The dog days of summer have arrived.
Though the city of Calgary has yet to see any sustained summer temperatures, the calendar suggests it’s high time to grab the flip flops and towel and leave hockey behind for a few weeks. The draft is a thing of the past, the free agent cupboard is picked almost bare, and training camps still sit almost eight weeks away.
The upcoming season will be the 20th anniversary of Calgary’s only championship, and given the constant talk of money in today’s game a discussion on Calgarypuck.com started around the idea of what that championship team would cost in today’s dollars. An interesting question indeed.
My answer in a few words? How does $70 million U.S. grab you? Ouch!
Now how did I arrive at that ghastly number you wonder? We’ll get to that, but the process quickly brought to mind a) how good that hockey team was from top to bottom and b) how different the NHL was 20 years ago. Teams didn’t have that parity, you couldn’t say any one team could beat any other team on any given night. The best players were on the best teams, but not due to cash and budget space, they were there due to scouting and shrewd hockey transactions.
At the time Calgary’s skipper, Cliff Fletcher was one of the best.
The Flames boasted their own draft picks in Mike Vernon, Al MacInnis, Joe Nieuwendyk, Gary Suter, Hakan Loob, Gary Roberts, Theo Fleury and Tim Hunter. They added impact players through trades that included Joe Mullen, Doug Gilmour, Rob Ramage and Lanny McDonald. Additional team building was done through unconventional methods when the Flames pioneered the undrafted unsigned college player adding the likes of Colin Patterson, Jamie Macoun and Joel Otto.
A deep team that was good in all three zones, and the class of the league along with the Montreal Canadiens.
The $70 Million Cup
The method to my madness.
My first step was to establish a statistical comparison between the 1988-89 season and the season just completed in the NHL. Back then teams lit the lamp with much more regularity. A goaltender with a goals against average in the 3s was considered good, while today that guy would be AHL bound. The Flames were the second highest scoring team that season, notching 354 goals. This past season the second highest scoring club was the Ottawa Senators that managed to hit twine just 261 times.
Therefore, each ’89 player’s stats were rolled back by 74% (261/354) which brings the production to today’s dollars, allowing direct comparisons for salary to last season. The resulting stats make it evident that the strength of that chapter wasn’t the superstar as in the Edmonton Oilers, but a balance that left the team with players that could contribute on all four lines. There isn’t an Alexander Ovechkin or Jarome Iginla in the group, but many players that would be considered above average.
Goaltenders
The tandem of Mike Vernon and Rick Wamsley was a solid one at the time. Mike Vernon wasn’t a cup winner until that season but he’d been to the cup final, been to all star games, and was considered one of the league’s best. A top notch goaltender in today’s dollars run you 6.5 million. An experienced backup goaltender that can win when he plays will cost you 1.0 million for a positional total of $7.5.
Defensemen
The 1989 Flames had a very deep and experienced group of defensemen. Al MacInnis was well on his way to a stellar career, Gary Suter was proving the perfect powerplaymate, and the group was rounded out with some solid veterans that included Rob Ramage, Brad McCrimmon, Jamie Macoun, Rick Nattress and the youngest member Dana Murzyn.
In today’s game there is little doubt that Al MacInnis would translate to a $8.0 million contract, likely the team’s highest paid player. Gary Suter would be the team’s second defenseman and pull in a cool $5.0 million. From there you move into a hired gun from another organization (the trade deadline addition to a cup contender) in Rob Ramage at 3.0M and dependable veterans that are all likely fourthor fifth defenseman in Macoun 3.5M, McCrimmon 2.5M, Nattress 1.5M and Murzyn 2.5 (a top five pick on his second contract). All summed up, an expensive group making $26 million on the year.
Forwards
As stated earlier, the Flames when rolled back statistically appear to lack that game breaker up front that most cup championship teams can boast. Mullen, Niewendyk, Gilmour and Loob were all great players, but none of them would be top 10 or 15 scorers compared to today’s best offensive players. Instead of that one eight or nine million dollar forward the Flames would have a group of four that would average just over 4.5 million a piece (Mullen 5.0, Gilmour 4.5, Loob 4.0 and Nieuwendyk at 5.0).
The next group of forwards, a group that would fill out the second line, and provide a deep third line for a team that gave up little offensively would feature winding down veterans like Lanny McDonald (2.5M), a Selke worthy center in Joel Otto (2.5M), Euro-star Jiri Hrdina (2.5M), acquired vets in Brian McLellan and Mark Hunter (2.0M), solid defensive players in Colin Patterson (1.75M) and Jim Peplinksi(1.5M) and then players trying to show their worth in Theo Fleury and Gary Roberts, making roughly 1.0M apiece. Finally you’d have team tough guy Tim Hunter making roughly a million bucks as well.
The result? A forward group bringing in almost $37 million in total.
There’s your $70 million folks, a deep team that goes on to win the cup, but one that wouldn’t make it out of summer without some tough decisions, begging the question; how would this team get under the 56 and change cap number of today.
Nix the Trades
With the budget issues of today the Flames wouldn’t have added depth and fall back plans by adding Rob Ramage and Rick Walmsley. The blueline would be younger, and with a young starter they wouldn’t have added a solid back up to the payroll. Undo that trade and you add back Brett Hull and Steve Bozek (that works!)
The second trade that may not have happened in it’s original form is the Doug Gilmour deal. Gilmour himself would still be on the way to Calgary, but the Flames wouldn’t have asked for Mark Hunter to be thrown in on the deal, his spot would be taken up with youth.
Another deal to recant? The Perry Berezan for Brian McLellan deal, a move that would save the team roughly a million or so. But is that enough? Not by a long shot, these moves have saved the team roughly $6.0 to this point leaving almost another 7.5 million to go.
Time to Trim the Fat
Some other moves that may have been needed for this roster to compete in today’s dollars …
Jiri Hrdinasent packing and replaced with youth – saving 1.9
Rick Nattress and Lanny McDonald either not resigned, or bought out – savings 2.8
One of Jamie Macoun or Brad McCrimmon moved for youth or picks – savings 2.4 to 2.9
And there you would have it. An ’89 roster that fits in today’s NHL money scheme. A team with three to four young players making the team right out of camp (say Hull and Berezan, Ranheim, etc), but a club without the depth throughout, yet still missing the true forward star and the city’s beloved Lanny McDonald.
Would this team have tasted glory? Perhaps not.
