Craig Conroy remembers the first time he saw Aydar Suniev play hockey.
And from that fall afternoon on, the Flames general manager has been a fan.
“The first time – we were at the YoungStars in Penticton – we could go over in the afternoon (to watch the BCHL’s Penticton Vees) and actually get to see him the first time, he caught my eye,” Conroy explained Wednesday.
“I was like ‘Whoa, this guy can score!’”
Fast-forward a few years, and Suniev is now in the Flames fold. Drafted in the third round in 2023, the 20-year-old put pen to paper on his first NHL contract this week, and is expected to join the Calgary fold Thursday morning.
And Conroy – whose excitement shines through pretty much constantly – is pretty amped…