Calgary Flames

Team Summary

The Calgary Flames are one of seven NHL teams based in Canada, joining the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks, and Edmonton Oilers.

As part of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, the Flames historically play a very physical, defensive style of hockey with a reliance on a top goal-scorer to generate a majority of the offensive firepower.

Calgary Flames Standings

The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The team competes in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the NHL. The Flames have a passionate fan base and have a history of success, having won the Stanley Cup in 1989.

Calgary Flames History

The Flames became an NHL franchise in 1972 while the team was based in Atlanta, GA, and they relocated north of the border in 1980. After spending three seasons in the Stampede Corral, the team moved its home games to the Saddledome, named for the shape of its roof. Currently, Scotiabank is the Saddledome name sponsor.

Calgary has won the President’s Trophy twice for finishing the regular season with the best record, in 1987-88 and 1988-89. They’ve won three Conference Championships, but lost two of their three Stanley Cup appearances (won in 1988-89 season, lost in 1985-86 to the Montreal Canadiens and to the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2003-04 season in seven games) in five games.

Key Stats

Jacob Markström is one of the top goaltenders in the league and has been on a tear for the Flames in the 2022 season. As of writing, he has a league-best eight shutouts, while no other goaltender has more than four. He also ranks second in GAA (2.09) among goaltenders with at least 20 starts.

With a league-best 2.35 goals against per game, Calgary also scores the seventh-most goals per game at 3.42. The Flames are also a top three penalty killing unit and are just outside the Top 10 in power play percentage. They’ve quietly moved into first place in the Pacific Division.

Championships Won by the Team

Calgary’s lone Stanley Cup win came in 1989, as the Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens in six games. A perennial powerhouse to that point, Calgary’s win marked the first time the Canadiens lost in a Stanley Cup Final since 1967 (they had won nine Cups in that span, including a win over the Flames in 1986). It was also the only time in goaltender Patrick Roy’s career he played on the losing side.

The Flames trailed 2-1 in the series before rattling off three straight wins to take the title, spurred by the star play of Lanny McDonald, Al MacInnis, Joe Nieuwendyk, and Mike Vernon. MacInnis won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs. His 31 points led all scorers, marking the first time in NHL history a defenseman led the playoffs in scoring.

Important Team Events

Without a doubt, the most important moment in team history was the 1989 Stanley Cup win over Montreal, the only title in club history. But ask any Flames fan about the second biggest moment, and they’ll likely all tell you “the puck was in.”

With less than seven minutes remaining In Game Six of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Martin Gelinas of the Flames appeared to score a goal past Lightning goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin which would’ve broken a 2-2 tie. However, video replay was inconclusive and the call on the ice was no goal.

Tampa Bay won the game in overtime then won Game Seven on home ice, leaving Flames fans feeling jobbed.

Top Players

The face of the franchise for most of his career, Jarome Iginla is arguably the top player in team history. He holds Flames franchise records in Games Played (1219), Goals (525), and Points (1095), and ranks second in assists (570).

In net, Miikka Kiprusoff holds many of the records, including Wins (305), Saves (14,631), and shutouts (41). Kiprusoff also held the records for save percentage and goals against average prior to Jacob Markström’s arrival. Mike Vernon ranks immediately behind Kiprusoff in nearly every category as well.

In total, 11 Flames players have been inducted to the Hall of Fame, including Lanny McDonald, Joe Mullen, Grant Fuhr, Al MacInnis, Brett Hull, Joe Nieuwendyk, Doug Gilmour, Sergei Makarov, Phil Housley, Martin St. Louis, and Jarome Iginla.

The Hall of Fame also inducted five members of the Flames in the “builders” category, as well as trainer Bearcat Murray in 2009.

Top Coaches

The only member of the Flames’ coaching staff in the Hall of Fame is “Badger” Bob Johnson, who was inducted in 1992. He coached the Flames from 1982-87, and his 193 wins are still a team record.

Terry Crisp ranks second on the coaching wins list at 144. He was the head coach behind the Cup win in 1989. Bob Hartley won the Jack Adams Trophy as the top head coach during the 2015 season. However, he finished his Flames tenure with a losing record overall. If you love sports and want more sports betting information follow us as @InsidersBetDig on Twitter and sign up to our mailing list for free betting picks.