Conroy's homecoming
Craig Conroy, who had five goals in 52 games this season with the Kings, put two in the net in his debut for Calgary...against the Kings, of course. That's remarkable in itself, but let's look inside the numbers.
Conroy took 25 shifts, the most of any Flames forward. Yes, that's correct. He had barely been a member of the team for 24 hours and got the most shifts. Of course, Calgary coach Jim Playfair was an assistant during the last two seasons of Conroy's first stint in Calgary. Anyway, Conroy played 19 minutes, 21 seconds. He cracked the 19-minute mark with the Kings ONCE this season, in a 7-4 loss to Phoenix on Nov. 30. In his last game with the Kings, Conroy didn't log one shift on the penalty kill. In his Calgary debut, he logged 4:04, the most of any Flames skater.
And he scored two goals...hmmm, interesting, isn't it? Was Conroy simply energized by the opportunity to stick it to the Kings? Did he just not fit in Crawford's system? Or was he not utilized properly this year? Only time will tell.
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About Rich Hammond
Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
Conroy has never been the type of player who creates his own offense, so playing on a line with Tanguay and Amonte is only going to help him become a contributor on offense for Calgary. He really didn't get much of a chance to do that with the Kings with plodders on his left and right. Sure, he wasn't getting the job done when he had talent and skill on his line, but you have to wonder if Conroy wasn't all that enthused about playing for a team that everyone pretty much knew at the beginning of the season wasn't going anywhere.
I agree 100% with you Rich. It looks like Crawford likes Armstrong a lot more than Conroy...
Add this to the (growing) list of his mistakes.
Actually, how can you blame anyone for liking Armstrong over Conroy before the trade? Armstrong had outplayed Conroy to that point and was putting in more effort.
I am assuming, since day 1, Crawford knew about Conroy's fate as far as being a King. I am sure he played armstrong more because he thought they may try and kkeep him around while Conroy has been on borrowed time ssince day 1.
I think its time to re-visit this as Conroy now has 21 points in 24 games with Calgary. I'd like some real answers from Crawford as to why he couldn't see Conroy's value when he chose Armstrong over Conroy as the second line center. It seems clear to me, the correct answer is Conroy was not utilized properly this season with the Kings. What was the benefit of driving down his trade value when everyone knew he was going to be traded at some point?