We continue our offseason series taking a look back at past Calgary Flames rosters with the 2009–10 squad, the 30th season in Calgary franchise history. The Flames continued to find themselves in the mushy middle as they desperately tried to remain a contender despite the warning signs that it was too little too late.
After another first round exit, the Flames fired head coach Mike Keenan and hired Darryl Sutter’s brother Brent to be the new head coach for the 2009–10 season. Despite a hot start that saw the Flames leading their division in December, a slump to kick off the new year saw them finish in 10th place in the Western Conference and miss the playoffs for the first time since 2003.
From that team, Jarome Iginla and Craig Conroy are both still with the Flames in management roles as general manager and special advisor to the general manager. Mikael Backlund meanwhile is the only member of the team still playing with the Flames. Lastly Cory Sarich works for the team on a recurring basis with FlamesTV during the season.
Forwards
Jarome Iginla
The 2009–10 season was a down year for Jarome Iginla as he posted 69 points, his lowest total since the 2005–06 season. Once again however the main culprit was a complete lack of a supporting cast. Iginla was the only Flame to register over 60 points and one of just two to even eclipse 40 points. These late 2000s Flames teams were a grind to watch.
Iginla was dealt a couple years later in 2013 when the Flames finally committed to a rebuild. He retired from hockey in 2017. In 2020, he was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Since retiring he was not directly involved with any NHL team until of course this summer when he was hired as the special assistant to the general manager in Calgary.
Rene Bourque
In just his second year as a Flame Rene Bourque was by far the team’s second best forward in 2009–10. He posted a career-high 27 goals and 58 points to finish second on the Flames in both categories behind only Iginla. Bourque would play two more productive seasons in Calgary before being traded during the 2011–12 season. He’d then play five more seasons in the NHL and one in Sweden before eventually retiring in 2018.
Inspired by his upbringing, Bourque started the Bourque Buddies charity to help Metis children like himself have something to work towards growing up. He also started the Rene Bourque Hockey Fund to help provide hockey equipment to underprivileged children.
Daymond Langkow
Nearing the end of his career, Daymond Langkow was still operating as the Flames’ second line centre in 2009–10 and posted 37 points in 72 games. To his credit, he was still producing elite defensive numbers in an era where analytics weren’t mainstream.
The 2009–10 season would end up being Langkow’s last in Calgary as he would play just four games the next year and get traded in the offseason of 2011. He’s not currently working in hockey, however his son Colton is teammates with Flames first-round pick Samuel Honzek in the WHL.
Curtis Glencross
Now in his second season as a Flame, Curtis Glencross posted a then career-high 15 goals in 2009–10 along with 33 points in 67 games. Glencross would become one of the more well known Flames across his seven seasons in Calgary before being dealt at the 2014 trade deadline. Unable to find a new contract during the 2015 offseason, Glencross retired at the age of 33.
Glencross has remained a huge part of the Calgary community as he has hosted a yearly Glencross Charity Camp and Poker Event and regularly takes part in Flames Alumni charity events and activities. He also currently works as a Client Relationship Manager for Cardinal Point Wealth Management in Calgary.
Olli Jokinen
The 2009–10 season was Olli Jokinen’s first full season as a Flame. Despite the hope that he’d click with Jarome Iginla, it just didn’t work out as he’d register just 11 goals and 35 points in 56 games before being traded at the 2010 trade deadline for Alex Kotalik and Chris Higgins just a year after being acquired.
The Flames would then bring Jokinen back as a free agent following the season for some reason. He’d spend two more years in Calgary before leaving as a free agent in 2012. After three more seasons in the NHL he’d retire in 2015.
Craig Conroy
The 2009–10 season would end up being the final full season of Craig Conroy’s NHL career. At 39 years old, he’d put up three goals and 15 points in 63 games in a season full of injuries.
Conroy would return for the 2010–11 season but was healthy scratched in 32 of the teams first 50 games. He was eventually waived and called it a career soon after. He then quickly moved into a management role with the Flames that same season and has worked his way up the organization, eventually being named general manager this summer.
Matt Stajan
Acquired as the main piece in the blockbuster Dion Phaneuf trade in January of the 2009–10 season, the then 25-year-old Matt Stajan would post 16 points in 25 games for the Flames to close out the season. Across the next eight seasons, Stajan would fail to live up to his potential, but would become a fan favourite in Calgary and a regular in their lineup.
He’d head over to Germany for one season in 2018–19 and retire following the season. Since retiring, Stajan has called Calgary home and has had an active role with the NHLPA as a representative for both Toronto and Calgary. He’s also served as an assistant coach for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen the last two seasons.
Niklas Hagman
Another major piece of the Phaneuf trade was a 29-year-old Niklas Hagman. Hagman would put up 11 points in 27 games to close out the 2009–10 season in Calgary, but unfortunately it would be downhill from there. He’d spend just one more season in Calgary with middling results before being put on waivers at the beginning of the 2010–11 season.
Hagman played one more year in the NHL before leaving for Europe in 2012 where he played until retiring from hockey in 2017.
Nigel Dawes
Claimed off waivers by the Flames during the 2009 offseason, Nigel Dawes was still unproven at the NHL level. For whatever reason, it just clicked in Calgary and he’d have the best season of his career in 2009–10, posting 14 goals and 32 points in 66 games while posting all around strong results.
His time in Calgary was short lived as for reasons I’ll never understand the Flames placed a 24-year-old Dawes on waivers before the 2010-11 season despite his strong results. He’d end up playing 13 more games in the NHL and left for the KHL in 2011 where he had one of the most successful careers in the league’s history. He most recently played in the DEL last season.
Eric Nystrom
By this point it was clear Eric Nystrom wasn’t going to live up to his 10th overall draft status. He’d register just 19 points across 82 games for the Flames in 2009–10. Unsurprisingly he left as a free agent following the season.
Nystrom stuck around in the NHL for six more seasons before going over to Norway in 2016–17. He’d retire after one season in Norway in 2017 after winning a Norwegian Championship with the Stavanger Oilers. He currently works as a Cybersecurity Concierge in Florida.
David Moss
Now in his fourth NHL season, David moss would post the lowest point pace of his career in 2009–10 with 17 points in 64 games. He’d spend two more years as a Flame and then head to Arizona as a free agent in 2012. He’d leave the NHL in 2015 and spend one year in Switzerland before retiring in 2016.
A fun fact about Moss is that he married Survivor season 18 contestant Erinn Lobdell in 2014, who he now has four children with.
Dustin Boyd
The 2009–10 season was Dustin Boyd’s final as a Flame as he’d produce a career-high 19 points in 60 games before ultimately being traded at the 2010 trade deadline. Boyd would play just one more season in the NHL and left for the KHL in 2011. He’d spend nine successful seasons in Russia before retiring in 2020.
Defencemen
Dion Phaneuf
After a poor 2008–09 season, Dion Phaneuf would once again struggle to start the 2009–10 season with just 22 points in 55 games. As trade rumours swirled due to Phaneuf’s poor play, the team pulled the trigger and dealt him to Toronto in a blockbuster seven-player trade in January of 2010.
Phaneuf would spend another 11 years in the NHL and retired in 2021. In 2022 he joined CBD and vitamin supplement company CaniBrands as the company’s strategic advisor.
Mark Giordano
The 2009–10 season was when Mark Giordano officially became a regular in the Flames lineup, playing all 82 games and adding a then career best 11 goals and 30 points. He’d also average over 20 minutes a game for the first time in his career playing in the Flames’ top-four.
Giordano would play the second most games of any Flame ever and served as the second longest running team captain in history before being claimed in the 2021 expansion draft. He’s spent the last two seasons playing for his hometown Maple Leafs. Here’s hoping he signs a one day contract to retire as a Flame one day.
Jay Bouwmeester
In desperate need of some more youth on the blueline, the Flames went out and acquired the rights to 25-year-old Jay Bouwmeester during the 2009 offseason. They’d then sign him to a long-term deal soon after. In his first season in Calgary, Bouwmeester would play in all 82 games, adding 29 points while playing the most minutes of any Flame.
Bouwmeester would spend four underwhelming years in Calgary before being dealt at the 2013 trade deadline for a seriously questionable return. He’d then go on to win a Stanley Cup with St. Louis a few years later in 2019. In 2020, Bouwmeester suffered a serious cardiac arrest incident during a game with St. Louis. Luckily he made a full recovery but was forced to retire soon after.
Robyn Regehr
As was tradition in the 2000s, Robyn Regehr played over 21 minutes a night for the Flames in 2009–10, adding on 17 points. With some more youth in the lineup Regehr began to take on a smaller role in Calgary as he entered his 30s. A couple years later in 2011, he was dealt to Buffalo for Chris Butler and Paul Byron. He’d spend five more seasons in the NHL, winning a Stanley Cup with Sutter and the L.A. Kings in 2014.
After retiring in 2015, Regehr—who is an avid outdoorsman—has spent his time snowmobiling, and wakeboarding in Calgary and teaches kids outdoor safety.
Cory Sarich
Veteran shutdown defender Cory Sarich would suit up for 57 games in 2009–10, logging just under 16 minutes a night in a depth role for the Flames. He’d add on one goal and six points.
Sarich would spend another three seasons in Calgary and one more in Colorado after being traded by the Flames in 2013. He’d retire in 2014. Sarich suffered a scary biking accident soon after retiring in 2014 but made a full recovery and currently works with FlamesTV during the season.
Adam Pardy
Adam Pardy would also play in 57 games for the Flames during his sophomore 2009–10 season, adding nine points in a depth role. Yet another hulking defensive defenceman on the Flames blueline, Pardy would stick around for three years in Calgary before leaving as a free agent in 2011.
Pardy played six more seasons in the NHL after leaving, one in the SHL and one in the ECHL before retiring in 2019 after winning the Kelly Cup. This past season Pardy served as an assistant coach for the AAA East Coast Blizzards and also works as a Sales Manager at KaiCo Energy Inc, providing businesses the tools to become energy efficient.
Goaltenders
Miikka Kiprusoff
Still very much a workhorse for the Flames, Miikka Kiprusoff would suit up for 73 games in 2009–10, posting the best save percentage since his 2005–06 Vezina season at .920. His 2.31 GAA was also his best total since his Vezina winning season a few years prior. Despite him putting the team on his back, the Flames still failed to make the playoffs.
Kiprusoff would of course finish his career in Calgary following the 2013–14 season. He’s since returned to Finland and has lived a notoriously quiet life away from the spotlight, until of course this past week when it was announced his number would be retired in March.
