The Calgary Flames announced today that former Clarkson standout, Craig Conroy, has been named General Manager. Conroy becomes the eighth General Manager in the history of the franchise and the 2nd former Golden Knight to be a current NHL GM.
"We conducted an extensive search process and today we are thrilled to introduce Craig Conroy as our General Manager," said Flames President of Hockey Operations Don Maloney. "It is rewarding for the organization to learn that the most qualified individual for the position has been preparing in house. Craig brings a fresh approach; high energy; he is a tremendous communicator; decisive; a worker; and he is relationship driven. His passion for the Flames and the community are unmatched. Craig is ready for the challenge to lead our team to the Stanley Cup."
Conroy retired in February 2011 and joined the Flames hockey operations department in an executive capacity, first as a special assistant to the general manager and as an assistant coach until July of 2014 at which time he was named the club's assistant general manager, a role he held for the past nine years. In the NHL, Conroy skated in 1,090 games, including the Flames 2004 Stanley Cup Finals run.
During his time in the Green and Gold, Conroy made an immediate impact. As a freshman center in the 1990-91 season, Conroy was the Knights' leading rookie scorer with 30 points (8-22) on a Clarkson squad that enjoyed great success. Conroy helped to lead the Knights to a school-record 29 wins, a first-place finish in the ECAC regular season, the championship of the conference tournament at the Boston Garden, and NCAA Tournament victories over Wisconsin and Lake Superior State en route to a Frozen Four appearance in St. Paul, MN.
In the next two season, Conroy was as one of the Knights' leading scorers with 36 (19-17) and 35 (10-25) points, respectively. Clarkson posted 20+ wins and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of those seasons. He helped the Knights win the ECAC Tournament Championship in Lake Placid in 1993, recording his 100th career point by scoring a goal in the 5-3 semifinal win over Rensselaer.
Craig developed into one of the best players in college hockey during his senior season in 1993-94. He was runner-up for college hockey's most prestigious honor, the Hobey Baker Award. He also was selected as a first-team All-America and ECAC All-Star, and was named to the ECAC All-Tournament team. Clarkson's MVP and leading scorer with 66 points on 26 goals and 40 assists in 34 games, the Knights' co-captain was among the leading scorers in the country in points per game (1.94).
Conroy is one of the Knights all-time leading Clarkson scorers with 167 points on 63 goals and 104 assists through 140 career games. He was inducted into the Clarkson Athletics Hall of Fame and has his Clarkson Jersey (#7) retired by the Golden Knights, joining those of Dave Taylor '77 (#24), Craig Laughlin '80 (#22) and Colin Patterson '86 (#25) hanging from the Cheel Arena rafters. Conroy skated with the United States National Team at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and played alongside former Clarkson All-American Erik Cole on the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team in Torino, Italy.
