All I remember is how disliked the flames were. They were so uncool, all the kids hated them. Often felt like people went to games to see the opposition more than the home team.
100% this. I remember getting made fun of and picked on basically the entire time I was in school because the Flames were so mediocre. Then 2004 happened.
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I'm exactly as old as the Flames: we both arrived in 1980, a lot of my best memories are the 80's glory-years and surprisingly few of them are in-game.
Red Rooster Flames cards around 1986-87 - Red Rooster was a convenience store, I remember there was one at the bottom of Edgemont Boulevard, I think there's a Circle K there now. They would do a set of hockey cards that was just the roster of the Flames.
Lanny McDonald's 500th goal I was actually at the game and was in the best seats I'd ever sat in. Right behind the net, about five rows up. He scored on a wrap-around against the Islanders. Of course, it was at the other end of the ice. But we all went crazy.
Some random game against the Habs This happened sometime between 89 and 92. Just a HNIC against the Canadiens, right before the game started I remember commenting that "5-3 just sounds like the score of a hockey game." Lo and behold, late in the 3rd the Flames are up 4-3 and Nieuwendyk pops an empty netter.
The Parade It was grey, wet, chilly, just an absolutely disgusting day. I remember horse-drawn wagons, fire engines, and making eye-contact with Jim Peplinksi.
Dressing up as Mike Vernon Halloween in the late 80s, I'm not sure which one. Those brown cooper road-hockey goalie pads, my hockey helmet, and a red Vernon jersey. God I wish I still had that jersey. I have no idea what happened to it.
The Flaming C on my wall My mom painted a Flaming C on my wall, probably about 3-feet across. She did an awesome job, measured and drew everything out, it was exact and perfect, even colour-matched by the guys at the paint store.
Hot Stove Lounge Listening to this on the radio after Flames games. Lying in bed with headphones plugged into a digital clock-radio. As a kid I wasn't entirely sure what a 'hot-stove' was. I pictured a group of guys sitting around in like a wooden cabin with one of those big black old-timey stoves heating the place. I legitimately thought that was where they were broadcasting from.
The Flames breaking my fever So this one I don't actually remember, but I've had the story related to me. When I was 6 I got a really, really bad case of chicken pox. I missed about two weeks of school; it was so bad the doctor actually made a house-call. For several days I was pretty much catatonic with fever. One evening my mother poked her head into my room and announced "The Flames won." I, the story goes, weakly but determinedly raised my fist and gave a small fist-pump, and this was the sign to my mom I was on the mend.
Like a lot of Calgary teenagers, I fell out of love with the Flames in the mid 90's. I decided I was a Felix Potvin fan and actually owned a Potvin Leafs jersey (you did embarrassing stuff too in your teen years, admit it). I got back into the Flames when I went off to Victoria for University and started making friends with Canucks fans, the scum. One of my best friends and I made a standing bet in about 2000-2001 that anytime the Flames and Canucks met in a playoff series, we'd bet a jersey on the outcome.
I remember reading on The Score ticker that the Flames had signed Martin Gelinas, and getting real excited, because it felt we signed a legitimate player and top winger through Free Agency. No one wanted to come to Calgary and the owners didn’t want to pay anybody. I thought Craig Button was a great GM.
Then when we acquired Turek and started 13-2-2, it was exciting because it felt like we turned the corner and were finally going to the playoffs again. Absolutely shook my head when Button handed out the big extension to Turek right then, and predictably we fell off the map. No longer felt highly of Button haha.
Reacquiring McAmmond and reuniting the MCI line. Cause of course Iginla’s 50 goal season had been the highlight of the past decade.
And discovering Calgary Puck. I think I actually found it by cyber searching a junior high crush, who had posted here. As many said, it wasn’t popular to like the Flames back then so to find a community where you could discuss and cheer on the Flames was like discovering a gold mine. This site has become my number one visited site since that time, by a country mile.
__________________ Would there even be no trade clauses if Edmonton was out of the NHL? - fotze
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Was pretty young around this time and had only started watching this team regularly for a few years. So my memory isn’t great, but I do remember all the hockey cards I was collecting around this time; buying random assorted packs for a buck a piece at the local collector shop in Franklin Mall.
Random Memories:
- Val Bure crushing it that one season, think he made the All Star team that year with his brother Pavel on team World
- Iggy’s award winning breakout season and extremely hot start, think he had 20 goals in 20 games right out of the gate with Connie centering him
- If memory served, Fred Brathwaite made an insane stick save along the goal line vs the Wings
- Greg Gilbert’s unhappy face for whatever reason has been ingrained into my mind
- Jeff Shantz taking faceoffs
- The short lived Daniel Tkaczuk hype
- Igor Kravchuk’s name plate for some reason
- Martin St Louis’ rookie year, man did he look tiny on the ice
- Jason Weimer flying down the ice, was he fast?
- Andrei Nazarov hype?
- I remember not liking Cale Hulse for whatever reason
- Tommy Albelin’s strange looking visor
- Grant Fuhr giving up goals from 50 feet out
- Mike Vernon’s final seasons in the NHL
- Roman Turek’s outstanding start that resulted in a regrettably new monster contract
- My first NHL game in 2002, remember Chris Drury scoring on a breakaway vs Buffalo
- Kipper trade: from what I remember, he wore an all white mask, he won 5 or 6 straight games and then got lit up by Colorado? Then was injured shortly after.
- Flames PPV road games, anyone else remember those?
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- If memory served, Fred Brathwaite made an insane stick save along the goal line vs Wings.
That was an interesting season for sure because of the myriad of goaltenders we went through until we found Brathwaite.
The Season records don’t back it up, but I’m pretty sure Brathwaite was the 8th goalie option we reached that season. Maybe factoring in our prospects and depth chart goalies who didn’t actually get to see the ice but were in the bullpen until we finally discovered Brathwaite.
That’s an iconic Flames save, up with Vernon’s breakaway overtime falling glove save and Kipper’s scorpion versus SJ.
__________________ Would there even be no trade clauses if Edmonton was out of the NHL? - fotze
I used to love going to the dome as a kid and getting a colored voucher for little ceasers when arriving. There would be a video between the 1st and 2nd with three penguins racing. If you had the right color that matched the winning penguin you got bread sticks. Great times.
Lots of great memories that were shared that I had similar experiences too!
- going to games w my dad. Pregame ritual of McDonald's Happy meal, and for some reason I remember they had Muppet stuffies as happy meal toys then, so got to watch lots of games with every character from the muppets. Lol
- leaving the game 5 min before it ended so my dad didnt have to deal w traffic
- listening to every game I couldn't go to on my clock radio at home, when my mom wouldnt let me stay up to watch or listen.
- meeting Jarome on his rookie year at Japanese village, as well as the whole team that night, after sitting at the same table as Sandy McCarthy and his fam. Sandy wanted a low key dinner w his fam, I was trying really hard not to fanboy, and the team came in. My dad and the owner are friends, so I got to meet them all. Iggy was by far the most down to earth, and immediately became my favorite player that night.
- watching Iggy score his first goal against the Hawks
- thinking we had actually acquired the good brother in Bure and Neidermeyer
I'll be honest, the young guns era was mostly ignored by me as I switched to watching Vince Carter and the raptors around that time (as I switched from playing hockey to playing basketball), but I remember the previous era fondly...
Sandy McCarthy, Robert Reichel, German Titov, Phil Housley, Theo, Trevor Kidd, Tabarachi...
We came out for a game in Jan 2003 on a university club trip.
I organized the tickets and discovered that you could watch game day skates. No one except me and my buddy actually went.
Darryl just took over as coach. He was the first one out for the skate. He was doing a couple laps, looked up, saw me, I raised my hand to say hi, Darryl returned the greeting.
Iggy and Noodles did 3 or 4 shoot outs to end the practice. I was thoroughly pleased. $Free.99
That night the Flames got pumped by Columbus... but C’est la vie. I snuck down to the lower bowl and watched the last 10 minutes behind Noodles.
- Fleury needing to replace his jersey because of blood, trying to get that autograph jersey over his helmet and get back on the ice. Still laugh thinking about it
- the streaker
- Only having 12-15 Flames games a year on TV. Watching the weather Network for the Flames vs Chicago series (Iggy's first) because they rolled over the scores every 15 minutes.
- Regehr with a flow
- My everlasting love for Greg Gilbert for the Flames Ducks brawl and igniting our core
- Harvey's feud with Gary Green
__________________ 2018 OHL CHAMPIONS
2022 OHL CHAMPIONS
Last edited by Hanna Sniper; 01-19-2021 at 08:39 PM.
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Being in 3 different arenas, the Saddledome, Montreal Forum, and Tampa Bay, seeing the 3 most memorable moments in Flames history.
The ultimate was watching the Flames capture the most difficult trophy to win in pro sports, in Montreal. Only time Montreal has lost the SC in their own building.
