5 of the Most Memorable Flames Moments in Saddledome History

The rodeo may be coming to a close following the end of the season for the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome, but these historic moments will live on forever. 

When the Flames arrived in Calgary in 1980 after leaving Atlanta, their original home was the Stampede Corral, which only had a capacity of 8,700, below NHL standards. Along with the city’s bid to host the 1988 Winter Olympics, the need for a new stadium was at an all-time high, but a stalemate over the location led to the Alberta provincial government overruling the appeals from local leaders, and construction began on July 19, 1981. 

Oddly enough, the saddle-shaped roof was never intended to pay homage to the western lifestyle of Alberta but rather for architectural and engineering reasons based on a similarly built arena in Gothenburg, Sweden. The original name planned was the Olympic Coliseum, but following the unveiling of the designs, the Saddledome name was quickly attached. 

As the puck drops for the start of the 2026-27 NHL season, it will be the 44th and final season of Flames hockey in the historic venue. With so many great memories, it’s hard to fit it all into an article, but these are the top five memorable Flames moments inside the Saddledome. 

Theoren Fleury’s Return

Fleury was the heart of the Flames organization for a large part of the time he was there. In total, he played in 791 games, recording 364 goals and 830 points, both good for second all time in Flames history, only behind Jarome Iginla. In his first season with the team, he was a part of the 1989 Stanley Cup championship team, recording 11 points in 22 playoff games. 

In April of 2003, following years of trying to balance a professional hockey career with years of substance and alcohol misuse, the NHL decided to indefinitely suspend him. In 2001, Fleury had entered the NHL’s players assistance program for substance misuse, and later was unable to stay out of trouble, leading to an indefinite suspension. 

The time away from the league helped, and since Sept. 18, 2005, Fleury has not had any alcohol or drugs, saying. “It was gone. The obsession (with alcohol and drugs) was gone. That was my spiritual awakening; that was Sept. 18, 2005, and I haven’t had a drink or drugs since” 

In 2009, Fleury decided to go his own way and started training to make a comeback. In September, commissioner Gary Bettman lifted the suspension, and a week later, on Sept. 17, Fleury made his comeback with 19,289 fans chanting “Theo, Theo, Theo,” as he scored the lone shootout goal to win 5–4 vs. the New York Islanders. 

Although a full comeback never materialized, Fleury’s goal of retiring a Flame did so at a press conference in the Saddledome on Sept. 28, 2009.  Fleury still calls Calgary home to this day since his retirement. 

1989 Stanley Cup Finals Triumph

The Saddledome has hosted three Stanley Cup Finals, for a total of nine games. The first came in 1986, when the Flames lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games after winning Game 1.

Skipping forward to 2004, the Flames were in their third Final, unfortunately losing again, this time to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Some Calgary fans may argue they were robbed in Game 6, but that’s another story. 

The 1988-89 season was just Calgary’s ninth and second Final. It was a rematch versus the Canadiens, with the Flames getting it done in six games. This was the last time two Canadian teams faced off in the finals and the third-to-last time a Canadian team won. 

The Flames may not have clinched the cup in the Saddledome, but the series and the entirety of the playoffs had many storylines, such as Al MacInnis becoming the first defenceman to lead the playoffs in scoring with 31 points. Co-captain Lanny McDonald, who was part of the 1986 losing team, got his payback in the best way possible as he retired following the championship. It would be wrong not to include the highest moment in franchise history on this list. 

Johnny Gaudreau’s Game 7 Overtime Winner

The 2021-22 season was the last of many in Calgary. It was the last time the Flames were in the playoffs, the last time Matthew Tkachuk played for the team, and after a historic 115-point season, Johnny Gaudreau signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

Calgary finished 50-21-11, placing first in the Pacific Division, leading to a first-round matchup versus the Dallas Stars. It was a gruelling series that saw both teams’ goalies playing at elite levels, especially the Stars rookie netminder Jake Oettinger. 

With Game 7 continuing the intensity of the series, it was the only game to need overtime. Following an Oettinger save redirecting the puck to the corner, Gaudreau grabbed the rebound, and from a nearly impossible angle on the goal line, sniped one short side to send the Flames through to the second round. Calgary lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round, but the goal sent the Saddledome into pure pandemonium in one of Johnny Hockey’s last games in Calgary. 

Miikka Kiprusoff’s Historic 2005-06 Season

If you want to talk about putting a team on your back, talk about Miikka Kiprusoff’s 2005-06 season, where he played 74 games (which isn’t even his most ever as he played and started 76 games in 2008-09. 

Kiprusoff ended the season 42-20-11 while posting a league-leading 2.07 goals-against average (GAA) and 10 shutouts on top of a career-best .923 save percentage. At the end of the season, he was named the league’s best goalie, winning the Vezina Trophy, finishing third in Hart Trophy voting, and being named to the First All-Star NHL team. 

Kiprusoff held down the crease for the Flames from the 2003-04 season after being traded from the San Jose Sharks until the 2012-13 shortened season. There’s a case that his first season following the trade was his best, as he recorded a then-NHL record 1.70 GAA, but he missed the first bit of the season and only played 38 regular-season games. For that, his first full season is remarkable and one that carried the Flames into the third-place spot in the Western Conference. 

2020 Battle of Alberta

It’s hard to go over any Flames history without mentioning their bitter rivals to the north. Calgary leads the regular-season duel, 134-111-18-7, while the Edmonton Oilers claim the playoffs 23-12. The Oilers dominated the first decade of the rivalry, largely due to Wayne Gretzky and the many other Hall of Famers on their roster. In the 1980s, the two teams were widely considered the consistently best in the league, with both winning a combined six Stanley Cups in the decade. 

Following consistent years of playoff matchups up until 1991, it wouldn’t be until 2022 that the teams would face again in the postseason, when Edmonton won decisively 4-1. Following league expansions during the 1990s, the rivalry started to falter as the smaller markets were slowly losing out on talent to bigger teams south of the border. 

After years of hardships for both teams from the late 2000s to the mid-2010s, a new era was beginning to be ushered in for the rivalry, with Gaudreau and Tkachuk for the Flames and Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl for the Oilers becoming franchise players. 

For three decades, it seemed that the rivalry may never reach the levels it did in the 80s, but after a January 2020 matchup where Tkachuk and Oilers forward Zack Kassian got into a heated confrontation, that notion was over. The rivalry peaked a few weeks later when a full line brawl broke out, and a goalie fight ensued between the Flames’ Cam Talbot and Oilers Mike Smith. Surprisingly, it was the first-ever goalie fight in rivalry history. (From “How had there never been a goalie fight in the NHL’s Battle of Alberta? The masked men weigh in,” Calgary Sun, Feb. 5, 2021)

The rivalry will certainly continue between the two no matter where they play, and the Saddledome will always hold a special place in it.  

It’s hard to narrow down 44 years of history into just a few points, even when considering non-NHL-related events, such as the Olympics in 1988 or the flood of 2013. When the doors close for the final time at the Saddledome, it will be a sad day but also one of tremendous joy when looking back on its rich history.