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What's the single best regular season by a Calgary Flame?

The Panther

The Panther

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Mar 25, 2014
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What do you think? As with the Vancouver thread, try to ignore playoffs and focus on regular season only.

Calgary always seems a difficult franchise to select the best player for, as they have had around six or seven guys who were all pretty close.

By the way, this should be considered as Calgary (not Atlanta) Flames only, so from 1980-81 forward.

I'd have to think about my answer, but here are some stats / facts to chew on while you ponder:

Most scoring points in a season:
131 -- Kent Nilsson 1980-81
115 -- Johnny Gaudreau 2021-22
110 -- Joe Mullen 1988-89
106 -- Hakan Loob 1987-88
104 -- Theoren Fleury 1990-91
104 -- Kent Nilsson 1982-83
103 -- Matthew Tkachuk 2021-22
"Adjusted" points in a season:
111 -- Johnny Gaudreau 2021-22
110 -- Jarome Iginla, 2001-02
107 -- Jarome Iginla, 2007-08
101 -- Kent Nilsson, 1980-81
100 -- Fleury, 1995 (short season) / Tkachuk 2021-22
Highest Points-per-Game (min. 40 GP):
1.64 -- Kent Nilsson, 1980-81
1.60 -- Guy Chouinard, 1980-81
1.40 -- Johnny Gaudreau, 2021-22
1.39 -- Joe Mullen, 1988-89
1.36 -- Gary Roberts, 1992-93
Most Even-Strength points in a season:
90 -- Johnny Gaudreau, 2021-22
78 -- Kent Nilsson, 1980-81
75 -- Matthew Tkachuk 2021-22

Highest NHL Scoring Finish by a Calgary Flame:
1st -- Jarome Iginla, 2001-02
2nd (tied) -- Johnny Gaudreau, 2021-22
3rd -- Kent Nilsson, 1980-81
3rd -- Jarome Iginla, 2007-08
6th -- Theoren Fleury, 1995 (short season)
6th -- Jarome Iginla, 2010-11

Most points by a defenseman in a season:
103 -- Al MacInnis 1990-91
91 -- Gary Suter, 1987-88
90 -- Al MacInnis, 1987-88

Most goals in a season:
66 -- Lanny McDonald, 1982-83
53 -- Gary Roberts, 1991-92
52 -- Jarome Iginla, 2001-02
51 -- Joe Nieuwendyk, 1987-88
51 -- Joe Nieuwendyk, 1988-89
"Adjusted" goals in a season:
60 -- Jarome Iginla, 2001-02
56 -- Jarome Iginla, 2007-08
53 -- Lanny McDonald, 1982-83
50 -- Theoren Fleury, 1995 (short season)
48 -- Jarome Iginla, 2003-04
48 -- Jarome Iginla, 2010-11
Most Even-Strength goals in a season:
49 -- Lanny McDonald, 1982-83
38 -- Gary Roberts, 1991-92
37 -- Joe Mullen, 1988-89
Most Power-Play goals in a season:
31 -- Joe Nieuwendyk, 1987-88
22 -- Joe Nieuwendyk, 1990-91
21 -- Mike Bullard, 1987-88

Highest NHL Goals Finish by a Calgary Flame:
1st -- Jarome Iginla, 2001-02
1st -- Jarome Iginla, 2003-04
2nd -- Lanny McDonald, 1982-83
3rd (tied) -- Gary Roberts, 1991-92
3rd -- Jarome Iginla, 2007-08
3rd -- Jarome Iginla, 2010-11
4th -- Theoren Fleury, 1990-91
5th -- Joe Nieuwendyk, 1987-88
5th (tied) -- Joe Nieuwendyk, 1988-89
5th (tied) -- Joe Mullen, 1988-89

Most assists in a season:
82 -- Kent Nilsson, 1980-81
75 -- Johnny Gaudreau, 2021-22
75 -- Al MacInnis, 1990-91
70 -- Gary Suter, 1987-88
67 -- Doug Gilmour, 1989-90

Best Plus/Minus in a season:
+64 -- Johnny Gaudreau, 2021-22
+61 -- Elias Lindholm, 2021-22
+57 -- Matthew Tkachuk 2021-22
+51 -- Joe Mullen, 1988-89
+48 -- Brad McCrimmon, 1987-88
+48 -- Theoren Fleury, 1990-91

Most games played by a goalie:
76 -- Miikka Kiprusoff, 2007-08
76 -- Miikka Kiprusoff, 2008-09
74 -- Miikka Kiprusoff, 2005-06
74 -- Miikka Kiprusoff, 2006-07

Best save-percentage:
.933 -- Miikka Kiprusoff, 2003-04
.923 -- Miikka Kiprusoff, 2005-06
.922 -- Jacob Markström, 2021-22
.921 -- Miikka Kiprusoff, 2011-12
.920 -- Miikka Kiprusoff, 2009-10

Goals saved above average (GSAA):
42 -- Miikka Kiprusoff, 2005-06
28 -- Réjean Lemelin, 1983-84
27 -- Miikka Kiprusoff, 2006-07
26 -- Jacob Markström, 2021-22
22 -- Réjean Lemelin, 1980-81

Major Award Winners:
Art Ross trophy
Jarome Iginla, 2001-02
Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy
Jarome Iginla, 2001-02
Jarome Iginla, 2003-04
James Norris Memorial Trophy
Mark Giordano, 2018-19
(Al MacInnis was runner-up for the Norris in both 1989-90 and 1990-91.)
Vezina trophy
Miikka Kiprusoff, 2005-06
(Mike Vernon was runner-up for the Vezina in 1988-89.)
Calder memorial trophy
Gary Suter, 1985-86
Joe Nieuwendyk, 1987-88
Sergei Makarov, 1989-90

No Flame has ever won the Hart trophy. Jarome Iginla finished second in 2001-02 and 2003-04. In 2002 he "lost" only by the tiniest of margins---and some would say, controversially---to José Théodore. Miikka Kiprusoff was third in Hart voting for 2005-06, Johnny Gaudreau was 4th for 2018-29 and 2021-22. Theoren Fleury was 5th for 1990-91 and 1995.


So, what's your choice??
 
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Man this is a really tough and interesting question.

My gut response was Kent Nilsson who lived up to his Magic Man nickname and was memorizing to watch but I really can't make an argument for him being top 3 really.

Something to sleep on and would like to hear more from others.

Iggy, Al and Kipper all jump to mind but in completely different ways.

With Al it's not the 103 point season but the Conn Smythe one (where he finished 3rd in Norris voting) that might just be the best one by a Flame ever....maybe?

As a side note the weird thing is that Doug Gilmour had one of his Conn Smythe worthy playoffs over a span of 8 years with 3 different teams, can anyone top that diversity?
 
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wetcoast said:
With Al it's not the 103 point season but the Conn Smythe one (where he finished 3rd in Norris voting) that might just be the best one by a Flame ever....maybe?
Click to expand...
The topic here is regular season only, so I'm not sure why I listed that Conn Smythe win by MacInnis (I will remove it).
 
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Making this harder is that some of the Flames' award winners and top finishers aren't necessarily their best guys.

Like, Iginla is the only Flame with an Art Ross and with Rocket Richards (two). As skaters go, that gives one of his seasons (which one?) a strong argument. But McDonald finished 2nd in goals only to peak-Gretzky, and Iginla didn't have the strongest competition. And it seems odd that Iginla won the Art Ross as he wasn't really a 'balanced' offensive producer. Would his 96 points be as impressive as Nilsson's 131?

Likewise, only Mark Giordano won the Norris for Calgary, but would anyone pick his season over, say, 1990-91 by MacInnis (who lost his Norrises to peak Chelios / Bourque)?

I gotta think more.
 
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The Panther said:
But McDonald finished 2nd in goals only to peak-Gretzky, and Iginla didn't have the strongest competition. And it seems odd that Iginla won the Art Ross as he wasn't really a 'balanced' offensive producer. Would his 96 points be as impressive as Nilsson's 131?
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McDonald was out of the top 10 that year.

Nilsson scoring 27% more than the 10th place could be quite similar to Iginla 25% above 10 place, if we look at only Canadian in the league it is 27% above the 10th Canadian vs 37%, but it was a bit of a down phase for top end talents around that time. But Iginla was +27 on a minus out of the playoff team, could drop the glove, played 500 more minutes than any other forward on the flame that year
 
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My mind went to iginla immediately, but Kent nilsson certainly has a case.

Nilsson was 43 points clear of his next closest teammate, finished 3rd in scoring and one of those guys was named Gretzky.

BTW, his next closest teammate was a guy named guy chounard, who was also on pace to score the same 131 points that nilsson had, except he only got to play 50 some games. Who was this guy?
 
Does Marcus Nilson's 14 games in 03–04 count as a season?

I'm asking for a friend (whose name is Darryl Sutter).
 
seventieslord said:
This is not hard. The answer's Iginla. And the flames don't have six or seven guys who are all "pretty close" as the franchise's best player. The answer's Iginla.
Click to expand...
Seem an easy clear pick for forward, but peak MacInnis/Kiprusoff ? The comp get harder when we switch position.
 
seventieslord said:
This is not hard. The answer's Iginla. And the flames don't have six or seven guys who are all "pretty close" as the franchise's best player. The answer's Iginla.
Click to expand...

I don't know... can we definitively say Iginla's 2002 is better than Gaudreau's 2022 season?

I'm not a big Johnny Hockey fan, but he was outstanding that year. He improved his defensive play and his line (him, Tkachuk and Lindholm) absolutely dominated at even-strength.

Iginla did have less to work with, but his team was all but done in the playoff race late in the year, making scoring as many goals and points as possible his lone priority toward the end of the season.
 
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GlitchMarner said:
I don't know... can we definitively say Iginla's 2002 is better than Gaudreau's 2022 season?

I'm not a big Johnny Hockey fan, but he was outstanding that year. He improved his defensive play and his line (him, Tkachuk and Lindholm) absolutely dominated at even-strength.

Iginla did have less to work with, but his team was all but done in the playoff race late in the year, making scoring as many goals and points as possible his lone priority toward the end of the season.
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I would certainly say Iginla's season was better. Scoring 110-111 adjusted points when you've got a linemate just a few behind is not the same thing as doing it when your best linemate is 20+ behind you and the other winger barely scored half your point total.

Iginla was a one-man show. 2nd for the Hart but should've been 1st. I think the 2022-23 season took a lot of shine off Gaudreau's previous season, too. He wasn't just playing with a linemate who was almost as good, he was in all likelihood not actually the straw stirring the drink.

And yes I agree we should take points scored by spoiler teams with a grain of salt, but that's not what happened with Iginla in 2002. He won the goals and points races with how fast he came out of the gate early in the season when the games absolutely did matter. He had "only" 17 points in the last 16 games, 60 in the last 61, actually. So I don't see any indication that he took advantage of a more lax environment designed to feed him for goals and points.
 
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MadLuke said:
Seem an easy clear pick for forward, but peak MacInnis/Kiprusoff ? The comp get harder when we switch position.
Click to expand...
With Kipper maybe it's close. But still, best goalie in the league, versus best player in the league. And MacInnis didn't even take the Norris in his best year in Calgary; if he had, maybe this was close, but there was always a couple of defenseman who were a better all around forces than he was. he got more well rounded in his mid 30s as paradoxical as that was.
 
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MacInnis without a doubt.

The 3 best Calgary Flames seasons are probably all MacInnis....likely '89, ''90, '91. Maybe even more than 3.

The League was incredibly deep in talent in the late '80s and early '90s, with a bunch of guys - including Lemieux, Bourque, Chelios, Messier, Yzerman, etc. - all at their best at the same time. And that's when MacInnis was at his best, so he gets a bit lost among all the stardom. But MacInnis was excellent.

Reinhart and Nilsson were Calgary's two best players in the early years. Reinhart might be in the conversation if not for all his injuries.

Roberts is the other guy that should be mentioned. He reached a high level and then lost it all due to injury.

But MacInnis is definitely the best player in franchise history, and had the best seasons.
 
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MadLuke said:
Iginla beat Guerin for his first all star team spot, 36 years old Roy-Burke-Naslund for his second place hart trophy.

MacInnis lost the Norris to peak Bourque 2xtime, I am not sure it is telling one way or an other.
Click to expand...

Iginla was the best or 2nd best player in the NHL in 01-02. MacInnis was in the mix but was up against Gretzky, Hull, Oates (115 in 61), Bourque, Belfour and Roy.

Do we think so highly of 1990-91 as a season and/or so lowly of 2001-02 that we're ready to say being about the 7th best player in one is potentially better than being the best in the other?
 
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seventieslord said:
Do we think so highly of 1990-91 as a season and/or so lowly of 2001-02
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Maybe too much, but if Forsberg-Lemieux-Jagr-Hasek-Kariya-Lindros-Selanne-Bure are healthy and play well enough, where does the Naslund-Iginla end up ? In a mix similar to MacInnis instead of a clear top 3. With how good Iginla looked like during the best on best olympics in 2002, maybe he keep up, but not so sure.

Sundin finished 4th in scoring that year, by far his best finish without particularly good healthy teammate (that era McCavbe-Kaberle was really solid too), where do we think a 30 years old Sundin would do in 91 ?

38 years old Francis on the canes inished 9th that season, the 27 years old Francis was 20th in 91
 
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seventieslord said:
With Kipper maybe it's close. But still, best goalie in the league, versus best player in the league. And MacInnis didn't even take the Norris in his best year in Calgary; if he had, maybe this was close, but there was always a couple of defenseman who were a better all around forces than he was. he got more well rounded in his mid 30s as paradoxical as that was.
Click to expand...

I don't see how not winning a norris just because someone on another team was better is relevant to best season for his own franchise.
 
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