Jason Wiemer, the player Calgary received from Tampa Bay in that swap, scored a total of 29 goals in three full seasons for the Flames before moving on to Florida.

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The Flames famously picked Rico Fata sixth overall in the '98 draft. He played 27 games before being claimed on waivers by the New York Rangers.

Photograph by : Herald Archive, Reuters

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Calgary did benefit from Colorado's work at the '98 talent grab -- Robyn Regehr and Alex Tanguay, two of the Avs' four first-round picks that year -- are now with the Flames.

The trend of outside help has persisted as only two full-timers from this past season's club -- Dion Phaneuf and Matthew Lombardi -- were drafted by Calgary.

It's interesting to look at the performance of the Detroit Red Wings from that draft of a decade ago. Perceived to be one of the league's better scouting outfits, the Wings had some serious trouble in '98. First-rounder Jiri Fischer seemed destined for a long NHL stay until a seizure during the 2005-06 season prematurely ended his career.

After that, it was a series of swings and misses for the Motor City gang -- Ryan Barnes, Tomek Valtonen, Jake McCracken, Brent Hobday, Carl Steen and Adam DeLeeuw.

Thanks to a sixth-round selection, however, the draft was still a success for Detroit. Does the name Pavel Datsyuk ring a bell?

Two others members of the '98 draft class were part of the Wings' Stanley Cup championship squad earlier this month -- Brad Stuart (third overall to San Jose) and Mikael Samuelsson (145th to San Jose).

jlefebvre@theherald.canwest.com