Calgary Flames
Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter XIX: 440-436
In our return to the countdown, we check out the (very) brief careers of Randy Turnbull, Jarrod Skalde, Paxton Schulte, Tomi Maki, and Lane MacDermid.
440. Randy Turnbull
Turnbull was a 6′, 185 lb. defenseman from Bentley, Alberta. Born on February 17th, 1962, the enforcer first made his mark in the WHL with the Portland Winter Hawks in 1978-79, earning seven penalty minutes in just one contest. In 72 games the next season, he scored four times with 25 assists and 355 penalty minutes. In the 1980 NHL Entry Draft which followed, he was selected by the Flames with the 97th overall pick, in the fifth round.
Turnbull remained with the Winter Hawks for two more seasons of Juniors (125 games, six goals, 50 assists, 725 penalty minutes). He would make his NHL debut for Calgary in the 1981-82 season, earning one minor two minute penalty and finishing up with a plus-1 rating. Unfortunately for him, his first game would also be his last, both for the Flames and for the rest of the NHL.
In 1982-83, Turnbull spent the entire season with the CHL's Colorado Flames (65 games, two goals, one assist, 292 penalty minutes). He would later appear in the AHL with the New Haven Nighthawks (eight games, 46 penalty minutes) and in the IHL with the Peoria Prancers (73 games, three goals, 18 assists, 213 penalty minutes), the Salt Lake Golden Eagles (218 games, 18 goals, 34 assists, 730 penalty minutes) and the Flint Spirits for one game in the 1987-88 season.
All-Time Statline: One game, zero goals, zero assists, two penalty minutes, plus-1 rating, 0.00 point shares.
439. Jarrod Skalde
Skalde, born on February 26th, 1971, was a 6′, 180 lb. center from Niagra Falls, Ontario. He first gained attention while playing in the juniors for the OHL’s Oshawa Generals, scoring 50 goals and 54 assists spanning 125 games over two seasons. The New Jersey Devils chose him in the second round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft with the 27th overall pick.
In 1989-90, Skalde scored almost a point and a half per contest, lighting the lamp 40 times in 62 games, and assisting on 52 more. He would tack on 10 goals and seven assists in 17 playoff contests following. He split the next season between the Generals (15 games, eight goals, 14 assists), the OHL's Belleville Bulls (40 games, 30 goals, 52 assists), the AHL's Utica Devils (three games, three goals, two assists), and also make his first NHL appearance, with New Jersey (one game, one assist).
In 1991-92 and 1992-93, Skalde would continue to impress at the minor league level with Utica (121 games, 41 goals, 59 assists) while continuing to underwhelm at the NHL level with New Jersey (26 games, two goals, six assists). 1993-94 would find him ensconced in the Mighty Ducks organization, between the IHL’s San Diego Gulls (57 games, 25 goals, 38 assists) and Anaheim (20 games, five goals, four assists).
After scoring 34 goals with 41 assists in 1994-95 with the IHL’s Las Vegas Thunder in 74 games, the Flames traded for Skalde, giving up Bobby Marshall on October 30th, 1995. The following season would see him play most of the year between the Baltimore Bandits (11 games, two goals, six assists) and the Saint John Flames (68 games, 27 goals, 40 assists). In his one and only game with Calgary, a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on March 15th, he did not figure onto the scoresheet in any fashion. He had 32 goals and 35 assists for Saint John the next season over 65 appearances.
Skalde would later make appearances with the Indianapolis Ice (two games, two assists), the Kentucky Thoroughblades (77 games, 22 goals, 55 assists), the San Jose Sharks (39 games, five goals, seven assists), the Dallas Stars (one game), the Chicago Blackhawks (seven games, one assist), the Utah Grizzlies (210 games, 55 games, 104 assists), the Orlando Solar Bears (60 games, 14 goals, 40 assists), the Atlanta Thrashers (19 games, one goal, two assists), the Philadelphia Flyers (one game), the Chicago Wolves (64 games, 15 goals, 37 assists), the Philadelphia Phantoms (16 games, four goals, four assists), Lausanne (Swiss, 23 games, seven goals, eight assists), the Springfield Falcons (15 games, one goal, six assists), the San Antonio Rampage (two games, one goal, two assists), Leksands IF (Sweden, 36 games, four goals, five assists), Jesenice (Austria, three games, one goal), and the Bloomington PrairieThunder (10 games, five goals, four assists).
I know, right?
Later still, Skalde was the head coach of the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones for three seasons starting in 2010-11. He is currently an assistant coach with the AHL's Norfolk Admirals.
All-Time Statline: One game, zero goals, zero assists, even rating, zero penalty minutes, 0.00 point shares.
438. Paxton Schulte
Schulte was a 6'2", 210 lb. left winger from Onaway, Alberta. Born on July 16th, 1972, he scored 42 goals with 42 assists in 70 games with the WHL's Spokane Chiefs in 1991-92. After the season, he was selected in the sixth round of the NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques, with the 124th overall pick. He would remain with the Chiefs for another full season, scoring 38 goals and 35 assists in 45 games.
In 1993-94, Schulte appeared in one game for the Nordiques, a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on December 28th. For the rest of the next two and a half seasons, he played with the Cornwall Aces, the Nordiques AHL affiliate. He put up 54 goals and 68 assists in 199 contests with them. On March 19th, 1996, the Nordiques traded him to the Flames for Vesa Viitakoski. After playing in 14 regular season games for Saint John, in which he totaled four goals and five assists, he also played in 14 playoff contests, scoring four more times with seven helpers.
1996-97 would see Schulte spend the majority of his season with Saint John, lighting the lamp 14 times with 23 assists in 71 games. On January 24th, in a 2-2 tie with the Ottawa Senators, he made his only appearance for Calgary, posting a plus-1 rating and spending two minutes in the penalty box while taking one shot on goal.
Schulte split the 1997-98 campaign between Saint John (59 games, eight goals, 17 assists) and the IHL’s Las Vegas Thunder (10 games, one goal, one assist). He played most of the rest of his career in the British League, between the Bracknell Bees (75 games, 21 goals, 30 assists) and the Belfast Giants (174 games, 71 goals, 74 assists). After an idle 2004-05 season, he made a brief appearance with the Amarillo Gorillas (four games, three assists) before finishing up his career with the Tulsa Oilers (42 games, six goals, 15 assists).
All-Time Statline: One game, zero goals, zero assists, plus-1 rating, two penalty minutes, 0.00 point shares.
437. Tomi Maki
Maki, a 5'11", 184 lb. left winger from Helsinki, Finland, was born on August 19th, 1983. He was selected in the fourth round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Flames after a standout performance on Jokerit Helsinki's Junior club with the 107th overall pick.
Starting in 2001-02, Maki played four seasons with the Jokerit Helsinki parent club, scoring eight goals and 12 assists in 127 contests. 2005-06 would see him jump the pond for a crack at the North American version of the world's most beautiful game. He would join the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights for the entire season, playing 80 games and tabbing 12 goals and 17 assists.
In 2006-07, Maki spent most of his season back in Omaha (67 games, four goals, 11 assists). He made his only NHL appearance with Calgary on December 12th, in a 5-2 Flames victory over the Minnesota Wild. He played just under 11 minutes and didn’t figure onto the scoresheet through his 18 shifts. The next season would see him score eight goals with five assists for the Quad City Flames over 78 contests.
Maki rejoined Jokerit Helsinki in 2008-09, and has spent the last six seasons with the club. He has appeared in 332 games in his second stint with the club, scoring 37 times with 40 assists.
All-Time Statline: One game, zero goals, zero assists, even rating, zero penalty minutes, 0.00 point shares.
436. Lane MacDermid
MacDermid, an NHL legacy (his father Paul played in 690 games between the Hartford Whalers, the Winnipeg Jets, the Washington Capitals and the Quebec Nordiques), was a 6’3″, 205 lb. left winger from Hartford, Connecticut. Born on August 25th, 1989, he played three OHL seasons between the Owen Sound Attack (149 games, 23 goals, 22 assists, 390 PiM) and the Windsor Spitfires (38 games, seven goals, 14 assists, 112 PiM). After the 2009 campaign, the Boston Bruins spent their fourth round pick on him, selecting him 112th overall.
In his first two professional seasons, MacDermid played exclusively with the Bruins AHL club in Providence (also the Bruins). He collected nine goals and 15 assists with 313 penalty minutes in 143 games.
In 2011-12, MacDermid again spent the balance of his season with Providence (69 games, four goals, 12 assists, 121 PiM). He also appeared at the NHL level for the first time with Boston, playing in five games in March. He didn't score, and earned five penalty minutes with a minus-2 rating.
MacDermid scored four goals with two assists for Providence in 2012-13 over 37 games, also collecting 82 penalty minutes. He played in another three games for Boston, earning 10 penalty minutes. After a mid-season trade, he scored twice for the Dallas Stars in six games, earning nine penalty minutes.
2013-14 would begin with MacDermid as part of the Stars organization, where he earned two assists in six games. On November 22nd, the Flames sent their sixth round pick to the Stars in trade for his services. He joined the Abbotsford Heat for 25 games, earning 24 penalty minutes with one goal and one assist. In his lone callup to Calgary, on December 6th, he played four minutes of a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. He fought Cody McLeod, earning seven penalty minutes and finishing the game with a minus-1 rating.
After earning a suspension for failing to report back to the Heat, MacDermid announced his retirement from professional hockey, effective February 25th. He claimed that he no longer felt the desire to play.
All-Time Statline: One game, zero goals, zero assists, minus-1 rating, seven penalty minutes, 0.00 point shares.
Thanks for reading the 19th installment of our summer-long series. Check back tomorrow as we continue to grind through the lowest echelon of Calgary's pantheon of heroes.
by Kevin Kraczkowski