two assists.

In 1989-90, MacLellan ranked ninth on the team with 20 goals on 127 shots. He added 18 assists, a minus-3 rating and 26 penalty minutes. On January 14th, he scored four goals in a 6-5 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Calgary’s next game two days later would see him score two more, in a win over the St. Louis Blues, 5-2. From March 1st through the 24th, he totaled 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 12 games. This includes a goal and two assists on the 7th in a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. In six playoff games, he earned two assists and finished with a minus-7 rating against the Los Angeles Kings.

1990-91 would see MacLellan score 13 goals on 74 shots with 14 helpers in 57 contests for the Flames. He posted a plus-15 rating and earned 55 minutes in the penalty box. He ranked fourth on the club with a 17.6% shooting success rate. He started out the season by scoring a goal and an assist on October 8th, in a 4-3 win over the Jets. January 8th would see him score twice with an assist against the Toronto Maple Leafs, in a 5-3 win. He earned multiple points on five occasions through the season.

During the 1991 offseason, the Flames traded MacLellan to the Detroit Red Wings for Marc Habscheid. He totaled a goal and five assists with 38 penalty minutes in 23 games for Detroit. He’s been part of the Washington Capitals organization for the past 13 seasons, and was recently promoted to senior vice president and general manager.

All-Time Statline: 134 games, 35 goals, 35 assists, plus-15 rating, 95 penalty minutes, 4.48 point shares.

162. Jeff Reese

Reese, a Brantford, Ontario native, was born on March 24th, 1966. Eventually, he grew into a 5'9", 170 lb. goaltender.
Reese got his start in 1983-84 with the London Knights, and was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fourth round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 67th overall. He remained with the Knights for two more full seasons.

In 1986-87, Reese played in his first professional season, with the Newmarket Saints,  a team with whom he would appear in varying degrees over the next five seasons. (43-60-8, .921, 3.85). During this time, he also played mostly spot duty with the Maple Leafs, going 20-33-9 with an .871 save percentage and 4.09 goals allowed per 60 minutes on the ice. On January 2nd, 1992, the Leafs traded him with Craig Berube, Alexander Godynyuk, Gary Leeman, and Michel Petit to the Flames for Doug Gilmour, Jamie Macoun, Ric Nattress, Rick Wamsley, and Kent Manderville.

Reese backed up incumbent Mike Vernon through the rest of the 1991-92 season. He went 3-2-2 with an .872 save percentage and a 3.78 goals against average. He earned his first three wins in consecutive fashion near the end of March, allowing seven goals while stopping 77 shots-on-goal, a .917 save percentage.

In 1992-93, Reese pitched a shutout in his third start, stopping 21 shots in a 4-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers on October 25th. He would go on to lead the team with a 3.20 goals against average and an .889 save percentage. He posted a 14-4-1 record, by far his career best win-loss percentage. On January 28th, he stopped 32-of-33 shots in a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. He started four postseason games, winning one and losing three to the Kings.

1993-94 would see Reese stop four out of the five shots he faced on Halloween, his only appearance of the season for the Flames. On November 19th, Calgary traded him to the Hartford Whalers for Dan Keczmer (below). He went 9-17-4 with Hartford, later playing with the Tampa Bay Lightning (7-7-1), the New Jersey Devils (0-2-0), the Detroit Vipers (IHL, 50-13-11), and the St. John’s Maple Leafs (AHL, 17-7-3) before his last professional appearance with Toronto in 1998-99 (1-1-0).

All-Time Statline: 39 games, 17-6-3, 928 shots faced, 832 saves, .897 save percentage, 3.13 goals against average, 4.56 point shares.

161. Dan Keczmer

Keczmer, a 6'1", 190 lb. defenseman from Mount Clemens, Michigan, was born on May 25th, 1968. The Minnesota North Stars selected him out of high school in the 10th round of the 1986 NHL Entry Draft, 201st overall. Instead of going pro, he joined Lake Superior State University for four seasons of college level hockey. In 168 games for the Lakers, he totaled 21 goals and 69 assists with 176 penalty minutes.

Most of Keczmer’s first few professional seasons were spent at the minor league level, but he did make his NHL debut with Minnesota in 1990-91, earning an assist and six penalty minutes in nine appearances. He also saw time with the Hartford Whalers (36 games, four goals, five assists) over parts of three seasons. On November 19th, 1993, the Whalers traded him to the Flames for Jeff Reese (above).

Keczmer played 57 games for Calgary to finish out the 1993-94 season, scoring one goal on 104 shots with 20 assists, a minus-2 rating, and 48 penalty minutes.  His lone goal came on December 4th, a night in which he also made an assist in a 6-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. On December 14th, he earned a season high three assists as the Flames set down the Vancouver Canucks, 8-4. He totaled multiple points in five contests, and appeared in three playoff games.

In 1994-95, Keczmer appeared in 28 games for the Flames. He made two goals on 33 shots with three assists and 10 penalty minutes, along with a career best plus-7 rating. He added another assist in a seven game playoff series loss to the San Jose Sharks. He played 13 games for them in 1995-96, going scoreless with a minus-6 rating and 14 penalty minutes. The Flames traded him with Phil Housley to the New Jersey Devils for Tommy Albelin, Cale Hulse and Jocelyn Lemieux on February 26th.

Keczmer later played with the Albany River Rats (AHL, 17 games, zero goals, four assists), the Dallas Stars (52 games, one goal, four assists), the Michigan K-Wings (AHL, 91 games, four goals, 29 assists), Nashville Predators (40 games, zero goals, five assists), the Milwaukee Admirals (IHL, 18 games, one goal, three assists), and the Worcester IceCats (25 games, one goal, nine assists).

All-Time Statline: 98 games, three goals, 23 assists, minus-1 rating, 72 penalty minutes, 4.56 point shares.