Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter CXXVI: 22-21

22. Hakan Loob

Hakan Loob was born on July 3rd, 1960 in Slite, Sweden. A 5’9", 178 lb. forward, he scored 15 goals with four assists in 36 contests for Farjestads BK Karlstad in Sweden in 1979-80. The Flames chose him in the ninth round of the following draft, with the 181st overall selection. He played three more seasons with Farjestads, scoring 91 goals with 55 assists in 108 games.

Loob, referred to as the "(Wayne) Gretzky of Sweden," joined the Flames for the 1983-84 season. He played in 77 games and ranked fourth on the club with 55 points. He scored 30 goals (including two game winners) on 178 shots with 25 assists, a plus-11 rating and 22 penalty minutes. The Flames finished up at 34-32-12, good for second in the Smythe Division. Calgary defeated the Vancouver Canucks in four games before losing in seven to the Edmonton Oilers. Loob scored two goals with three assists while playing in all 11 contests.

1984-85 would see Loob play in 78 games and scored a total of 72 points, second on the Flames. He scored 37 goals on 224 shots with 35 assists, a plus-14 rating, and 14 penalty minutes. He led the club with five game winning markers. He earned enough votes to place 16th in the voting for the Lady Byng Trophy, awarded for sportsmanship. The Flames went 41-27-12 on the season. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Winnipeg Jets, three-games-to-one.

In 1985-86, Loob broke the 30-goal barrier for the third time in his three NHL seasons, finishing with 31 on 174 shots. He added 36 assists for a team-fifth 67 points, earned a plus-22 rating and 36 penalty minutes. He led the forward corps with 5.3 point shares. The Flames went 40-31-9, then blew through the Campbell Conference by defeating the Jets in three straight and the Oilers and St. Louis Blues in seven each before losing in five to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final. Loob was one of 10 Flames to finish with at least 14 points, as the whole club rocked through the first three rounds. He scored four times with 10 assists.

Loob had his worst NHL season in 1986-87, scoring only 18 times on 129 shots in 68 games. He had a minus-13 rating, the only time in his career he didn’t finish with a positive rating, along with 47 penalty minutes. Fortunately, Calgary didn’t mirror Loob’s level of success that season, posting a 46-31-3 record before dropping the first round of the playoffs in six games to Winnipeg.

1987-88 would see Loob follow his worst season with his best. He led the team with 106 points, scoring 50 goals on 198 shots (an NHL-fifth 25.3 shooting percentage). He had 56 assists, a plus-41 rating, and 44 penalty minutes. He led the team and placed second in the NHL with eight short-handed goals. On November 25th, he earned a hat trick in a 4-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks. He earned his second hat trick of the year, adding an assist on January 19th in a 7-5 win over Vancouver. Midseason would see him appear in the all-star game for the only time in his career. From March 3rd, through the 19th, he earned 24 points with 13 goals and 11 assists, including three hat tricks. On March 3rd, he scored four times in a 6-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. On March 12th, he scored three goals and three assists in a 10-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres. He finished with multiple points 32 times, including 10 times when he finished with three or more. The Flames went 48-23-9, defeating the Los Angeles Kings in five games before getting swept by the Oilers in round two. Loob led the team with eight goals, adding an assist over the nine contests.

1988-89 would be Loob’s last NHL season. He played in 78 games for the Flames, and rank second on the team with 85 points on 27 goals and 58 assists. He took 223 shots on goal with a plus-28 rating and 44 penalty minutes. He had 22 multiple point games. The club went 54-17-9 through the regular season, then defeated the Canucks in seven, the Kings in four, the Chicago Blackhawks in five, and the Habs in six to claim the Stanley Cup. Loob had eight goals and nine assists.

With his cup, his all-star appearance, and 193 NHL goals under his belt, Loob left the Great White North after the 1989 playoffs, rejoining Farjestads for seven seasons, scoring 156 goals with 179 assists in 261 contests before retiring after the 1995-96 campaign.

All-Time Statline: 450 games, 193 goals, 236 assists, plus-103 rating, 189 penalty minutes, 34.11 point shares.

21. Phil Housley

Housley was a 5’10", 185 lb. defenseman from Saint Paul, Minnesota. Born on March 9th, 1964, he was picked by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft, with the sixth overall selection.

Housley played the first eight seasons of his NHL career with the Sabres (608 games, 178 goals, 380 assists), later appearing with the Winnipeg Jets (232 games, 64 goals, 195 assists) and the St. Louis Blues (26 games, seven goals, 15 assists). During the 1994 offseason, the Blues traded him with two draft picks (Steve Begin and John Tripp) for Al MacInnis and a draft pick (Didier Tremblay).

1994-95 would see Housley play in 43 of the lockout-shortened 48-game season. He scored eight goals on 135 shots with 35 assists for a Flames-third 43 points. He led the team with a plus-17 rating, and spent 18 minutes in the penalty box. He also led all skaters with 6.8 point shares. He started off his Flames career with a seven game point streak, totaling 11 points (three goals, eight assists). He earned three assists in his first appearance, a 3-3 tie with the Jets on January 20th. He repeated the feat in his third appearance, a 6-4 win over the Blues. The Flames went 24-17-7, winning the Pacific Division. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the San Jose Sharks in seven games. Housley earned nine assists through the series.

In 1995-96, Housley earned 52 points for Calgary through 59 games. He scored 16 goals on 155 shots with 36 assists, a minus-2 rating, and 22 penalty minutes. His 52 points ranked him fourth on the club despite his shortened season, and his 7.9 point shares led all skaters. On February 26th, the Flames traded him to the New Jersey Devils with Dan Keczmer for Tommy Albelin, Cale Hulse, and Jocelyn Lemieux.

Housley finished the season with the Devils, scoring a goal and 15 assists in 22 contests. He then joined the Washington Capitals for two seasons, scoring 17 goals with 54 assists in 141 games. For some reason, the Caps waived him during the 1998 offseason, where the Flames picked him up.

In his return to Calgary, Housley was third on the team with 54 points in 79 games, and led all players with 8.9 point shares. He scored 11 goals on 193 shots with a team leading 43 assists, a plus-14 rating, and 52 penalty minutes in 20:52 per game. He finished in double figures 12 times. On January 28th, he scored a goal and two assists in a 6-6 tie with the Chicago Blackhawks. On February 22nd, he scored twice with an assist on a third goal in a 6-2 win over the New York Rangers. He had three assists in a 5-4 win per the Washington Capitals on March 13th. The Flames dropped to 30-40-12, missing the postseason entirely.

In 1999-00, Housley played in his seventh and final all-star game, and his only as a member of the Flames. He played in 78 contests, and scored 11 goals on 176 shots, along with 44 assists, a minus-12 rating and 24 penalty minutes. He led the blue line with a team-third 7.6 point share, skating mostly on the first pairing with Derek Morris for 23:29 per game. He had 15 occasions of multiple point games, including on October 28th when he scored once with two assists in a 4-3 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators.

2000-01 would be Housley’s last season with the Flames. He led the blue line with 34 points, on four goals and 30 assists. He played 18:10 per game, earned a 4.4 point share, a minus-15 rating, and 24 penalty minutes. The Flames finished with a 27-36-15-4 record.

The 2001 offseason would see the Chicago Blackhawks choose Housley in the waiver draft. He played parts of two seasons with Chicago (137 games, 21 goals, 47 assists). The Blackhawks traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs for two draft picks (Chris Porter and Karel Hromas). He only played one game for the Leafs. He currently is employed as an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators.

All-Time Statline: 328 games, 50 goals, 188 assists, plus-2 rating, 140 penalty minutes, 35.12 point shares.