Hockey and sports in general can be broken down into moments. Some moments are bigger than others and chart the course of a franchise and an entire league. These moments can define a team’s destiny for years to come. Last Word on Hockey’s 2025 Summer Series looks at these defining moments. Today, we featured the biggest defining moment of the Calgary Flames.
This past season marked the 45th anniversary of the Flames’ relocation from Atlanta to Calgary in 1980. Since then, the franchise has built a rich legacy, from being Stanley Cup favourites in the 1980s to their blue-collar resurgence in the early 2000s. Calgary’s style of play has often mirrored the identity of the city itself, features like being hardworking, unflashy, but fiercely competitive. Through the ups and downs, few moments have shifted the franchise’s trajectory as dramatically as the trade that brought Jarome Iginla to town.
The Calgary Flames Defining Moment is the Jarome Iginla Trade
On December 20, 1995, amid a contract standoff with Joe Nieuwendyk, the Flames traded the star to Dallas. In return, Calgary received veteran Corey Millen and a young prospect yet to play a single NHL game. That prospect was none other than the man that would be known affectionately as Iggy Jarome Iginla.
At the time, it didn’t feel like a franchise-altering moment. Nieuwendyk had helped deliver the Flames their only Stanley Cup in 1989 and was a proven scorer. Iginla, while a standout in junior hockey, was untested at the pro level. If anything, at the time, some fans could’ve felt like this move was a mistake.
But hindsight is everything. That trade would not only define an era, but it would be instrumental to establishing what “Flames Hockey” would come to mean to a generation of fans.
The Run-Up: Nieuwendyk’s Legacy vs. Iginla’s Potential
By 1995, Joe Nieuwendyk was already an established force in the NHL. Drafted by the Flames in 1985, he burst onto the scene with back-to-back 50-goal seasons and played a pivotal role in the team’s 1989 Stanley Cup victory. But a contract dispute and frustration with the team’s direction led to the trade request.
Meanwhile, Jarome Iginla was lighting it up in the WHL with the Kamloops Blazers. He scored 63 goals and 134 points in his final full junior season and had already won back-to-back Memorial Cups. His physical, fearless playing style and nose for the net made him a tantalizing prospect. Still, few could have predicted just how much he would come to mean to the Flames, and the entire community of Calgary.
The Iginla Era
Iginla made his NHL debut during the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs, recording an assist in his first game and scoring his first goal in the next. From there, the trajectory only went up. By the early 2000s, Iginla wasn’t just Calgary’s best player, he was the Calgary Flames.
A two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner and an Art Ross recipient, Iginla embodied the spirit of the team. His play was tough, relentless, and team-first. He became captain in 2003 and led by example, dragging the Flames into relevance during years when the roster around him often fell short of contending.
His style of play became synonymous with Calgary hockey. The team was gritty, physical on both ends of the ice, and made their opponents pay for hesitating on anything and everything. With Iginla leading the charge, the Flames never backed down.
The 2004 Cup Run: ‘It was in!‘
The closest Iginla came to bringing a Cup back to Calgary was in 2004. Under head coach Darryl Sutter’s defensive-minded system and in front of prime time Miikka Kiprusoff in net, the Flames came within a single goal of winning it all.
To this day, Game 6 of the Finals remains one of the most debated in hockey history. Martin Gelinas’ potential go-ahead goal in the third period, which may or may not have crossed the line, was waved off. Game 6 would go into overtime, allowing the Tampa Bay Lightning to even up the series before going on to win Game 7 and the Stanley Cup.
Despite the heartbreak, the 2004 run cemented Iginla’s legacy as one of the greats. Iginla would go down as a warrior who nearly willed his team to the summit.
The End of an Era and Finally Trading Iggy Away
By the early 2010s, it was clear that Calgary’s championship window had closed. The once-promising core had aged or moved on, and the team was stuck in a cycle of mediocrity. Though Iginla was still productive, the Flames needed to rebuild.
In March 2013, the inevitable happened and Iginla was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a package of prospects and a first-round pick. Many fans understood the need for Iggy to move on. He deserved a shot at a Cup and he wasn’t going to get it with Calgary.
It was a bittersweet end to a historic tenure, one that left an irreplaceable hole in the heart of the franchise.
Other Moments in Flames History
While the Iginla trade was the turning point of the modern era, the Flames have had other moments that changed the course of the franchise.
Moving the Flames to Calgary (1980)
After the WHA’s Calgary Cowboys folded in 1977, Calgary was left as the only major Canadian city without a professional hockey franchise (yes, even Quebec City had a team back then). Quite frankly, the city needed hockey. More importantly, it needed a team to rival Edmonton. So when the Atlanta Flames were sold and moved north, the fans embraced them immediately. Calgary’s team was tough, talented, and driven, an identity that continues today.
The move laid the foundation for four decades of NHL hockey in Southern Alberta and one of the most infamous rivalries in the NHL.
1989 Stanley Cup Win
The Flames’ only Stanley Cup win remains a proud milestone. Led by Lanny McDonald, Al MacInnis, and Joe Nieuwendyk, the 1989 team showcased were absolute powerhouses in scoring, physicality, and impenetrable defence. It was the culmination of years of growth and the high point of the franchise’s early years in Calgary.
The Flames finished with a 54-17-9 record leading up to the 1989 playoffs, accumulating 117-points to top the Clarence Campbell Conference, finishing second in the NHL in goals and goals against. Not only was the team virtually impossible to outscore, they were heavily bolsetered throughout their lineup.
Honourable Mentions
- The 2004 Cup Run: A return to playoff relevance that reignited the fan base and brought back a hard-nosed identity to the team.
- The Monahan–Gaudreau–Tkachuk Era: A modern offensive trio that brought flash and potential back to the Saddledome, before fizzling out and being dismantled following the storied 2022 Playoff run.
- Miikka Kiprusoff’s Retirement: The end of elite goaltending in Calgary for nearly a decade and a half, marking the closing of another chapter in the era of early 2000s’ Flames hockey.
The Iginla trade, in this instance, matters the most above all of these storied moments in his 45-year long history is because in Jarome Iginla, the Flames didn’t just find a player, they found a franchise icon. His leadership, loyalty, and playing style gave Calgary its heartbeat for nearly 20 years and arguably, still lives on today.
His impact went beyond goals and assists; he gave the Flames a face, a soul, and a standard. Calgary has had many great players and memorable moments, but none have defined the team, and the city, like Iggy.
Main Photo: Brett Holmes-Imagn Images
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