This series features players the Calgary Flames drafted and—regrettably—moved on from too soon. Be prepared for pain, frustration, and anger as we delve into what could have been! Next up is the seventh player on our list, Steve Bégin.
The series will consist of 10 players and five honourable mentions. The criteria for the players selected for this list were that they had a career of at least 500 National Hockey League games, the Flames moved on from the players in their mid-20s, and the players had a noteworthy career after leaving Calgary.
Why does Bégin make the list?
Bégin was a role player, playing his entire career as a bottom-six centre. His single-season career highs in goals and points were 11 and 23, respectively. However, that does not mean he didn’t provide value to his teams.
The Flames drafted Bégin in the second round of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, 40th overall. He spent seven years in the organization before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres following the 2002–03 season. During his time in Calgary, Bégin never averaged more than 9:54 time on ice in a single season. Over parts of five seasons with the Flames, he scored 15 goals and 26 points in 159 games.
As I mentioned above, the Flames traded Bégin to the Sabres in the summer of 2003. He would never play a game for the Sabres, though, as the Montreal Canadiens claimed Bégin in the Waiver Draft on October 3, 2003, just prior to the start of the 2003–04 NHL season.
Bégin played five seasons as a Hab, accumulating 35 goals and 66 points over 266 games. His career-best season was in 2005–06, following the lockout season. He averaged 14:19 TOI that season, which was a career-best by nearly 1:30. Bégin also finished 55th in Selke Trophy voting in the 2003–04 season. Not bad!
The Habs dealt Bégin to the Dallas Stars midway through the 2008–09 season, where he played 20 games (one goal, two points, 66 hits, 12 blocked shots) before walking away as an unrestricted free agent. That summer, he signed a one-year deal with the Boston Bruins. Bégin played out the 2009–10 season in Boston, scoring five goals and 14 points in 77 games. More impressively, he won 366 of 681 faceoffs, good for a 53.7 faceoff win percentage. He also recorded 182 hits and 31 blocked shots, showing his defensive presence on the ice.
The Nashville Predators signed Bégin as a free agent on October 20, 2010, but he played just two games for the team. He spent the majority of the 2010–11 season in the American Hockey League, playing for the Milwaukee Admirals. Unsurprisingly, the Predators let Bégin hit free agency following the season.
The Vancouver Canucks gave Bégin a shot prior to the 2011–12 season, signing him to a professional tryout, but they ultimately released him, and he ended up missing the entire season due to a hip injury.
More than two years after his last NHL game (December 18, 2010), Bégin returned to the place where it all started. Then Flames General Manager Jay Feaster signed Bégin to a one-year deal, and Bégin made his return to NHL ice on January 20, 2013. He played out the rest of the year, scoring four goals and eight points to go along with 21 blocked shots and 62 hits.
The Flames chose not to renew Bégin’s contract, and—nearly a year after signing that deal with the Flames—Bégin announced his retirement on January 16, 2014.
What did the Flames have to show for Bégin?
On July 3, 2003, the Flames traded Bégin and Chris Drury to the Sabres as part of a three-way trade for Steve Reinprecht and Rhett Warrener. The third team—the Colorado Avalanche—sent Reinprecht and Warrener to the Sabres for Keith Ballard. Drury went on to post two of his best seasons in his three years in a Sabres uniform before the New York Rangers—unsurprisingly—signed him to a big free agent ticket.
Warrener was a strong defensive defenceman for the Flames, helping them to their 2004 Stanley Cup Final win over loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was a minute-muncher in those playoffs, averaging 24:06 TOI through 24 games. Warrener played four seasons in Calgary from 2003–04 to 2007–08, averaging 18:05 TOI and accumulating 11 goals and 37 points across 231 games. He played his last NHL game in the 2007–08 season and eventually announced his retirement on January 16, 2014—the same day as Steve Bégin.
Steve Reinprecht played just two years in Calgary, scoring 17 goals and 58 points through 96 games while averaging 15:51 TOI. Unfortunately, shoulder surgery kept him out of the 2003–04 playoff run, during which he could have had a chance at his second Stanley Cup. Partway through the 2005–06 season, the Flames sent Reinprecht and Philippe Sauvé to the Phoenix Coyotes for Brian Boucher and Mike Leclerc.
The 29-year-old Boucher played three games in a Flames jersey, posting a .854 save percentage and a 4.94 goals against average. Naturally, the Flames let him go in free agency following that season.
Leclerc—who was also age 29 at the time of the trade—played just 15 games for the Flames, scoring one goal and five points. Those were his last NHL games, and the Flames received nothing from his departure from the team.
Summarizing how costly the Flames’ mistake was
Evaluating the Flames’ handling of Bégin proves difficult as he was traded with a more valuable asset, which surely improved the return. Neither Warrener nor Reinprecht ever reached the level of Drury, but both were reliable pieces of the Flames’ roster for a few years. However, the Flames ultimately ended up with nothing to show for the trade. For this reason, I’ll classify this as a fumble.
Again, the return they received for Bégin was decent but was easily on the back of Drury’s trade value. A series of moves—or lack of moves—turned that return into nothing. Had the Flames held Bégin for just one or two more years and given him more ice time, they might have seen the player he became in Montreal and been able to get a better return for him.
Do you agree with our assessment of the Flames’ handling of Bégin? Let us know your thoughts!
Check out all of The Win Column’s posts from this series:
Main list: #10 Jonas Hoglund | #9 Robert Svehla | #8 Travis Moen
Honourable mentions: #5 Michael Nylander | #4 Jean-Sebastien Giguere
