Throwback Thursday: This week in 1990, Calgary Flames shake things up hiring Doug Risebrough as head coach

This week in 1990, the Calgary Flames hired Doug Risebrough in a shakeup that saw the fourth coach in team history as he took over for Terry Crisp.

Hired in 1987, Crisp had helped bring the first and only Stanley Cup to the city of Calgary in 1989 only one year before he was fired. Not only that, but he remains the winningest head coach in club history when you account for points percentage.

Crisp’s firing was largely due to the fact that only one year after winning the cup, the Flames were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

“Moreover, there was a feeling that the Flames, a team with the best personnel in the league, were not getting as much out of their talent as they could with somebody else running the bench,” penned Calgary Herald scribe Eric Duhatschek. “Crisp’s tough-talking approach alienated all but a handful of players on the team.”

Enter Risebrough.

After serving as an assistant under Crisp, he was given the nod to take of reins of the bench, but his time there didn’t last long. In his first full season, Calgary embarked onto a 100 point, 46-26-8 season and were squared up for defending champion Edmonton Oilers.

But Calgary didn’t last long as they were eliminated in game seven and things didn’t improve the next year despite him being given the reins as general manager.

He relinquished his role behind the bench in Calgary with 20 games left in the year after posting a 25-30-9 record, but stuck on as GM until Nov. 2, 1995.

“With the number of issues on the immediate horizon affecting the club both short-term and in the future, I felt it was important that I concentrate full attention to my duties as general manager,” said Risebrough in a statement on March 4th, 1992 when he stepped down.

Guy Charron took over behind the bench to close out the year before Risebrough hired Dave King as the club’s next coach.

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