Franchises in the NHL - Where do the Flames Rank Over Time?

[Winsor_Pilates]

Wanted to break this away from the Backlund thread.

Someone mentioned the Flames have won 4 playoff series since their cup in 1989. This brought up the thought of how this compares to the rest of the NHL?

Results: Only the New York Islanders have won less with 3 playoff series wins in that time.
Florida, Phoenix & Columbus (& Vegas) are all less the Calgary too, but have not existed the entire sample size. Unless I missed someone, those are the only teams below the Flames.

Oilers are at 14 & Vancouver at 13 during that same time period for context.

Now I realize choosing 1990+ is an arbitrary line, as there are teams who have never won a Stanley Cup and more recent timelines would put a team line the Oilers as the poorest as they come.

Having said all that, where do the Calgary Flames rank compared to the other existing franchises in the NHL?

Do you see them as a storied franchise with many great players of past, a terrible franchise near the bottom of the pile or somewhere in the middle?

[Psytic]

Bubble Franchise since 1990. A few years of rock bottom with the young guns followed by being a lower tier contender with Iginla and Co. to rock bottom again the beginning Hartley years to it looks like bubble / lower tier contender status with Johnny and Co. At this point I would settle to be like San Jose. A consistent threat for the conference every year but not a cup favourite. Were never quite over the hump to be a top team. We always seem to only be able to draft up one top tier player. We've never had two like a Malkin and Crosby or Kane and Toews. Its always one star and a motley crew of very good not all star players. I think we needed a home run on Bennett to become a top tier team this cycle but it didnt happen.

[Monahan For Mayor]

We are a pretty bad franchise. Below average in my eyes. Can't really say otherwise until we can actually prove to be a threat.

[CliffFletcher]

Upper end of the bottom third.

[Keselke]

Mildly warm tap water

[IgiTang]

The greatest franchise there has ever been or ever will be in the NHL. Period.

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

The greatest franchise there has ever been or ever will be in the NHL. Period.

What are we, the Edmonton Oilers?

[IgiTang]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

What are we, the Edmonton Oilers?

Nope. I’m a diehard flames fan and that’s my opinion. Who the hell are you to question that?

[JBR]

That escalated quickly

[Igottago]

The 89 team was one for the ages. So many hall of fame players on that team. That alone probably props up the ranking somewhat.

The Flames should have done way more in that late 80's early 90's era (a cup or two more), and probably should have done way more in the peak of the Iginla era (possibly a cup, but certainly more deep playoff runs).

The Flames unfortunately don't have a winning standard as an organization. The fact that for many fans on this forum the most celebrated time was actually a year where we went to the final and didn't win the Stanley Cup, says it all.

They have a chance to up their ranking now with the crop of really good young players they've got. But they'll have to make the right decisions around them. So far it hasn't happened.

[nfotiu]

There's only been 5 seasons since moving from Atlanta where it seems that they met or exceeded expectations.

80-81
85-86
88-89
03-04
14-15

That's 32 out of 37 seasons that have been disappointing :-(

[Strange Brew]

For some reason, multiple GM's over the course of the franchise have had a hard time taking a long view of building a pipeline of solid prospects. And it is reflected in the team's results. No sustained success in 29 years.

[CalgaryFan1988]

Franchise is far from the best, definitely in the lower half of the league. 2004 really saved us.

Fans, I'd say we have some of the most loyal Fans in the NHL.

I'm obviously not in Alberta anymore, but for those who spend their hard earned money on seasons tickets year to year, others in Canada (including myself) who stay up until 1230 on a work night to watch them lose night in and night out........ This franchise owes us.

[Roof-Daddy]

Average.

About as average as it gets.

Since 89, 13 playoff appearances and 14 misses (probably be 15 soon here).

In those 13 appearances, 11 first round exits.

Also, it was 15 seasons in between '89 and 2004. It's now been 14 seasons since 2004.



The 1st 9 years was amazing though.

- 9/9 playoff appearances (smaller league, easier to make playoffs)
- 9 series wins, 9 series losses
- 2 finals appearances
- 1 Stanley Cup

[OutOfTheCube]

Pretty bad. But even a single championship leaps them up above a lot of the league.

But better than the Sabres, before anyone can say it.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

There's only been 5 seasons since moving from Atlanta where it seems that they met or exceeded expectations.

80-81
85-86
88-89
03-04
14-15

That's 32 out of 37 seasons that have been disappointing :-(

To be fair there were a few seasons in the 90s when the team met expectations, it just has allot to do with expectations.

Also 1987/88 & 1989/90 were a pretty successful seasons.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by #-3

To be fair there were a few seasons in the 90s when the team met expectations, it just has allot to do with expectations.

Also 1987/88 & 1989/90 were a pretty successful seasons.

Winning the President's cup and getting swept by the Oilers, and finishing first in the conference, but losing in the first round were two of the more disappointing seasons in memory!

I was probably naive, but I always went into those 90s seasons with optimism thinking this was going to be the year the Young Guns came into their own.

[Mickey76]

Not very good. The problem with this team is it disappoints in so many ways. The 89 team was unbelievable, but winning only 1 cup and then 0 playoff series after with that team seems impossible. The young guns era I understand we were just bad. Then Darryl Sutter arrives and we have maybe the best player in the world and maybe the best goalie in the world. Amazing 04 run but then 4 more years of incredible playoff disappointment followed by worse disappointment. This team has built good teams just always find a way to lose. We also seem to have very bad game 7 luck. Look at us this way, an almost 40 year history and if we had just 2 or 3 more game 7 wins our point of view of this team would be quite different.

[locsofblu]

Nothing much to cheer about in my 31 years of being a flames fan. Outside of winning the cup when I was a little boy back in 89 this team has disappointed time and time again. There's been a few bright spots however the 04 run was amazing and one of my all time favourite flame teams and of course an honourable mention to the 14/15 run aswell. I'll always have a soft spot for the flames and I'm still a fan but the older I get and with another year of disappointment again on the horizon I really just don't give a #### anymore. I would say the flames should be rated bottom third as a franchise in the entire NHL.

[GioforPM]

The teams in the couple years after the cup were still as elite as you can get. There were just some catastrophes in the first round.

After the 04 run the team itself was darn good (in fact, more talented than the 04 team), but the first round jinx beat them again.