Loob's eye for talentand his experience as a general manager is what attracted the current management team to the yesteryear icon.
"We want to to grow our presence over there,'' GM Brad Treliving says by way of explanation. "It's an area we want to expand. Hakan has a great eye for talent, he's familiar with Europe and he's a worker.
"He wasn't a manager this past year and I think he still went to somewhere around 125 games.
"So I reached out to him.
"This isn't just because Hakan was a great Flame. He's so well connected over there. Whether they be Swedes, Finns, wherever in Europe, Hakan Loob walks into a room and he's well known, well respected.
"When this team reached the mountain in '89, he was a big part of it. That's our goal now, to do it a second time. We want him to be part of that.
"He's the right guy. Pretty emotional when you talk to him about being back with the Flames. Just a gem of a person. A prince of a guy.
"But it's also about being able to root out players over there. He knows the league inside-out, the players inside-out.
"And he's hungry to be part of winning here, again."
Loob - the 181st pick in the 1980 entry draft - believes that even in today's uber-competitive search for talent there are hidden gems.
"When you look at the draft age, the (players) are turned inside-out. Teams know everything about them, their parents, their heritage, everything. There are no surprises.
"With 31 teams, of course you're going to have the same guys wanted by all the teams. But go to the next category … sometimes players, especially in Europe, find it's not easy to break through when you're 18, 19, 20 years old.
"We have a good system in Sweden where we play the second division at a fairly high level. You have a good year there, gain confidence, then it really opens up the possibility of being a late-bloomer at 22, 23, 24.
"Sometimes you forget about these guys.
"But they do pop up.
"Youngsters keep developing because the coaching is so good. And the game is changing so much. The NHL game and the European game are so similar now, which means the guys that can play here have a chance to make it in the NHL or AHL.
"Today's game relies on speed, quickness. From your first line through your fourth.
"The Flames just signed Marcus Hogstrom. You just never know. The guy has had an unbelievable last couple of years. He was everywhere, even in the third division in Russia. Comes back to Sweden, starts playing a little better, starts understanding what kind of a defenceman he can be and all of a sudden he's playing a few national team games.
"So what is the potential now?"
He's packing for a Tuesday departure to meet up with the Flames' brass in Dallas prior to the weekend draft.
"I got this really, really nice (Flames') jacket a couple years ago,'' he laughs, "and I haven't been able to wear it much.
"Well, it's coming out of the closet now.
"Leaving in '89 for me, for us, was an emotional couple of days. I remember we had a big party out at Lanny (McDonald)'s place. Me and Marie didn't know what was going to happen. Tim Hunter started to speak … I get emotional thinking about it even now … it was like 'Wow!'
"Leaving the Saddledome wondering if you'd ever be coming back at all. It was tough. Over my six years, we'd gone from the hunter to the hunted, to champions."
Back in the day, Loob was tasked with injecting leadership to an emerging, title-contending group. To score goals. To help show the way.
Twenty-nine years later, the end goal remains the same. But now the job is to unearth the next difference-making late-blooming winger, the next overlooked defenceman, the next uncut gem that has somehow escaped detection.
Maybe even - dare they dream - the next Hakan Loob.
