Atlanta Flames (1972–1980) celebrates with teammates after a goal against the
Colorado Rockies. From 1972 to 1980, the Flames were based in Atlanta. The Flames were the result of the NHL's first initiative to compete against the upstart
World Hockey Association (WHA), which was seeking locations for hockey franchises. In December 1971, the NHL granted a team to
Long Island and Atlanta. Owner
Tom Cousins named the team the "Flames" after
the fire started by
General William Tecumseh Sherman's troops in the
American Civil War, in which Atlanta was nearly destroyed. Under head coaches
Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion,
Fred Creighton and
Al MacNeil, the Flames made the playoffs in six of eight seasons in Atlanta but only won two postseason games during that same time period. In 1980, Cousins was in considerable financial difficulty and was forced to sell the Flames to prevent bankruptcy. With few serious offers from local groups, he was receptive to an offer from Canadian entrepreneur
Nelson Skalbania. Skalbania chose to retain the Flames name, feeling it would be a good fit for an oil town like Calgary, while the flaming "A" logo was replaced by a flaming "C". Skalbania sold his interest in 1981, and the Flames have been locally owned since, first under Calgary Flames Limited Partnership, then
Calgary Sports and Entertainment in 2012.
Early years in Calgary (1980–1985) with the Flames during the
1980–81 season. The team found greater playoff success, qualifying for the
Stanley Cup playoffs for their first eleven seasons after moving to Calgary. The Flames were immediately embraced by the city of Calgary and the Flames sold 10,000 full- and half-season ticket packages in the 7,000 seat
Stampede Corral. The Flames qualified for the playoffs in their first season in Calgary with a 39–27–14 record, good for third in the
Patrick Division. The team won their first two playoff series over the
Chicago Black Hawks and
Philadelphia Flyers before losing to the
Minnesota North Stars in the semifinals. This early success was not soon repeated. After a losing record in
1981–82, Fletcher traded or did not renew several contracts of holdovers from the Atlanta team and rebuilt the roster. Among Fletcher's management decisions, including acquiring
Hakan Loob, and Fletcher was among the first to
draft players from the Soviet Union, including
CSKA Moscow star
Sergei Makarov in
1983. The team improved to challenge the Oilers, who required the maximum seven games to defeat the Flames en route to their
Stanley Cup championship. In 1983, the Flames moved into the
Olympic Saddledome, a venue originally for the
1988 Winter Olympics.
Presidents' Trophies and Stanley Cup Final (1985–1990) Although the Flames made the playoffs, they were usually unable to transform that success into a deep playoff run, largely because of their
provincial rivals, the
Edmonton Oilers. The NHL's playoff structure at the time made it likelier the Flames would meet the Oilers in either the first or second round. From 1983 until 1990, either the Oilers or the Flames represented the Campbell Conference in the Stanley Cup Final. By 1986, the Flames acquired forwards
Doug Risebrough,
Lanny McDonald and
Dan Quinn, defenceman
Al MacInnis and goaltender
Mike Vernon. They finished second in the Smythe with a 40–31–9 record (the only season from 1984 to 1991 in which they did not finish with 90 or more points). In the second round, the Flames upset the Oilers in seven games when the series-winning goal came when an errant clearing attempt by
Steve Smith ricocheted off goaltender
Grant Fuhr's leg and into his own net. From there, the Flames defeated the
St. Louis Blues in the Campbell Conference finals in another seven-game series, advancing into the Stanley Cup Final for the first time. The Flames followed up their run to the Stanley Cup Final with their
best regular season with a 46–31–3 record, good for third overall in the NHL. The Flames were unable to duplicate their playoff success of a year prior, losing their first-round match-up with the Jets in six games. The season was also difficult off the ice, as
1986 first-round draft pick
George Pelawa was killed in a car accident prior to the season's start. Under new head coach
Terry Crisp, the Flames recorded their first 100-point season in
1987–88, earning the
Presidents' Trophy for having the NHL's best record.
Joe Nieuwendyk became the second rookie in NHL history to score at least 50 goals in a season, earning the
Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year. Looking to bolster the line-up for a playoff run, the Flames traded
Brett Hull and
Steve Bozek to the Blues in exchange for
Rob Ramage and
Rick Wamsley. Their playoff frustrations continued against the Oilers as they were swept in four games in the second round. Fletcher continued to tinker with the roster, acquiring
Doug Gilmour as part of a six-player deal at the trade deadline. En route to their second Final appearance, they defeated the Canucks in seven games, the Kings in four games, and in the conference finals, they eliminated the Blackhawks in five games. The Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens in the
1989 Stanley Cup Final, winning their first Stanley Cup. Al MacInnis captured the Conn Smythe as playoffs' most valuable player, while long-time captain
Lanny McDonald announced his retirement. In 1989, the Soviets permitted a group of Soviet hockey players to sign with NHL teams beginning in
1989–90. That season, the team fell two points shy of their third-straight Presidents' Trophy with 99 points. In the playoffs, they were defeated in six games by the Los Angeles Kings.
Playoff contention to playoff drought (1991–2003) In 1991, Fletcher left the Flames to become the general manager of the
Toronto Maple Leafs. He had been the team's general manager since its inception in 1972. He was succeeded in Calgary by
Doug Risebrough, who completed a ten-player mega-trade that saw forward Doug Gilmour dealt to Toronto with four other players in exchange for former 50-goal scorer
Gary Leeman and four others. Despite
Theoren Fleury becoming an NHL star, the Flames missed the playoffs in
1992, a year after finishing with their third 100-point season in franchise history. It was the first time since their relocation that they had missed the playoffs. In
1999, the Flames traded Fleury to the
Colorado Avalanche midway through the season. Although the Flames were only two points (equivalent to one win) out of a playoff spot at the time, Fleury was due to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, and the Flames were not willing to risk losing him without getting anything in return. was one of the team's few bright spots during its seven-season playoff drought. As the Flames sank in the standings, their attendance also sagged. For most of their first 16 years in Calgary, Flames tickets were among the toughest to get in the NHL. By 1999, attendance had fallen so severely that the owners issued an ultimatum: buy more season tickets or the team would relocated to the United States. The fans responded by buying enough season tickets to keep the Flames in Calgary for the
1999–2000 season. The Flames issued another appeal for more season tickets in the summer of 2000. The campaign, aimed at increasing season ticket sales from a franchise low of 8,700 to 14,000, proved successful. The increased sales did not halt the Flames's financial losses, as the team lost $14.5 million between 2001 and 2003. During this time, Iginla captured the
Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy and
Art Ross Trophy in
2001–02 as the leading goal and point scorer with 52 goals and 96 points, and
Robyn Regehr became the youngest nominee ever for the
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. In the
2002–03 season, the Flames hired
Darryl Sutter as the team's head coach, replacing
Greg Gilbert. Sutter also became the team's general manager after the season, and is credited with revitalizing the franchise. Among Sutter's first moves was to acquire goaltender
Miikka Kiprusoff early in the 2003–04 season, whom he had previously coached in San Jose.
Jarome Iginla era and Western Conference champions (2004–2010) After seven consecutive seasons of not making the playoffs, the Flames returned to the postseason in 2004. They became the first team in the league's history to defeat three division champions en route to the Stanley Cup Final: the Northwest Division champion Vancouver Canucks, the Presidents' Trophy-winning
Detroit Red Wings, and the Pacific Division champion San Jose Sharks. won the
Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender in 2005–06. The
2004 Stanley Cup Final went to seven games with the Flames suffering a controversial non-goal in game six at home. Replays showed
Martin Gelinas may have scored what would have been the go-ahead goal late in the third period; the referees never signalled a goal, and later replays were ruled inconclusive. The goal would have made Gelinas the only player in NHL history to score the winning goal in every playoff series. The Lightning won the game in overtime, and won game seven at home to capture the Stanley Cup. The next season was cancelled due to the
2004–05 NHL lockout. The Flames played their 25th season in Calgary in
2005–06, finishing with 103 points. It was their best total since the 1989 Cup-winning season, and good enough to capture their first division title in 12 years. However, the Flames lost to the
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games during the first round of the playoffs. Miikka Kiprusoff captured both the
William M. Jennings and
Vezina Trophies as the NHL's top goaltender, while
Dion Phaneuf's 20 goals was the third-highest total for a rookie defenceman in NHL history. The 2006 off-season began with a trade for
Alex Tanguay, and with Sutter relinquishing his head coaching position to assistant
Jim Playfair so he could focus on his duties as general manager. In the playoffs, Calgary fell in six games to the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings in the first round. During the series, the Flames were fined by the NHL for several stick-related penalties in the fifth game. Notably, backup goaltender
Jamie McLennan was suspended five games for slashing Red Wings forward
Johan Franzen. In the
2007–08 off-season, the Flames demoted Playfair to associate coach, bringing in
Mike Keenan as the team's head coach. During the season, Jarome Iginla became the Flames' all-time leader in games played, passing Al MacInnis' mark of 803. Iginla also passed Theoren Fleury's mark of 364 goals to become the Flames' all-time goalscoring leader on March 10, 2008. In the playoffs, they fell in the conference quarterfinals to the San Jose Sharks in seven games. Iginla continued to set franchise records in
2008–09, surpassing Fleury's franchise mark of 830 points, and scoring his 400th goal on the same night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs, being eliminated by the Chicago Blackhawks in six games, resulting in the dismissal of head coach Mike Keenan after two seasons.
Brent Sutter was named his successor on June 23, 2009, but the Flames failed to qualify for the playoffs in the
2009–10 season.
End of the Iginla era (2010–2013) The Flames struggled at the beginning of the
2010–11 season, falling to 14th place in the conference at the Christmas break. The organization replaced Darryl Sutter with
Jay Feaster, giving him the role of interim general manager. The interim tag was removed after the season's conclusion. The team pulled itself back into playoff contention following the change but failed to qualify for the playoffs, missing by three points and finishing 10th in the conference. line up for a
face-off at the
2011 Heritage Classic. Calgary hosted the
2011 Heritage Classic, the NHL's second outdoor game of the year, at
McMahon Stadium on February 22, 2011. The Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4–0 and Kiprusoff became the first goaltender to record a shutout in an NHL outdoor game. Iginla reached two major milestones late in the season—he became the tenth player in NHL history to score at least 30 goals in ten consecutive seasons, and scored his
1,000th career point, all with the Flames. Iginla also scored his
500th career goal on January 7, 2012, against the
Minnesota Wild. On March 27, 2013, Iginla was traded to the
Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for prospects
Kenny Agostino and
Ben Hanowski and a first-round pick in
2013, leaving the team without a captain for the first time. The Flames missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year in 2012–13, and selected
Sean Monahan sixth overall at the
2013 NHL entry draft.
Giordano, Monahan, Gaudreau era (2013–2022) was named captain following the trade of Jarome Iginla to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Prior to the
2013–14 season,
Mark Giordano was named as the new captain of the Flames. The team fell to the sixth place in the division, and team president
Brian Burke fired Feaster and took over the role on an interim basis. 2011 fourth-round draft pick
Johnny Gaudreau made his NHL debut after winning the
Hobey Baker Award at
Boston College the day before. Gaudreau recorded his first NHL goal in the contest, the lone goal in a 5–1 Flames loss. In the
2014–15 season, the Flames won one of their final games against the Los Angeles Kings to clinch their first playoff berth since 2009. They eliminated the Vancouver Canucks in six games in the first round of the playoffs for their first playoff series win since 2004, but were eliminated by the Anaheim Ducks in five games in the second round. Head coach
Bob Hartley won the
Jack Adams Trophy for coach of the year. In the
2015–16 season, the Flames faced heightened expectations after the prior seasons. These expectations were bolstered after the acquisition of
Dougie Hamilton from the
Boston Bruins for a first-round pick and two second-round picks at the
2015 NHL entry draft. The Flames failed to qualify for the playoffs; as a result, head coach Hartley was fired and replaced by former Vancouver Canucks assistant coach
Glen Gulutzan. The Flames picked
Matthew Tkachuk as the sixth selection of the
2016 NHL entry draft. was drafted by the Flames in the
2013 NHL entry draft. During the off-season, the Flames had ongoing negotiations with pending restricted free agents
Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. Monahan agreed to a seven-year contract worth $44.625 million, while Gaudreau signed a six-year, $40.5 million contract. Bolstered by the emergence of the "3M Line", composed of Tkachuk,
Mikael Backlund and
Michael Frolik, the Flames rebounded to make the playoffs in the
2016–17 season as the conference's first wild card seed, but they were swept by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round. The Flames failed to qualify for the playoffs in the
2017–18 season and Gulutzan was fired.
Bill Peters was hired as head coach. The team made several changes to their roster before the
2018–19 season, including a trade with the
Carolina Hurricanes at the
2018 NHL entry draft that sent Dougie Hamilton,
Micheal Ferland, and
Adam Fox to the Hurricanes in exchange for
Noah Hanifin and
Elias Lindholm. At the end of the regular season, they won the division title for the first time since 2006. They lost in the first round of the
2019 Stanley Cup playoffs to the
Colorado Avalanche in five games. At the end of season, captain Giordano was awarded the
James Norris Memorial Trophy for best defenceman of the year. was selected sixth overall at the
2016 NHL entry draft by the Flames|251x251px During the
2019–20 season, following accusations against Peters of racism and physical violence by former Flames's prospect
Akim Aliu, Peters was forced to take a leave of absence on November 26, pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Assistant coach
Geoff Ward was named the acting head coach during the investigation. Peters resigned on November 29 and Ward was named the interim head coach. Ward broke a franchise record by starting his coaching tenure with seven straight wins. The Flames only played 70 games in the regular season, which ended after March 11, 2020, due to the
coronavirus pandemic. Based on their regular season points percentage, they qualified for the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference and defeated the
Winnipeg Jets in four games in the qualifying round. The Flames lost to the Dallas Stars in the first round of the playoffs in six games. On March 4, 2021, with the Flames starting 11–11–2, Ward was fired and Sutter was re-hired as head coach of the Flames. Giordano's tenure as captain ended when he was selected by the
Seattle Kraken in the
2021 NHL expansion draft. The team secured first place in the
Pacific Division and returned to the playoffs after failing to qualify in 2020–21. They faced the Dallas Stars in the first round of the
2022 Stanley Cup playoffs and won the series in seven games. In their first
Battle of Alberta playoff series since 1991, the Flames lost to the Oilers in five games in the second round.
High-profile turnover (2022–present) The 2022 off-season saw the departures and arrivals of many star players. Gaudreau signed a seven-year deal to join the
Columbus Blue Jackets, leaving the Flames. Tkachuk – who was a restricted free agent – said he did not want to sign a long-term deal in Calgary. After filing for club elected salary arbitration, the Flames traded Tkachuk and a conditional 2025 fourth-round draft pick to the
Florida Panthers in exchange for forward
Jonathan Huberdeau, defenceman
MacKenzie Weegar, prospect
Cole Schwindt, and a conditional 2025 first-round selection on July 23. As part of the trade negotiations Tkachuk signed an eight-year, $76 million contract with the Flames before being traded to the Panthers. On August 18, the Flames traded Monahan and a conditional first-round pick in
2025 to the
Montreal Canadiens for future considerations. The move made room for the Flames to secure
Colorado Avalanche forward
Nazem Kadri, who signed a seven-year $49 million contract on the same day. Despite losing two 100-point players, the moves made by general manager
Brad Treliving were praised, with some commentary suggesting the Flames might be a more serious Stanley Cup contender in 2022–23. Despite these high expectations, the Flames missed the playoffs and Treliving vacated his position as general manager on April 17.
Don Maloney was named the club's director of hockey operations and replaced Treliving as GM on an interim basis. On May 23, 2023,
Craig Conroy was named the club's general manager after nine seasons of being an assistant general manager. On June 12,
Ryan Huska was named the new head coach of the team after Sutter's firing. Conroy's first trade was sending leading goal-scorer,
Tyler Toffoli, to the
New Jersey Devils in exchange for
Yegor Sharangovich and a 2023 third-round draft choice on June 27.
Mikael Backlund, the longest-serving player of the Flames, was named captain on September 27, 2023. During the
2023–24 season, Conroy sent
Elias Lindholm to the
Vancouver Canucks in exchange for
Andrei Kuzmenko,
Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, a first-round and a conditional fourth-round picks in the
2024 NHL entry draft. Also among those traded were
Nikita Zadorov,
Chris Tanev, and
Noah Hanifin. In the
2024–25 season, Kuzmenko was traded to the
Philadelphia Flyers. The Flames missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season. ==Community impact==