CALGARY - The Calgary Sports & Entertainment Corporation sends their deepest condolences to the family and friends of Larry Popein, a former Flames scout. Popein passed away at the age of 89.
Popein joined the Flames in 1986 as a pro scout, scouting the other NHL teams. He was brought on board by Calgary general manager Cliff Fletcher and his hockey management team of Al MacNeil and Al Coates. The notion of having a scout dedicated to scouting pro teams was only in its infancy and was trendsetting at the time. Larry was instrumental in helping shape the Flames and its players through the late 1980s. Pope was joined by another veteran hockey scout, Gerry McNamara, to form the Flames pro scouting team. "Pope" and "Mac" spent many days on the road, carefully scouting all the NHL teams for possible trades. As part of their work, Pope would "pre-scout" teams the Flames would face in the Stanley Cup playoffs, sharing this this information with both management and head coach Terry Crisp to formulate strategy. Pope and Mac's scouting work during the 1988-89 season was instrumental in the Flames capturing the 1989 Stanley Cup Championship.
POPEIN REMEMBERED FOR INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS
The former Flames pro scout was instrumental in the team's success leading up to the 1989 Stanley Cup
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