As of this writing, the Calgary Flames do not have a permanent general manager, with president of hockey operations Don Maloney operating in the GM position on an interim basis as he hires Brad Treliving’s replacement. Well, based on comments made by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli on Sportsnet 960 The Fan’s Big Show (with George Rusic and Matt Rose) on Thursday morning, you might want to stay on your toes for an announcement reasonably soon.
Asked about how things are looking, Seravalli echoed what we’ve been hearing a lot of lately: it sounds like they’re getting close. “…I think, in an ideal world, they would have someone in place next week.”
Asked about if there was a favourite to be the next GM, Seravalli phrased his answer like this:
“I don’t know that there’s a front-runner. But if I were gambling and you gave me a list of names, and I do like to gamble, I would say my money would be on Craig Conroy.”
A disclaimer: If Seravalli was predicting it would be Conroy, or if he was reporting that it was going to be Conroy, he would just flat-out say that. He didn’t.
But Seravalli expanded on his answer and noted a few things that make Conroy a strong candidate for the gig: experience with different facts of the Flames organization, a continuity factor between managerial regimes, and his familiarity with the club and market. Conroy played parts of nine seasons with the Flames, including parts of two seasons as captain, and he’s been in hockey operations since his February 2011 retirement. He’s built up a pretty strong resume as far as individuals who haven’t yet had a chance to be a GM yet.
“I think everyone looks at him kind of universally and says that’s someone that’s qualified to take the next step,” said Seravalli.
We’ll have more on the Flames’ GM search as it unfolds.
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