Greg Nemisz was the Flames' first choice in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey franchise that plays in the National Hockey League (NHL). The franchise was founded in 1972 as the Atlanta Flames, and until 1979, it drafted as the Atlanta Flames. The team relocated to Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1980.1 Since arriving in Calgary, the Flames have selected a total of 306 players.2 The 2008 draft was the 29th in which Calgary participated.

The NHL Entry Draft is held each June as teams select players who have turned 18 years old by September 15 in the year the draft is held. The draft order is determined by the previous season's order of finish, with non-playoff teams drafting first, followed by the teams that made the playoffs, with the specific order determined by the number of points earned by each team. The team with the fewest points earns the first overall selection.3 The NHL holds a draft lottery for the 14 non-playoff teams, allowing the winner to move up a maximum of four positions in the draft.4 The Flames have never won the lottery.5 Between 1986 and 1994, the NHL also held a Supplemental Draft for players in American colleges that were otherwise ineligible for the Entry Draft.6

Calgary's first draft pick was Denis Cyr, taken 13th overall in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. The highest Calgary has drafted is sixth overall, which they have done three times. They selected Cory Stillman (1992), Daniel Tkaczuk (1997) and Rico Fata (1998) at the sixth spot. Seven picks went on to play over 1,000 NHL games: Al MacInnis, Gary Roberts, Paul Ranheim, Brett Hull, Gary Suter, Joe Nieuwendyk and Theoren Fleury. One player, Al MacInnis, has been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.7 1986 draft pick Tom Quinlan was also drafted by baseball's Toronto Blue Jays and chose a career in Major League Baseball over the NHL.8

The Flames selected seven players in 2008. During the draft, the Flames made two trades. They first acquired Mike Cammalleri from the Los Angeles Kings, along with a second round pick in exchange for their first pick, 17th overall, and a second round pick in the 2009 draft. Calgary then sent forward Alex Tanguay, along with their fifth round selection to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for the 25th overall pick and a second round selection in 2009. 9 With the 25th pick, the Flames selected Greg Nemisz from the Ontario Hockey League's Windsor Spitfires.10

Contents

Key

      Played at least one game in the NHL

General
Nat Nationality ROY Rookie of the Year
Pos Position Ret Jersey number retired
S Supplemental draft selecion USHS United States High School
Positions
G Goaltender C Centre
D Defenceman LW Left Wing
RW Right Wing F Forward
Statistics
GP Games played G Goals
A Assists Pts Points
PIM Penalties in minutes GAA Goals against average

Draft picks

Brett Hull was a 6th round pick of the Flames in 1984.
Taken 166th overall in 1987, Theoren Fleury went on to play over 1,000 NHL games.
Though he never played in Calgary, Nils Ekman was a 5th round pick of the Flames in 1994.
The Flames took Dany Sabourin in the 4th round in 1998.
Craig Anderson was Calgary's third pick in 1999.
Drafted by the Flames in the 5th round in 2000, Travis Moen never played for Calgary.
Chuck Kobasew was the Flames' first selection in 2001.
David Moss was selected in the 7th round of the 2001 draft.
The Flames took Eric Nystrom with their first pick, 10th overall, in 2002.
Dion Phaneuf was the Flames' 1st round pick in 2003.
Matt Pelech was the Flames' top pick in 2005.
The Flames selected Leland Irving with their 1st round pick in 2006.
Swedish forward Mikael Backlund was Calgary's top pick in 2007.

Statistics are complete as of the 2007–08 NHL season and show each player's career regular season totals in the NHL. Goaltender statistics are listed in the form of wins–losses–ties for goaltenders who played prior to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, and wins–losses–ties–shootout losses for goaltenders who played since the introduction of the shootout and elimination of ties in the 2005–06 NHL season.


Year Rnd Pick Player Nat Pos Team (league) GP G A Pts PIM Notes
1980 1 13 Denis Cyr  Canada RW Montreal Junior Canadiens (QMJHL) 193 41 43 84 36
1980 2 31 Tony Curtale  United States D Brantford Alexanders (OHA) 2 0 0 0 0
1980 2 32 Kevin LaVallee  Canada F Brantford Alexanders (OHA) 366 110 125 235 85
1980 2 39 Steve Konroyd  Canada D Oshawa Generals (OHA) 895 41 195 236 863
1980 4 76 Marc Roy  Canada RW Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
1980 5 97 Randy Turnbull  Canada D Portland Winter Hawks (WHL) 1 0 0 0 2
1980 6 118 John Multan  Canada RW Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
1980 7 139 Dave Newsom  Canada LW Brantford Alexanders (OHA)
1980 8 160 Claude Drouin  Canada C Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
1980 9 181 Hakan Loob  Sweden F Färjestads BK (SEL) 450 193 236 429 189
1980 10 202 Steven Fletcher  Canada LW Hull Olympiques (QMJHL) 3 0 0 0 5
1981 1 15 Al MacInnis  Canada D Kitchener Rangers (OHL) 1416 340 934 1274 1501 HHOF (2007)
Ret (#2; STL)
1981 3 56 Mike Vernon  Canada G Calgary Wranglers (WHL) 781 385–273–92, 3.00 GAA Ret (#30; CGY)
1981 4 78 Peter Madach  Sweden C HV 71 Juniors (Sweden Jr.)
1981 5 99 Mario Simioni  Canada F Toronto Marlboros (OHL)
1981 6 120 Todd Hooey  Canada F Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
1981 7 141 Rick Heppner  United States D Mount View High School (USHS)
1981 8 162 Dale DeGray  Canada D Oshawa Generals (OHL) 153 18 47 65 195
1981 9 183 George Boudreau  United States D Matignon High School (USHS)
1981 10 204 Bruce Eakin  Canada F Saskatoon Blades (WHL) 13 2 2 4 4
1982 2 29 Dave Reierson  Canada D Prince Albert Raiders (SJHL) 2 0 0 0 0
1982 3 51 Jim Laing  United States D Clarkson University (ECAC)
1982 4 65 Dave Meszaros  Canada G Toronto Marlboros (OHL)
1982 4 72 Mark Lamb  Canada C Billings Bighorns (WHL) 403 46 100 146 291
1982 5 93 Lou Kiriakou  Canada D Toronto Marlboros (OHL)
1982 6 114 Jeff Vaive  Canada C Ottawa 67's (OHL)
1982 6 118 Mats Kihlstrom  Sweden D Sodertalje SK (SEL)
1982 7 135 Brad Ramsden  Canada C Peterborough Petes (OHL)
1982 8 156 Roy Myllari  Canada D Cornwall Royals (OHL)
1982 9 177 Ted Pearson  Canada F University of Wisconsin-Madison (WCHA)
1982 10 198 Jim Uens  Canada C Oshawa Generals (OHL)
1982 11 219 Rick Erdall  United States C University of Minnesota (WCHA)
1982 12 240 Dale Thompson  Canada RW Calgary Wranglers (WHL)
1983 1 13 Dan Quinn  Canada C Belleville Bulls (OHL) 805 266 419 685 533
1983 3 51 Brian Bradley  Canada C London Knights (OHL) 651 182 321 503 528
1983 3 55 Perry Berezan  Canada C St. Albert Saints (AJHL) 378 61 75 136 277
1983 4 66 John Bekkers  Canada F Regina Pats (WHL)
1983 4 71 Kevan Guy  Canada D Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) 156 5 20 25 138
1983 4 77 Bill Claviter  United States LW Virginia High School (USHS)
1983 5 91 Igor Liba  Slovakia LW HC Kosice (Czech.) 37 7 18 25 36
1983 6 111 Grant Blair  Canada G Harvard University (ECAC)
1983 7 131 Jeff Hogg  Canada G Oshawa Generals (OHL)
1983 8 151 Chris MacDonald  Canada D Western Michigan University (CCHA)
1983 9 171 Rob Kivell  Canada D Victoria Cougars (WHL)
1983 10 191 Tom Pratt  United States D Kimball Union Academy (USHS)
1983 11 211 Jaroslav Benak  Czech Republic D Dukla Jihlava (Czech.)
1983 12 231 Sergei Makarov  Russia RW HC CSKA Moscow (Soviet) 424 134 250 384 317 ROY (1990)
1984 1 12 Gary Roberts  Canada LW Ottawa 67's (OHL) 1194 434 468 902 2533
1984 2 33 Ken Sabourin  Canada D Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) 74 2 8 10 201
1984 2 38 Paul Ranheim  United States LW Edina High School (USHS) 1013 161 199 360 288
1984 4 75 Petr Rosol  Czech Republic F Dukla Jihlava (Czech.)
1984 5 96 Joel Paunio  Finland LW HIFK (FNL)
1984 6 117 Brett Hull  United States RW Penticton Knights (BCHL) 1269 741 650 1391 458
1984 7 138 Kevan Melrose  Canada D Red Deer Rustlers (AJHL)
1984 8 159 Jiri Hrdina  Czech Republic C Sparta Prague (Czech.) 250 45 85 130 92
1984 9 180 Gary Suter  United States D University of Wisconsin-Madison (WCHA) 1145 203 642 845 1349 ROY (1986)
1984 10 200 Petr Rucka  Czech Republic C Sparta Prague (Czech.)
1984 11 221 Stefan Jonsson  Sweden D Sodertalje SK (SEL)
1984 12 241 Rudolf Suchanek  Czech Republic D HC ÄŚeskĂ© BudÄ›jovice (Czech.)
1985 1 17 Chris Biotti  United States D Belmont Hill (USHS)
1985 2 27 Joe Nieuwendyk  Canada C Cornell University (ECAC) 1257 564 562 1126 677 ROY (1988)
1985 2 38 Jeff Wenaas  Canada C Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
1985 3 59 Lane MacDonald  United States L Harvard University (ECAC)
1985 4 80 Roger Johansson  Sweden D IF Troja-Ljungby (SEL) 161 9 34 43 163
1985 5 101 Esa Keskinen  Finland C TPS (FNL)
1985 6 122 Tim Sweeney  United States LW Weymouth-North Maroons (USHS) 291 55 83 138 123
1985 7 143 Stu Grimson  Canada LW Regina Pats (WHL) 729 17 22 39 2113
1985 8 164 Nate Smith  United States D Lawrence Academy (USHS)
1985 9 185 Darryl Olsen  Canada D St. Albert Saints (AJHL) 1 0 0 0 0
1985 10 206 Peter Romberg  Germany D ECD Iserlohn (DEL)
1985 11 227 Alexander Kozhevnikov  Russia F Spartak Moscow (Soviet)
1985 12 248 Bill Gregoire  Canada D Victoria Cougars (WHL)
1986 1 16 George Pelawa  United States F Bemidji High School (USHS)
1986 2 37 Brian Glynn  Germany D Saskatoon Blades (WHL) 431 25 79 104 410
1986 4 79 Tom Quinlan  United States RW Hill-Murray High School (USHS)
1986 5 100 Scott Bloom  United States LW Burnsville High School (USHS)
1986 6 121 John Parker  United States C White Bear Lake High School (USHS)
1986 7 142 Rick Lessard  Canada D Ottawa 67's (OHL) 15 0 4 4 18
1986 8 163 Mark Olsen  United States D Colorado College (NCAA)
1986 9 184 Scott Sharples  Canada G Penticton Knights (BCHL) 1 0–0–1, 3.69 GAA
1986 10 205 Doug Pickel  Canada LW Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
1986 11 226 Anders Lindstrom  Sweden C Timra (SEL)
1986 12 247 Antonin Stavjana  Czech Republic D Gottwaldov (Czech.)
1986 S 4 Steve MacSwain  United States RW University of Minnesota (WCHA)
1987 1 19 Bryan Deasley  Canada LW University of Michigan (CCHA)
1987 2 25 Stephane Matteau  Canada LW Hull Olympiques (QMJHL) 848 144 172 316 742
1987 2 40 Kevin Grant  Canada D Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
1987 3 61 Scott Mahoney  Canada RW Oshawa Generals (OHL)
1987 4 70 Tim Harris  Canada RW LSSU (CCHA)
1987 5 103 Tim Corkery  Canada D Ferris State University (CCHA)
1987 6 124 Joe Aloi  Canada D Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)
1987 7 145 Peter Ciavaglia  United States C Nichols High School (USHS) 5 0 0 0 0
1987 8 166 Theoren Fleury</