Looking back at the Calgary Flames in the 1990s
By Ryan Pike
10 months agoThe Calgary Flames franchise has a long, fascinating history. From their origins as an expansion team in Georgia in 1972 to their glory days in the 1980s to present day, the Flames have played a lot of hockey and many players have had tremendous careers wearing the Flaming C (and the Flaming A).
As we prepare for the 2023-24 season, we thought we’d look back at the Flames’ history decade-by-decade. Up next, the challenging times of the 1990s.
The 1990s, at a glance
The Flames went 349-324-108-1 and earned 807 points in 782 games played during the 1990s. Their points percentage over the decade was 13th overall.
The good news: the Flames made the playoffs in six of the first seven years of the 1990s. The bad news: they didn’t win a single playoff round during the entirety of the ’90s. If the ’80s were the decade where all the planning and team construction that the Flames had worked on paid off, the ’90s were a decade where nothing they tried seemed to work… and the devaluation of the Canadian dollar made logistics really challenging for the club both on and off the ice.
Individual achievements
167 skaters and 16 goaltenders played at least one game for the Flames during the 1990s.
Award Winners:
- Sergei Makarov – Calder Memorial Trophy (1990), All-Rookie Team (F) (1990)
- Al MacInnis – First Team All-Star (D) (1990 & 1991), Second Team All-Star (D) (1994)
- Joe Nieuwendyk – King Clancy Memorial Trophy (1995)
- Theo Fleury – Second Team All-Star (RW) (1995)
- Gary Roberts – Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (1996)
- Jarome Iginla – All-Rookie Team (F) (1997)
- Derek Morris – All-Rookie Team (D) (1998)
(Makarov was 31 when he was named the NHL’s top rookie… and had played extensively in the Soviet Union. The Calder eligibility rules were amended to include an age restriction for subsequent seasons.)
All-Star Game Representatives:
- 1990: Al MacInnis, Mike Vernon, Joe Mullen and Joe Nieuwendyk
- 1991: Al MacInnis, Mike Vernon, Theo Fleury and Gary Suter
- 1992: Al MacInnis, Gary Roberts and Theo Fleury
- 1993: Gary Roberts and Mike Vernon
- 1994: Al MacInnis and Joe Nieuwendyk
- 1996: Theo Fleury
- 1997: Theo Fleury
- 1998: Theo Fleury
- 1999: Theo Fleury
Statistical Leaders:
- Games (skaters): Theo Fleury, 715
- Goals: Theo Fleury, 335
- Assists: Theo Fleury, 428
- Points: Theo Fleury, 763
- Penalty Minutes: Ronnie Stern, 1,288
- Game-Winning Goals: Theo Fleury, 49
- Games (goalies): Mike Vernon, 248
- Wins: Mike Vernon, 120
- Shutouts: Trevor Kidd: 10
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