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Hockey-Hall-of-Famer Phil Housley creative for Calgary Flames during lean years


By , Calgary Sun

First posted: | Updated:

Phil Housley
Phil Housley. Sun file

He’s the highest-scoring American defenceman in hockey history.

And don’t forget, Phil Housley did some of that damage on behalf of the Calgary Flames.

The 51-year-old Housley, who spent parts of five NHL campaigns — over two separate stints — at the Saddledome, was named Monday to the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015.

“In U.S. hockey, there’s only a handful of guys — with maybe a couple of fingers cut off — that could create the offence that Howie did in the years that he played, even later on in his career,” said former Flames bench boss Brian Sutter, who coached Housley in both Calgary and Chicago.

“He could run a powerplay, and he could do it in his sleep.”

Housley is arguably best-remembered for his days with the Buffalo Sabres or Winnipeg Jets, but he donned the Flaming C from 1994-96 and again from 1998-01, scoring 50 times and collecting 238 points in 328 regular-season outings for the crew from Calgary.

All told, the offensive-minded defenceman racked up 338 goals and 1,232 points in 1,495 games played at the NHL level. That's fourth best all-time for blueliners behind Ray Bourque (1,579), Paul Coffey (1,531) and Al MacInnis (1,274).

According to Sutter, Housley wasn’t only expected to be a leading point-producer in Calgary. During his second stint at the Saddledome, he was also counted on to set an example for what was a wide-eyed bunch of blueliners.

“When I came to Calgary (in 1997), our payroll was always around $13 million, and the next closest team to us was about $29 million,” Sutter recalled. “So we had to build a really young team, and you had to make darn sure to be competitive that you surrounded those young guys — and I’m talking specifically about our defence — with the right type of guys to take pressure off them. Those defencemen were Robyn Regehr and Derek Morris and Wade Belak and Denis Gauthier and young guys like that, and then you throw Howie in there, and he never failed to amaze me. When you wanted him to take a day off, he would be the first guy at the rink.

“So special moments … I suppose there was a lot of them — anytime that a guy like Derek noticed him and looked up to him and the guys on the bench saying, ‘Wow, look what he did, at his age.’

“It’s pretty special when guys like that get into the hall of fame. I’m really, really proud of him.”

Housley is currently an assistant coach for the Nashville Predators.

wes.gilbertson@sunmedia.ca

www.twitter.com/SUNGilbertson

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