A Flame from the Past: Frank Musil

Do you remember Frank Musil?

Every once in a while, we take a look at a player who once played for the Calgary Flames in a series called “A Flame From the Past.” This player has to have played a significant number of games for the Flames. I’ll put every Flames’ season into a Wheel of Names, and this time, it landed on the 1990-91 season. In this article, we’ll look at Frank Musil.

Musil was born in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia (now Czechia) in late 1964. The defenceman began his professional career with TJ Pardubice, playing in two games during the 1980-81 season. He became a regular in 1981-82, scoring a goal and four points, then a goal and three points in 33 games in 1982-83.

His performance led to the Minnesota North Stars selecting him 38th overall in the 1983 draft. But due to Czechoslovakia being a part of the Soviet Union, the defenceman didn’t come state side to begin the 1986-87 season. In the meantime, Musil played one more season with TJ Pardubice where he scored four goals and 12 points.

Musil’s final two seasons in Europe before defecting for North America was with ASD Dukla Jihlava, also in Czechoslovakia. In 1984-85, he scored four goals and 10 points, then four goals and 11 points in 34 games.

His first season came with the North Stars in 1986-87, where he scored two goals and 11 points in 72 games. That was followed up by a career-high nine goals and 17 points in 1987-88. Musil’s production continued to improve, scoring one goal and 20 points in 55 games in 1988-89, along with a goal and two points in five post-season games.

The defenceman’s final full season with the North Stars was in 1989-90, scoring two goals and 10 points in 56 games, while being held pointless in four playoff games. Musil began the 1990-91 season with the North Stars, picking up two assists in eight games, but was traded in October 1990 to the Flames for Brian Glynn.

Playing 67 games with the Flames to end 1990-91, Musil scored seven goals and 21 points, giving him a career-high of 23 points. Musil remained productive the next two seasons, scoring four goals and 12 points in 78 games in 1991-92, then six goals and 16 points in 75 games in 1992-93

The defenceman’s play dipped in 1993-94, scoring a goal and nine points in 75 games. For the third time in four seasons since joining the team, the Flames were eliminated in the first round. After the 1994-95 lockout ended, Musil picked up five assists in 35 games, but the Flames fell to the San Jose Sharks in seven.

That off-season, Musil was traded to the Ottawa Senators. He scored a goal and four points in 65 games in 1995-96, then five assists in 56 games in 57. Musil was traded for the third time in his career, this time during the 1997-98 season. After playing all of the season in the minors, the Senators traded him to a fellow Canadian team, the Edmonton Oilers.

Musil returned to the NHL to end the 1997-98 season, scoring a goal and three points in 17 games, while being held pointless in seven playoff games. The defenceman played 39 games in 1998-99 with the Oilers, picking up three assists while also playing one post-season game. He didn’t play in 1999-2000, before playing 13 more games with the Oilers where he picked up two assists.

The defenceman played three regular season games with HC Dukla Jihlava in Czechia’s second tier, picking up an assist and amassing 54 penalty minutes. Musil went on to play 13 playoff games that season, his games as a player.

Post-career, Musil joined the Oilers as a scout. During that time, the Flames’ geographical rival selected Musil’s son David, who played in four NHL games with the Oilers in 2014-15. David returned to Europe before the 2017-18 season, winning Czechia’s trophy three times with Trinec Ocelari HC.

As for Frank, he has served as a scout for the Buffalo Sabres since 2017-18, a role he still occupies to this day.