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Flashback Friday: A history of Flames games on New Year’s Eve
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jan 2, 2026, 08:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 2, 2026, 00:02 EST
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There’s no tradition like New Year’s Eve at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
On Wednesday, the Calgary Flames played the Philadelphia Flyers in the dying hours of 2025, defeating the Eastern Conference team 5-1. Their all-time record on the final day of the year is 19-10-0-3.
This edition of Flashback Friday will look at some interesting facts about the Flames and New Year’s Eve.

The early years (1970s and 1980s)

Before moving to Calgary to begin the 1980-81 season, the team was based in Atlanta. In their eight seasons located in Georgia, the Flames played four games on New Year’s Eve, all on the road. 
Three of those games were contested against the New York Rangers, with the Flames winning 8-1 in 1975-76, 4-2 in 1976-77, and 6-5 in 1978-79. Their other win was a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1977-78.
The New Year’s Eve game wasn’t a tradition in the first 10 seasons of existence. In fact, after moving to Calgary, the Flames didn’t play their first New Year’s Eve game until 1985-86, a 6-3 loss to the Minnesota North Stars in Bloomington, Minnesota. Håkan Loob and Jamie Macoun each had a goal and an assist in this game.
In 1986-87, the Flames travelled to Detroit to take on the Red Wings, falling 6-4. In this game, Nick Fotiu had a goal and an assist. Their final NYE game of the 1980s came in 1988-89, resulting in a 4-4 tie with the Original Winnipeg Jets. This was the first home game on NYE in Flames’ history, as Joel Otto scored twice and picked up an assist.
The Flames haven’t played a road game on NYE since 1987, but they’ve played a whole bunch of games on the final day of the year.

The beginning of the tradition (1990s)

As you know, the Flames won the Stanley Cup in 1989 over the Montréal Canadiens. The league’s schedule makers got the bright idea to schedule the Canadiens to play in Calgary on NYE in four consecutive seasons starting in 1990-91.
In 1990-91, the Flames picked up their first NYE since moving to Calgary, beating the Canadiens 7-2. Theo Fleury was the game’s best player, scoring a goal and three assists in the victory. They won the 1991-92 match-up as well by a score of 3-2 in overtime, with Paul Ranheim finding the overtime winner, his second goal of the night.
Their NYE win streak increased to three with a 5-3 victory over the Canadiens in 1992-93. C.J. Young scored two of his seven National Hockey League goals in this game, as Mike Vernon stopped 26 of 29 shots. Unfortunately, that streak came to an end in the 1993 match-up, as the Flames fell 5-2. Al MacInnis and Joe Nieuwendyk scored the two goals.
Harkening back to their days in Atlanta, the Flames played the Rangers on NYE in 1995, defeating them 3-1, giving them an all-time record of 4-0 against the Rangers on NYE. Michael Nylander scored twice in the victory. On New Year’s Eve 1996, the Flames hosted the San Jose Sharks, falling 5-1, with Ed Ward scoring the lone goal to make it 1-1 early in the second. The Sharks exploded for four goals in the third period.
In 1997-98, the Flames welcomed back the Canadiens in three of the next four New Year’s Eves. In 1997, the Flames fell 3-2 to the Canadiens, with Joël Bouchard and Eric Landry scoring the two goals. The following season, they lost a closely contested game by a score of 2-1, as Nylander scored just 2:23 into the game.
That was the final game of the 1990s, as the Flames didn’t play on 1999’s NYE, probably because of Y2K.

A provincial showdown on New Year’s Eve (2000s)

Just like they did in 1990-91, the Flames’ NYE game in 2000-01 was against the Canadiens, as they picked up a 5-4 overtime win against their fellow Canadian team. Valeri Bure had a great game, scoring twice and picking up two assists in about 20 minutes of action.
For the first time in Battle of Alberta history, the Flames and Edmonton Oilers matched up on NYE in 2001. Unfortunately, it ended in a 2-2 tie, with Steve Bégin and Craig Conroy picking up the goals.
The final time the Canadiens played on NYE in Calgary was in 2002, as the two teams tied with a 1-1 score. Chris Clark picked up the Flames’ lone goal. In the final season before the 2004-05 lockout, the Flames fell 2-1 to the Colorado Avalanche, with our very own Rhett Warrener picking up the goal.
During the lockout, the league must’ve had an epiphany to schedule a Battle of Alberta on NYE, because four of the next five games the Flames played on NYE were against the Oilers. On NYE 2005, the Flames defeated the Oilers 6-5, kicking off a six-game NYE winning streak. Both Shean Donovan and Daymond Langkow had two-goal games.
NYE in 2006 saw the Flames defeat the Oilers 4-2 to move to 19-14-4. There were four different goal scorers, Jarome Iginla, Chuck Kobasew, Langkow, and Dion Phaneuf, as Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 22 of 24 shots.
The Battle of Alberta was briefly put on hold for the 2007 NYE game, as the Vancouver Canucks visited on that day. It was the Flames taking home a 2-1 victory that day, with Kristian Huselius and Owen Nolan scoring the two goals. Langkow had another strong performance, picking up two assists.
On Dec. 31, 2008, the Flames welcomed the Oilers once again, defeating them 6-4 to move to 22-11-4 in front of 19,289 people. Mike Cammalleri and Iginla gave the fans fireworks (wait, that’s Canada Day), as they each had two goals and three assists. In the final game of the noughties, the Flames defeated the Oilers 2-1, goals courtesy of Conroy and Curtis Glencross.

Modern day (2010s and beyond)

Moving to the modern day, the Flames’ opponent on NYE day has varied quite a lot. Dec. 31, 2010 saw them host the Avalanche, as they won 3-2 to bring their NYE win streak to six consecutive seasons. All three of their goals came in the second period, as Tom Kostopoulos, Iginla, and Tim Jackman found the back of the net.
Their win streak came to an end, as did the annual tradition of hosting a game on NYE, as they didn’t play on New Year’s Eve in 2011 or 2012, the latter due to the lockout. It was the first time since the tradition began that the Flames didn’t play on NYE in two consecutive years, in fact, here’s a Sportsnet article written on it.
That six-game NYE win streak came to an end on the final day of 2013, as they fell 4-1 to the Flyers. Sean Monahan was the goal scorer in the loss. Hosting the Oilers on Dec. 31, 2014, the Flames got back in the win column with a 4-3 overtime victory, as Joe Colborne scored twice and Glencross picked up two assists. To this point, it’s the last time the Oilers have visited NYE.
On NYE in 2015, the Flames fell 4-1 to the Los Angeles Kings, with Mark Giordano scoring their lone goal. They avenged that loss with a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on NYE in 2016, as Michael Frolík, Dennis Wideman, Bouma, and Mikael Backlund all scored in the first period.
Moving to 2017, the Flames hosted the Chicago Blackhawks in a sold out game, defeating them 4-3 in overtime. Scoring twice was Matthew Tkachuk, as he, Giordano, Monahan, Backlund, and Johnny Gaudreau all had two-point games.
Their highest scoring NYE game came in 2018, as the Flames defeated the Sharks 8-5. Backlund, Gaudreau, and Tkachuk all scored twice, as both Giordano, Gaudreau and Tkachuk had four-point nights. It was a feisty affair too towards the end of the game, as 66 penalty minutes were handed out in the final minute of the game. This victory began a three-game NYE winning streak.
The Flames’ most recent NYE defeat came at the hands of the Blackhawks in 2019, as they lost 5-3. There were no standout performances in this match-up, as Sam Bennett, Frolík, and Monahan scored their three goals.
For the second time since the tradition began, the Flames didn’t play in NYE games in back-to-back years. The lack of the 2020 game was due to a global pandemic, as was the 2021 NYE game as it was postponed to a later date. Those were such weird years.
Since everything returned to normal (for the most part), the Flames have alternated hosting the Canucks and Flyers for their annual NYE game. On NYE in 2022, the Flames defeated the Canucks 3-2, with MacKenzie Weegar picking up a goal and an assist. The 2023 NYE game saw them defeat the Flyers 4-3, with Backlund, Blake Coleman, Dennis Gilbert, and Nazem Kadri scoring the four goals.
They had an important showdown with the Canucks on NYE 2024, ultimately defeating the Canadian team 3-1. Connor Zary scored in the first period, the Canucks tied it six minutes into the third, and Kadri scored the game winner. Jonathan Huberdeau solidified the win with an empty netter.
And of course, Wednesday’s game saw the Flames defeat the Flyers 5-1, bringing them to an 18-18-4 record, the first time they’ve been .500 since they began the season. This was their seventh NYE victory in the past 10 seasons, losing just one game in the process.
Safe to say that the Flames know how to ring in the New Year in style.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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