CALGARY, Alberta -- The Calgary Flames promoted Craig Conroy to general manager.
The move gives one of its former players his first opportunity lead an NHL front office after he had nine seasons of experience with the franchise as its assistant general manager.
“I interviewed 25 players, coaches, coaching staff, training staff, spoke to prominent agents who represent key players on our team, and it became clear to me that we need a new voice to guide us forward,” Flames president of hockey operations and interim general manager Don Maloney said.
The 51-year-old Conroy worked under Brad Treliving, who turned down a contract extension to stay with the club.
Conroy, who is from Potsdam, New York, was drafted by Montreal in 1990 and had 542 career points in 1,009 games. The two-way forward played for the Canadiens, St. Louis, Los Angeles and had two stints as a player in Calgary. He helped the Flames reach the 2004 Stanley Cup Final.
“I’m ready to accept this next challenge, and promise to our fans, I’m going to everything I can to bring another Stanley Cup here,” Conroy said at a news conference.
Conroy hopes to hire a coach to give the team stability after it has shuffled through many in recent years. The Flames fired Darryl Sutter a few weeks ago, 11 months after he won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach.
Calgary failed to make the playoffs this year after winning the Pacific Division in 2022 and advancing in the postseason for the first time since 2015.