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Ranking the Flames’ dark jerseys: From the classic reds to the pedestals and Blasty

Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

By Cynthia Ryley Delaney

Oct 23, 2026, 18:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 23, 2026, 17:40 EDT

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At some point this season, the Calgary Flames will introduce a fourth jersey into the rotation.

On Wednesday, all 32 teams posted a cipher in anticipation for the Hometown Remix jerseys. After being decoded, the Flames teaser read “one last ride”, with a gold background. As for the teaser, it’s speculated that it has something to do with the 2026-27 season being the Flames’ final year in the Saddledome.

Over the years, the Flames have had a few iconic jerseys, as well as some duds. In this article, we’ll rank their jerseys over the years, mainly focusing on the darks (including alternates and specials), with one notable exception, as the whites have had minimal changes over the years. We’ll be using the resource NHL Uniforms, an unofficial database that features each team’s jerseys (including the defunct teams) over the years.

Let’s dig in!

10. Black logo Reebok Edge/Adidas Adizero jerseys

My disdain for the introduction of the Reebok Edge jerseys aren’t unique to the Flames. Reebok took over jersey manufacturing for the 2006-07 season, with jerseys remaining unchanged from years prior. However, Reebok Edge was introduced for the 2007-08 season, turning most jerseys across the league into a cookie cutter jersey.

Jan 21, 2009; Calgary, AB, Canada; Calgary Flames right wing Jarome Iginla (12) yells out instructions before a face-off against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Pengrowth Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Flames weren’t one of the few teams that didn’t suffer this fate. Their beloved jerseys used in the 2004 Stanley Cup Final run were replaced by a busy jersey featuring a red base, black arms, and stripes made up of yellow and white. The Canadian and Albertan flag were introduced on the shoulders, adding even more colours to an already busy jersey.

These were used as their home jerseys throughout Reebok’s deal. Upon Adidas taking over, the jerseys remained essentially the same, becoming the team’s alternates in 2020-21, before being sent to the sun for the 2021-22 season. Let’s hope they never come back.

9. Script jersey

For the 2013-14 season, the Flames introduced an alternate jersey inspired by college jerseys. Featuring a script that read “Calgary” with a small logo underneath, these jerseys were just boring.

And not only were they boring, but the colour on the jersey was overwhelmingly red, similar to their home jerseys at the time. There were some differences, namely the black shoulders and a white stripe with black trim, but these jerseys were just bad.

Dec 31, 2013; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames center Sean Monahan (23) scores on Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ray Emery (29) during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

They lasted until the 2015-2016 season. These ones probably aren’t coming back.

10. Original pedestal jersey

I am a collector of retro and vintage jerseys, so trust me when I say it pains me to put a jersey from the 1990s this low. The pedestal jerseys lasted from the 1994-94 season until the 1999-2000 season. Their jerseys in the 2010s were busy, but these pedestal jerseys took it to a whole new level.

Featuring a red base and a white logo, that’s about the only thing good about these jerseys. The shoulders were white, not a big fan, and the top of the arms featured black tips, a red patch broken up by a small black stripe, then yellow patched trimmed by a thin red strip. It’s not even the biggest complaint about these jerseys.

The pedestal itself is just weird. Many jerseys feature some type of striping at the bottom of the jersey to frame the logo, as is the case with this one. There aren’t many jerseys that feature diagonal striping that puts the logo on a pedestal. It’s unique, but also a weird design.

7. 2022-23 Reverse Retro pedestal jersey

During the Adidas era, teams introduced two retro reverse jerseys. The Flames’ first was a remix of the iconic blasty jersey, the other was a remix of the pedestal jersey.

I’m not going to say this one is good, but it is better than the original pedestal jersey. It still suffers from being busy like the original jersey, but this time around, the 2022-23 reverse retro had a black base with a white logo and red shoulders. The arms still have the alternating colours, but it’s used as striping and trim. This is an upgrade.

Dec 7, 2022; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames center Nazem Kadri (91) celebrates his goal with teammates against the Minnesota Wild during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

The issues with the pedestal still remain, it’s just a jarring jersey and is too busy when paired with the striping at the bottom of the jersey. However, it’s not often you’ll see a revival better than the original.

6. 2020-21 Reverse Retro “Blasty” jersey

Two seasons before the revival of the pedestal jersey was the revival of the blasty jersey. Unlike the pedestal jersey, the original blasty jersey could never be beaten by any remix.

In reality, not much changed with this jersey. The main change was the lack of red at the bottom of the jersey and on the arms, with small changes including the collar, and the shoulder patch (red logo on the original, white logo on the reverse retro). Everything else, namely the logo and the base colour of black, remained the same.

Jan 23, 2023; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames center Mikael Backlund (11) skates with the puck against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

This jersey was good enough to serve as the Flames’ alternate from the 2021-22 season until just last year. You can’t beat the original blasty, though!

5. 2023 Heritage Classic cream jersey

The Flames have played in three Heritage Classic, an outdoor game played between two Canadian teams. In 2011, they defeated the Montréal Canadiens 4-0. Then in 2019, they fell 2-1 to the Winnipeg Jets in overtime time. Their most recent Heritage Classic was in 2023, a Battle of Alberta.

I actually like both teams’ jerseys used in this game, the Oilers’ jersey because it featured a unique logo in their franchise history, and the Flames because I’m a huge fan of non-white light jerseys. Instead of white, the base of the Flames’ 2023 Heritage Classic jerseys was cream.

Oct 29, 2023; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames centre Jonathan Huberdeau (10) on the ice with Edmonton Oilers centre Connor McDavid (97) during the third period in the 2023 Heritage Classic ice hockey game at Commonwealth Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-USA TODAY Sports

The jersey itself was inspired by the jerseys of a minor hockey league team named the Calgary Stampeders, a team that played from the late 1930s until the early 1970s. It featured minimal orange, with the cream being broken up by red striping on the arms, the torso, and the shoulders.

It also featured a unique logo in the team’s catalogue, as the classic Flames’ logo was surrounded by a red circle with “Calgary Flames” written in orange. It’s a solid special jersey, even if it was rarely worn.

4. 2011 Heritage Classic Calgary Tigers jersey

The Flames’ best Heritage Classic jersey was the first, while their 2019 Heritage Classic was essentially just a vintage white jersey. Like the 2023 Heritage Classic, their 2011 Heritage Classic jersey was inspired by a minor league team in the first half of the 1900s, the Calgary Tigers.

It’s been nearly a century since the last Tigers’ game, and the 2011 Heritage Classic was exactly what you’d expect from a team active in the 1920s. The arms featured alternating yellow and red, while the torso and shoulders were mainly red, but with a yellow stripe across the middle where the cream logo sat.

Feb 20, 2011; Calgary, AB, Canada; Calgary Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff (34) during their game against the Montreal Canadiens in the Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium. The Flames beat the Canadiens, 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

What makes me like this as much as I do is just the uniqueness of it all. You aren’t going to find another jersey like this in the Flames’ catalog.

3. 2000-07 red jerseys

Now we come to the three jerseys that are iconic. The third-ranked jerseys are the dark jerseys used in the noughties before the Reebok Edge era. Although I’m not a huge fan of the black logo on the Reebok Edge and Adidas jerseys, it just works on these ones.

These jerseys feature a red base, with black at the bottom of the jersey and at the end of the arms. Between the red and the black is a yellow, white, and black stripe to break up the two dominating colours. As a jersey, it’s nice.

But then you have to factor in what the Flames did with the jersey. Everyone remembers their run to the 2004 Stanley Cup, and these were the jerseys that they did it in. These jerseys are so beloved that they’re returning for the 2026-27 season as the team says goodbye to the Saddledome.

2. Original “Blasty” jersey

Around the turn of the millennium, both the Flames and the Dallas Stars featured an alternate with a logo based on a barnyard animal. The Stars based it on a cow, nicknamed by fans as “the Mooterus”. Personally, I love it and I want it for my collection, as well as their homes around this time. On the other hand, the Flames released Blasty, a horse that shoots fire through its freakin’ nose. Enough said.

The original Blasty and the reverse retro only had minor differences. As noted earlier, the original Blasty was dominated by red at the bottom of the jersey and at the end of the arms, while the 2020s Blasty was just black.

Can’t beat the originals.

1. The classics

Some jerseys are just so iconic that a team has to go back to them. Both Albertan-based teams have done just that.

Even before their move to Calgary, the Atlanta Flames featured a red base with yellow dominating the bottom, and a white strip running through the yellow. There have been minor changes over the years, but it was their primary jersey from the Atlanta days until the introduction of the pedestal.

Oct 18, 2026; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames defenseman Zayne Parekh (19) controls the puck against Carolina Hurricanes left wing Eric Robinson (50) during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

For a decade, the classics weren’t in the Flames’ rotation, but for the team’s 30th anniversary in 2009-10, the vintages came back in the mix. Aside from the three seasons where the Flames had the college inspired script jerseys and the first year of the Adidas deal, it hasn’t left.

By the 2020-21 season, the classics returned as the main home jersey and it hasn’t changed since. I don’t imagine it will for a long time, the classics are called that for a reason.

Cynthia Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for DFO Calgary, DFO Edmonton, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @CynthiaRDelaney.

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