On Friday, the Calgary Flames did something prior to the trade deadline that has only happened twice before in recent club history. They did nothing.
In the seven days prior to Friday afternoon’s trade deadline, the Flames made zero moves for the first time since 2012 and just the third time since their 1989 Stanley Cup win.
We’ve delved into the circumstances of the Flames avoiding moves this season, as they try to balance present playoff aspirations with building the hockey club for the future. Let’s examine their past moves, or lack thereof, too.
The 2012 trade deadline
The 2011-12 season was, in a sense, the last gasp of the Jarome Iginla era for the Flames. Brent Sutter was coach and Jay Feaster was the general manager.
The trade deadline was on Feb. 27, but Feaster pulled the trigger on a bunch of trades in January instead, rather than wait for the deadline:
- On Jan. 6, the Flames traded Brendan Mikkelson to Tampa Bay for Blair Jones.
- On Jan. 12, the Flames traded Rene Bourque, Patrick Holland and a 2013 second-round pick to Montreal for Mike Cammalleri, Karri Ramo and a 2012 fifth-round pick.
- On Jan. 27, the Flames traded Brendan Morrison to Chicago for Brian Connelly.
- On Jan.30, the Flames traded John Negrin to Winnipeg for Akim Aliu.
With the big move – acquiring Cammalleri – out of the way, there really was no big push to make a deadline week swap. Their lone deadline day deal ended up being re-signing Tim Jackman.
The Flames ended up missing the playoffs by five points, and the following season saw them make much more substantial changes prior to the trade deadline – including the departures of Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester.
The 1994 trade deadline
The 1993-94 season was a fairly successful one for the Flames overall. Dave King was coach and Doug Risebrough was GM.
The trade deadline was on Mar. 21, and Risebrough made his moves in advance of the deadline – his last deal was 11 days beforehand:
- On Nov. 19, the Flames traded Jeff Reese to Hartford for Dan Keczmer.
- On Jan. 24, the Flames traded Todd Harkins to Hartford for Scott Morrow.
- On Mar. 10, the Flames traded Gary Suter, Paul Ranheim and Ted Drury to Hartford for Michael Nylander, James Patrick and Zarley Zalapski.
With the heavy lifting all done, the Flames stood pat on deadline week. It turned out well for them in the regular season, as they won the Pacific Division. However, they lost to the Vancouver Canucks in the first round in a seven game series. (The Flames won their division again in 1995, but against couldn’t win in the playoffs, which led to King’s departure following the 1994-95 season.)
In both 1994 and 2012 – and 2025 – the Flames’ GMs didn’t exactly sit on their hands for the entire season leading to the trade deadline: they just made their big moves before the final week, so they didn’t need to participate in the final frenzy of moves.
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