In the lengthy history of the Calgary Flames, there are arguably two franchise-defining regional rivalries. One is obviously the Battle of Alberta with the hated Edmonton Oilers. But the other one is their clash with the Vancouver Canucks
Earlier this month, we looked at players that suited up for both the Flames and Oilers. Now, let’s turn our gaze to the west.
65 players have suited up for both the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks in regular season games.
Here are the 65 players, ordered by the date in which they joined this club (bolded).
Player | Flames debut | Canucks debut |
Brad Smith | Oct. 9, 1980 | Nov. 12, 1978 |
Don Lever | Oct. 9, 1980 | Oct. 7, 1972 |
Randy Holt | Oct. 9, 1980 | Oct. 20, 1978 |
Steve Tambellini | Oct. 5, 1983 | Oct. 10, 1985 |
Robin Bartel | Apr. 6, 1986 | Nov. 7, 1986 |
Craig Coxe | Mar. 7, 1988 | Oct. 11, 1984 |
Brian Bradley | Mar. 1, 1986 | Mar. 8, 1988 |
Paul Reinhart | Oct. 9, 1980 | Oct. 6, 1988 |
Steve Bozek | Oct. 5, 1983 | Oct. 6, 1988 |
Kevan Guy | Jan. 29, 1987 | Oct. 12, 1988 |
Mel Bridgman | Nov. 12, 1981 | Feb. 28, 1989 |
Dan Quinn | Dec. 6, 1983 | Jan. 10, 1990 |
Dana Murzyn | Jan. 3, 1988 | Mar. 7, 1991 |
Ronnie Stern | Mar. 7, 1991 | Nov. 27, 1987 |
Michel Petit | Jan. 4, 1992 | Feb. 25, 1983 |
Brent Ashton | Feb. 2, 1993 | Oct. 9, 1979 |
Tim Hunter | Dec. 28, 1981 | Feb. 15, 1993 |
Brian Glynn | Oct. 8, 1987 | Feb. 8, 1994 |
Gary Leeman | Jan. 4, 1992 | Jan. 20, 1995 |
Neil Eisenhut | Feb. 24, 1995 | Nov. 7, 1993 |
Jim Dowd | Oct. 28, 1997 | Dec. 20, 1995 |
Jamie Huscroft | Oct. 8, 1995 | Mar. 28, 1998 |
Dave Gagner | Oct. 5, 1996 | Jan. 18, 1999 |
Andrew Cassels | Oct. 1, 1997 | Oct. 2, 1999 |
Chris O’Sullivan | Oct. 5, 1996 | Dec. 16, 1999 |
Dave Lowry | Oct. 5, 2000 | Oct. 10, 1985 |
Kay Whitmore | Dec. 12, 2001 | Oct. 16, 1992 |
Martin Gelinas | Oct. 10, 2002 | Jan. 19, 1994 |
Tyler Moss | Oct. 28, 1997 | Dec. 23, 2002 |
Josh Green | Dec. 7, 2003 | Nov. 2, 2005 |
Jeff Cowan | Feb. 25, 2000 | Oct. 6, 2006 |
Dany Sabourin | Oct. 29, 2003 | Oct. 17, 2006 |
Adrian Aucoin | Oct. 4, 2007 | May 3, 1995 |
Byron Ritchie | Oct. 7, 2005 | Oct. 5, 2007 |
Todd Bertuzzi | Oct. 9, 2008 | Feb. 7, 1998 |
Jason Jaffray | Oct. 9, 2009 | Dec. 12, 2007 |
Steve Staios | Mar. 5, 2010 | Mar. 22, 1997 |
Brendan Morrison | Oct. 7, 2010 | Mar. 16, 2000 |
Chris Higgins | Feb. 3, 2010 | Mar. 10, 2011 |
Guillaume Desbiens | Feb. 25, 2012 | Oct. 11, 2009 |
Shane O’Brien | Oct. 3, 2013 | Oct. 9, 2008 |
Mason Raymond | Oct. 8, 2014 | Oct. 5, 2007 |
Raphael Diaz | Oct. 9, 2014 | Feb. 4, 2014 |
Sven Baertschi | Mar. 9, 2012 | Apr. 4, 2015 |
Brandon Prust | Nov. 1, 2006 | Oct. 7, 2015 |
Markus Granlund | Feb. 27, 2014 | Feb. 25, 2016 |
Hunter Shinkaruk | Mar. 28, 2016 | Nov. 16, 2015 |
Linden Vey | Nov. 10, 2016 | Oct. 8, 2014 |
Matt Bartkowski | Feb. 18, 2017 | Oct. 7, 2015 |
Drew Shore | Jan. 15, 2015 | Mar. 13, 2017 |
Tanner Glass | Oct. 4, 2017 | Oct. 7, 2009 |
Eddie Lack | Oct. 13, 2017 | Oct. 6, 2013 |
Micheal Ferland | Oct. 31, 2014 | Oct. 2, 2019 |
Oscar Fantenberg | Feb. 27, 2019 | Dec. 1, 2019 |
Travis Hamonic | Oct. 4, 2017 | Jan. 13, 2021 |
Jacob Markstrom | Jan. 14, 2021 | Mar. 6, 2014 |
Chris Tanev | Jan. 14, 2021 | Jan. 18, 2011 |
Josh Leivo | Jan. 14, 2021 | Dec. 4, 2018 |
Louis Domingue | May 18, 2021 | Mar. 1, 2020 |
Alex Chiasson | Oct. 12, 2016 | Oct. 13, 2021 |
Erik Gudbranson | Oct. 16, 2021 | Oct. 15, 2016 |
Brad Richardson | Nov. 4, 2021 | Oct. 3, 2013 |
Tyler Toffoli | Feb. 15, 2022 | Feb. 19, 2020 |
Curtis Lazar | Mar. 19, 2017 | Oct. 12, 2022 |
Troy Stecher | Mar. 4, 2023 | Oct. 25, 2016 |
Obviously cross-over between Calgary and Vancouver was fairly infrequent early on, aside from three players becoming charter members of the Flames/Canucks club in Calgary’s first game after relocating from Atlanta.
But we see a run of pretty prominent former Flames landing in Vancouver between 1988 and 1993, starting with Paul Reinhart and ending with Tim Hunter. Later on, there’s a couple runs of former Canucks heading east to Calgary from 2004 to 2014, and again starting in 2021.
Generally-speaking, Calgary’s landed more prominent ex-Canucks than the other way around.
Six players managed to play for Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary in the NHL. That sextet is Brian Glynn, Jim Dowd, Josh Green, Martin Gelinas, Michel Petit and Steve Staios. Gelinas is likely to be considered the standout among that group.