A Brief History of Flames Farm Teams

Friday night saw the curtain fall on the Abbotsford Heat, as the Baby Flames fell 5-3 to the Grand Rapids Griffins and lost their best-of-five series by a 3-1 margin. Alas, poor Heat, we knew you about as well as any farm team in recent memory.

The AHL’s Board of Governors meet today to discuss a few things, and one of those things may be a new home for the Heat. Reports out of many New York area media agencies are that the Flames have an agreement in principle (or are working towards one) with the city of Glens Falls, NY, formerly home of the Adirondack Phantoms. Will things move along today? We shall see.

In the interim, here’s a brief sojourn down memory lane, as we profile the major affiliate clubs that the Flames have had up to this point.

The WHA folded the year before and the Bulls kept some players around while playing in the Central Hockey League before also folding mid-season in 1981. At that point, some players went to the Fort Worth Texans, Wichita Wind and Tulsa Oilers of the CHL, or the Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the AHL (Montreal’s farm team). The Atlanta Flames used the Bulls as a farm club the year prior, as well.

Tim Hunter played for the Bulls, along with Paul Henderson (who retired after the team folded).

Another shared affiliate, as the Stars were (duh) the Minnesota North Stars’ farm club. Once again, this team folded after Calgary’s one season with them. But they at least finished the season.

The Rockies moved to New Jersey, so this was the replacement hockey tenant for McNichols Arena and Calgary’s first full-time farm club. Lasted for two years, then team and league folded. The Colorado Flames did ready Mike Vernon and Al MacInnis for the NHL, so it’s not all bad.

The Golden Flames produced future Flames head coaches Pierre Page and Terry Crisp. Several notable NHLers also cut their teeth in Moncton, including Joel Otto and Brett Hull. As was tradition by that point, the team folded in 1987, but broke the franchise record for affiliate longevity at three seasons.

The Flames move all their players to the IHL, as the Golden Eagles are an established pro team with a strong program. And a green and gold colour scheme. So Calgary replaces the green with red and throws prospects in there. They win a Turner Cup as IHL Champions in 1988 and make it to the finals again in 1989. Their parent club won the Presidents’ Trophy both of those years, to boot. Theoren Fleury is arguably the most prominent former Golden Eagle.

Calgary’s longest-lasting affiliate had its ups-and-downs. In nine seasons, they won a Calder Cup, but failed to really produce huge stars. Biggest name to come out of Saint John? Cory Stillman. Still, they provided stability and provided a lot of depth players, but it should be noted that the Flames’ decline into NHL obscurity coincided with the Saint John Flames’ existence.

The Calgary Flames lost the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals because of their minor league team. Or lack thereof. The Flames shared an affiliate with the Carolina Hurricanes, and only were required (or afforded) to provide a certain number of bodies to the farm team. That meant that when injuries came a-callin’ in the 2004 playoffs, they ran out of healthy defensemen who knew how to play Flames hockey. And Brent Krahn got starts whenever Cam Ward was tired. The Hurricanes called the shots, so the Flames players got secondary treatment.

Mark Giordano began his pro career with the Lock Monsters, as did Chuck Kobasew.

The wandering continued, as the Flames found a sole affiliation in Omaha, Nebraska. The Knights had a fantastic logo, but didn’t make much noise in the standings (or at the ticket window). They were dead-last in attendance in 2005-06 and third-from-last in 2006-07.

More wandering, as the Knights shifted to Moline, Illinois – part of a cluster along with Davenport, Iowa, Bettendorft, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois known as the Quad Cities. The QC Flames had a sweet logo, but also missed the playoffs in both of their seasons and didn’t draw that well. They were third and second last (respectively) in attendance during their two seasons in Moline.

Five years in an affiliate city! A new record (for the post-Saint John era)! And the Heat managed to (a) push a lot of talent into the NHL (notably T.J. Brodie and Lance Bouma, of late), but also (b) made the playoffs in three of their five seasons, ending a lengthy stretch of missing the playoffs for the farm team. Unfortunately, this made zero difference in the stands, and attendance remained in the AHL’s basement.