Figured I had time to get through Calgary quickly while watching the ball game.
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Howd the Flames do? i seen you say they won in 89'.. Any other big moments for them? surprised to not see Monahan or Iggy on that top goal scorers list. Maybe i just missed them lol
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CALGARY FLAMES
From humble beginnings and some bad teams in Atlanta the Calgary Flames emerged as a dynasty with 3 straight Cups in the late 1980s.
The Flames joined the NHL along with the New York Islanders in 1972-73 and that first season featured names such as Bill Lesuk, who led the team with 45 points, along with veterans Bruce MacGregor, Ralph Backstrom and Dean Prentice. In net was Phil Myre. The cast changed over the next 8 years quite a bit but the result was the same as the Flames struggled season after season. In 8 years in Atlanta beginning in 1972-73 the expansion Flames made the playoffs 3 times but never won a playoff series and did not even win a playoff
game until their final year in Atlanta.
1980-81 saw them move north to Calgary and while the club did miss the playoffs they had acquired some young talent ready to break out. Phil Myre was still there as the goalie and playing quite well but the aging veterans of the expansion days were replaced by young guns Mike Gartner (40-41-81) and Michel Goulet (23-48-71) - a pair of teenagers fresh from a year in the WHA, along with 19 year old rookie defenseman Paul Reinhart. Kent Nilsson had missed most of the 80-81 season with an injury but was back the following season and teamed with Gartner and Goulet on one of the league's top lines.
Calgary won their first playoff series in franchise history that year, beating LA in the preliminary round before falling to rival Edmonton in the quarterfinals. Edmonton would knock Calgary out in the opening round each of the next two seasons but in 1984-85 the young Flames were starting to mature and be considered a legitimate contender. Calgary swept Winnipeg and Vancouver, who had eliminated Edmonton, in the first two rounds only to run into a more experienced Toronto team in the conference finals.
Calgary went a step further the following season, reaching the finals by beating Toronto only to lose in 4 straight to the Flyers. The next season, 1986-87, was a year Flames fans will never forget. They swept Vancouver in the opening round and then survived a tough 7-game series with Edmonton - the first time they ever beat the Oilers. It was easy the rest of the way as 8 straight wins over Toronto and Montreal gave Calgary it's first Cup.
Flames fans had another year of celebration the following season as the Flames breezed by Winnipeg, Edmonton, Detroit and then Carolina in the finals...losing just 1 game in the process. It was old hat for the fans the next season as they celebrated the three-peat with a first round win over Edmonton before knocking off Los Angeles, Detroit and Mario Lemieux's Penguins to win the Cup once again.
That would be the end of the parades, at least for a while as the rapidly improving Red Wings knocked off the champs in the conference finals in 1990. The Wings and Flames would meet in the conference finals again the next two seasons with the Wings winning in 7 games each time. In 1993 the Flames fell in the first round to Edmonton and the dynasty was over.
Calgary would win one more Cup, it's fourth in 2033 with a fictional player dominated roster that also included an aging Sean Monahan. Those great Calgary teams of the late 1980's featured a star studded cast that in addition to Goulet and Gartner, also featured Al MacInnes, Joe Nieuwendyk, Gary Suter, Gary Roberts, Brett Hull and for the final two seasons Theo Fleury. There was still a link to the expansion year as Phil Myre was a member of all three Cup winners, although Michel Plasse was the number one by that time.
SEAN MONAHAN
Monahan had an incredible career that lasted until 2033. In all he scored 801 career goals and 1881 points in 1604 NHL games - all with Calgary. He is the all-time leader for the Flames in most offensive categories and ranks 11th in NHL history in points and 10th all-time in goals. Here are the names of the players who have scored more than the 801 goals Monahan recorded: Howe, Gretzky, Yzerman, Lemiuex, Messier, Robitaille,Jagr, Crosby and Selanne.
He also ranks 19th in career playoff points with 206 in 195 games. His Flames made the finals 5 times in his career but won their only Cup in 2033, near the end of his career. He won a Hart Trophy, a Conn Smythe in 2018 despite losing in the finals, 4 Art Ross Trophys and 4 Maurice Richard Awards as the league goal scorer.
Monahan had 5 fifty-goal seasons including a career high 57 in 2024-25. He is obviously in the Hall of Fame and like the real-life Lanny McDonald ended his career with a Stanley Cup win as a Flame.
JAROME IGINLA
In this world the Dallas Stars did not trade a young Iginla to the Flames so he spent his entire career in Texas. It was not as productive as real-life as Iginla played 1441 career NHL games while scoring 401 goals and 941 career points. He trails only Mike Modano (1594), Neal Broten (1373) and Dino Ciccarelli (1267) in points by a Star but the numbers pale in comparison to the real life totals (1554 GP, 625-675-1300).
Iginla was a solid 60 point a year player but never a superstar. His career best was 36 goals in 08-09 as a 31 year old and 85 points, which he earned the previous season. The Stars were a bad team for most of his career and Iginla only played in 26 playoff games in his career as a result. He had 7 goals and 11 points in the postseason.
Preds history is up next but unfortunately don't have time tonight.