The definitive Calgary Flames Dawg rankings

So, what is a Dawg? A Dawg in sports can best be described as a player who shows a strong, competitive drive and a relentless work ethic, especially when the games matter most. NFL head coach Jim Harbaugh once called a Dawg a “Disciplined Athlete With Grit.” They’re the type of players you win with. Ones who will give anything to win and drag their team into the fight if they have to.

If you want to win a Stanley Cup, you need these types of players throughout your roster. Just look at the Florida Panthers, who have players like Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, and Brad Marchand. So, how does the Flames roster stack up?

Nazem Kadri – 8/10 dawg

Nazem Kadri is without a doubt the biggest Dawg on the Flames roster. He’s one of the organization’s only current Stanley Cup winners, their best forward, and has been a menace in the playoffs his entire career. There’s a reason Toronto Maple Leaf fans miss him in the playoffs every year, even after he was suspended in back-to-back first rounds with Toronto. With 44 points in 52 playoff games and a Stanley Cup and OHL championship to his name, Kadri is a winner and the type of player who turns his game up a notch when it’s crunch time.

You don’t win a Stanley Cup and tell all your doubters to kiss your ass on live television unless you’re a certified Dawg.

Zayne Parekh – 8/10 dawg

Zayne Parekh may have just one NHL game under his belt, but it’s safe to say he’s a dawg and one of the biggest ones in the organization. A Memorial Cup and Hlinka Gretzky Cup champion, Parekh has already won two of junior hockey’s biggest prizes. Now, consider he once got into it with a fan who was mouthing off to him in the OHL, and not so subtly shared offensive defenceman highlights as Canada was getting embarrassed at the 2025 World Juniors after cutting him.

The 2024 ninth overall pick also finished high school two years ahead of schedule to focus on hockey before taking University classes at the age of 16. That’s certified dawg behaviour. He also plays with an incredible amount of swagger every night. Parekh is the only Flame who has a shot at being the franchise’s first truly elite 10/10 dawg since Jarome Iginla.

Blake Coleman – 7/10 dawg

The only other Stanley Cup champ on the roster, Blake Coleman, is a dawg. He may not be an elite producer or top of the lineup layer like Kadri or Parekh, but he’s a winner through and through. He’s the type of player contending teams love to have on their roster. A middle-six winger who is relentless on the forecheck, can play on the penalty kill, and leads by example every shift. There’s a reason he was an integral part of back-to-back Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup runs.

MacKenzie Weegar – 7/10 dawg

MacKenzie Weegar is a good example of a dawg even without the NHL success. Despite never playing past the second round, Weegar has shown that he is a fiery competitor and leader for the Flames both on and off the ice. There’s a reason Flames fans are calling for him to be named the next captain. Weegar simply leaves it all out on the ice and consistently carries a weak Flames blueline every night, and then says it how it is in the media afterwards. He’s the type of veteran leader every team needs, and many teams would die to have.

Ryan Lomberg – 6/10 dawg

Ryan Lomberg is an interesting case. In terms of on-ice play, he’s absolutely not dawg material. However, he’s one of the absolute best vibes guys in the league, and is loved everywhere he goes. He’s a classic, gritty, fourth-line locker room presence. Not to mention, he flies around with incredible hair and has a Stanley Cup ring from last season.

Matt Coronato – 5/10 dawg

Matt Coronato is very much a dawg in training. This past season, he was one of the Flames’ best players despite being in his second year and regularly dragged them back into games with timely goals and unrelenting effort. Also, you don’t sleep on an air mattress all year and pot 24 goals in the NHL unless you’ve got some Dawg in you.

Dustin Wolf – 5/10 dawg

Dustin Wolf is quite literally a dawg; it’s in his name. He’s still young like Coronato, and we’ve yet to see enough of him to declare him a full dawg, but he looks well on his way. With another big year carrying the Flames on his back, he’ll be even closer to being the Flames’ first true dawg between the pipes since Miikka Kiprusoff.

Rasmus Andersson – 5/10 dawg

This one may be divisive, but at his peak, Rasmus Andersson is absolutely dawg material. He wasn’t much of one this past season, but he still has that mentality. You don’t stare down opposing team fans every time you score if you’re not a dawg. Andersson was also a top choice for the captaincy if Mikael Backlund departed, and has been known to muck it up if needed or taunt the other team. Here’s hoping he can get back to peak dawg one day.

Martin Pospisil – 5/10 dawg

Like Lomberg, Pospisil isn’t exactly a dawg when it comes to elite play. With that said, he’s a dawg in other ways. He’s constantly in scuffles, isn’t afraid to fight anyone, and has even gotten into it with fans before at the junior level. You have to have a little dawg in you to get half the league to hate you just two years into your career. If they were to ever get into the playoffs, I have no doubt he’d have a big impact.

Mikael Backlund – 3/10 dawg

Mikael Backlund is a great leader and captain, but he just didn’t exhibit dawg behaviour. He’s never won much of anything in Calgary and isn’t exactly known as a big game performer outside of one overtime goal in 2015. He’s a loyal Flame and a great person, but he just doesn’t have that “it” factor that true dawgs do.

Connor Zary – 3/10 dawg

Connor Zary has the makings of a dawg, but injuries have kept him out of dawg status so far. He’s also not known to be a physical or truculent player, while also not being elite offensively. He may get there one day, but for now, it’s safe to say Zary isn’t a dawg at the moment. We need to see more of him first.

Jonathan Huberdeau – 1/10 dawg

Johnathan Huberdeau is the opposite of a dawg. He plays well below his contract value, is known to be soft on the puck and avoid physicality, and has never experienced NHL playoff success. I gave him a 1/10 simply because he once put up 115 points in a season, which requires a little bit of dawg in you to do.

Kevin Rooney – 1/10 dawg

When your nickname is the RoonDawg, you get at least some dawg credit. That’s where it ends for Rooney, though. He is not a dawg.

Brayden Pachal – 1/10 dawg

Brayden Pachal isn’t really a dawg, but he plays big-boy Western Canada hockey and has been known to throw some crushing hits from time to time. That earns you at least a little credit on the dawg scale.

Joel Hanley – 1/10 dawg

Joel Hanley isn’t the biggest, or the strongest, or the fastest, or the most skilled. Despite this, he’s carved out a nice career as a bottom-pairing defender who can block shots and play hard minutes if needed. He gets a nod as a 1/10 dawg.

Not dawgs

The players below haven’t done anything in my mind to earn any dawg points on the scale.

Yegor Sharangovich, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Daniil Miromanov, Dan Vladar, and Kevin Bahl.