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Treliving Era Ends As GM, Flames Part Ways

The Calgary Flames and GM Brad Treliving have ended their relationship with his contract set to expire at the end of June.

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Officially, the Calgary Flames and general manager Brad Treliving have agreed to mutually part ways. 

But Treliving turned down a contract extension around the same time he was giving one to head coach Darryl Sutter as this lost season was set to begin, so, technically, the former GM fired his franchise. With a contract set to expire in a couple of months, there are a couple of behind-the-scenes scenarios that could have led to this conclusion. 

The team could have pressed him for a decision. If the answer was that he'd walk come expiry, there's no sense prolonging the pain of the announcement. If he had terms to be met to stick around, the Flames may not be willing to do so. And so here we are. 

The announcement breaks the deafening silence since the Calgary Flames season ended with a thud in Game 81 when they were eliminated from the playoffs. Leading the league in overtime/shootout and one-game losses, the Flames were the opposite of clutch. They couldn't get that all-important extra goal more often than not. But they also logged the most posts and crossbars — so the difference between winning and losing was a matter of millimetres on many occasions. 

Whether this team assembled by Treliving in a mad scramble to recover from the most dramatic player departures of the modern era could be as good on the ice as it was on paper won't be known until next year. And Treliving won't be around to see it. Don Maloney has been promoted to President of Hockey Operations and will also hold the position of interim GM, beginning his search for Treliving's replacement with the draft just around the corner. 

“It’s a difficult day when you must part ways with a quality colleague and friend,” CSEC President and CEO John Bean said in a statement. “We are grateful of Brad’s contributions over the past nine years and wish him every success in his future, both personally and professionally. But for our fans and our business, we need to move forward, and we are confident with Don’s experience that we will find the right general manger to build on Brad’s work and lead our team to the Stanley Cup.”

Maloney has just completed his fifth season as Senior Vice President of HockeyOperations with the Flames having originally joined the club in 2016 as a pro scout. He and Treliving worked together previously with the Arizona Coyotes. 

This season was a huge disappointment for a team that seemed ready to return to the post-season after a second-round showing last spring. Despite the losses of Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk last summer, the additions of Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and MacKenzie Weegar had both the Flames and the fans excited about the possibilities. 

All eyes are on the coach, now, with Sutter signing a two-year extension after winning the Jack Adams as the NHL's top coach last season, but reportedly frustrating the newcomers this season.