Calgary Flames Top Ten Best Highlight Videos of All Time

With everyone waiting for the regular season to come, let’s take a look at the top ten best Calgary Flames highlight videos to keep us occupied.

Pre-season starts soon and the regular season is less than a month away! So close yet so far away. And the Young Stars tournament starts even sooner where some Calgary Flames prospects will be there.

With the regular season right around the corner and all of us sitting around waiting, we need something to do. Now, I don’t know about all of you, but during the off-season, I find myself watching the same type of highlight videos over and over again. Just to keep me occupied with hockey until real hockey starts again.

I find myself going back to the same videos because they’re so entertaining to watch and always put a smile to my face. And with the regular season coming soon, I want to help all of you keep yourselves occupied as well! So I’ve put together a list of the ten best Calgary Flames highlight videos! I will admit though, a lot of these are in recent years. Since there aren’t always videos from 20-30 years ago.

Which brings us to our first honorable mention.

Honorable Mentions

This wouldn’t be a true “Top Ten” if I didn’t include an honorable mention. Or two in this case. Why this first one didn’t make the list is because there is no video available for this. I have SCOURED the internet all over and I cannot seem to find any sort of video of this. And since this happened before I was even born, I have to relive it through my dads memories, basically.

There are even Calgary Flames forums asking if anybody has a video of this specific game.

But it was 1993 and the Flames were playing the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks scored the first goal, but don’t worry, Calgary came back. And they came back BIG. They ended up winning that game 13-1. My dad was at that game and he said that with a minute left of the game (when Flames are up 13-1), he started yelling, “Take the goalie out!”

That game is the largest win margin in the modern NHL era (after the initial expansion).

I won’t go into too much detail because we did a whole Throwback Thursday on that moment just last week which can be found here.

Related Story: Throwback Thursday - Beating the Sharks 13-1

Honorable Mention #2

Of course SOMEWHERE on this list, we had to include Miikka Kiprusoff and a highlight reel of his saves. However, it was hard to find somewhere to actually include it in this list. But it wouldn’t be a Top Ten without Kip included somewhere in it.

There was also this specific save where Kip had this awesome Scorpion-like save:

The quality of the video isn’t the best and the person title doesn’t even spell Kiprusoff’s name right, but you get the idea. This is the only video I could find of this specific save and I had to include it. There’s also this save that wasn’t in that highlight video which is easily in Kiprusoff’s best ten saves:

Man, he really likes kicking his foot up to make saves, hey? Imagine Kip with the Flames club right now. They would really be unstoppable. Moving on, let’s get into the Top Ten list.

Number 10 – Flames versus Bruins, 2015

It’s not always that just a regular season game would make a top-ten highlights list. But this one does for many reasons. Dougie Hamilton was traded to the Calgary Flames during the off-season in 2015 before the 2015-16 season. He was traded from the Boston Bruins and this left a bit of a sour taste in Bruins fans mouths. And they continue to boo him when the Flames visit TD Garden.

But let’s move on to the game.

It’s a game between the Bruins and the Flames (it’s in Calgary so no booing for Dougie) in December and it’s Dougie’s first game against his former team.

The Calgary Flames opened up the scoring less than a minute into the game by Johnny Gaudreau. The Flames managed to make it 2-0 with around four minutes left in the first period. The Bruins managed to cut the lead to one less than two minutes later. And late in the first period is where it gets interesting.

Brad Marchand and Johnny Gaudreau both go at it and they each get two minutes for slashing. Then they were trash-talking each other in the penalty box. Well, Marchand was. Gaudreau was smiling the whole time.

It was funny because these two guys are two of the smallest players on the ice at the moment. And Gaudreau is known for not taking penalties. Like, ever. He had juts four PIM this past season and was the Lady Byng winner. But moving on.

Related Story: Johnny Gaudreau Wins Lady Byng - But Keeps His Shoes On

The Bruins managed to tie up the game early in the second period. By who? Brad Marchand.

But Johnny won’t let him have it.

They haven’t even finished announcing the goal yet and Johnny Hockey makes it 3-2. Twenty seconds after Marchand’s goal, and Gaudreau now has two goals for the night. But don’t start cheering too hard right now because the Bruins would tie it up again 26 seconds later.

The score would remain 3-3 until 1:06 left in the game. Marchand had a breakaway and what happens? Dougie Hamilton clips him and Marchand would get a penalty shot.

Remember, this is against Dougie’s old team. There’s nothing he wants more than to win against his old team and he goes and gets the other team a penalty shot. That’s got to be one of the worst feelings in the world, I mean, you’ve gotta feel for him. Especially since Marchand scores on the penalty shot. The Bruins are cheering, there’s only a minute left in the game, and they’ve got this one in the bag.

Marchand’s happy because if Gaudreau scores two goals, so can he, right? Marchand also goes five-hole. Don’t worry, this will be important in a minute.

The Bruins are up 4-3 and what happens? The Flames tie it up with 1.2 seconds left in the game. The crowd is going absolutely wild, it feels like a playoff game. So let’s go to extra time.

Dougie Hamilton and T.J. Brodie have a two on one breakaway in OT and Dougie has the puck. You think he’ll slide it over to Brodie, right? Well, he notices Gaudreau quickly catching up to the two and passes it back to Gaudreau. Gaudreau thinking, “Anything Marchand can do, I can do better,” shoots it five-hole (like Marchand), gets the game-winner, gets a hat trick, and Dougie was the primary assist on the goal. Like I said, the crowd is going CRAZY. And you can tell by Dougie’s reaction after Gaudreau scored that he was ecstatic.

Here’s the video for that:

I find myself constantly going back to this video. It’s always a fun game to watch and it was especially fun if you watched it when it happened. It had everything you could hope for in a hockey game. What a wild game truly from start to finish.

Number 9 – Flames Clinch a Playoff Spot, 2015

I feel like I’m going to say this for every one, but this was a fun game to watch. This season, the Calgary Flames were still supposed to be in a rebuild. But they managed to surprise everyone when they were in a playoff spot for the majority of the season. They would sometimes lose the spot or sometimes they would climb up in the standings, but nobody expected them to make the playoffs.

So in the second last game of the regular season, when they had the opportunity to clinch a playoff spot, everyone was watching.

The Flames hadn’t made the playoffs for six years, since 2009. And they weren’t exactly supposed to make it this season either, but they found ways to win games.

In the second last game of the regular season, they clinched a playoff spot. But not only that, they did so while simultaneously eliminating the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Los Angeles Kings. This has only been done seven times before, where the defending champs don’t make the playoffs the following season.

Related Story: Throwback Thursday - Clinching in 2015

Another reason it was exciting is because basically everybody was rooting for the Flames, so it felt nice. The Kings won the cup in 2012 and again in 2014 so when there was a team who was going to be the reason they don’t make it, everyone was rooting for that team. And that team happened to be the Calgary Flames.

I love this video for three reasons:

1. You can feel the intensity of the crowd even through your screen. Especially right before the Flames get the empty-netter that basically certified they’d be going to the post-season for the first time in six years.
2. The bench after the empty-netter was scored. You can feel their excitement.
3. Johnny Gaudreau’s little hop at the end when Jiri Hudler scored the empty-netter goal.

It was an exciting moment watching this game live and I’ll definitely remember it for some time. I can’t ever help getting a smile on my face when I watch this video.

Number 8 – Peter Maher Calls the Playoffs, 2004

If you don’t know who Peter Maher is, please google him. He was basically the voice of the Calgary Flames. Every Flames fan knew Peter Maher. Since they relocated to Calgary from Atlanta, he was their sportscaster for over three decades.

He had this iconic saying, “Yeah baby!”

He was also the play by play for the 2010 Olympics where Canada won in OT in the gold medal game against USA. That video can be found here:

(Skip to the 9:00 mark if you want to hear the game-winning goal).

But the 2004 playoffs were again something special. They were somewhat of the “Cinderella” team that season, meaning nobody quite expected them to be as good as they were. And nobody expected them to make it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals.

You may also be asking, “Hey why didn’t you include Martin Gelinas no-goal in game 6 of the SCF?” Well, it’s because I didn’t want to cry today, ok? So why not include all the fun moments of Peter Maher calling the games.

After Maher announced his retirement in 2014, the team honored him by naming their broadcasting booth after him. Maher was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006 as a media honoree.

This video is awesome because it’s quite difficult to not get pumped whenever you hear Peter Maher excited.

You can put it in the win column!

Number 7 – Johnny Gaudreau Hat Trick, 2014

In Johnny Gaudreau’s rookie season, he made heads turn. First, he wasn’t even drafted until the fourth round in 2011. And he played his first season in 2014-15 where he had 64 points in 80 games. He was also third in voting for the Calder Trophy.

Like I mentioned earlier, the Calgary Flames surprised everyone this season. They started off the season decently and they went into December in a playoff spot. However, something happened, and they were now on an eight-game losing streak.

They fell out of a playoff spot for the first time all season.

Then a game against the LA Kings came and this game was starting out poorly for the Flames. The Kings were up 3-0 and it looked like the Flames were going to have a nine-game losing streak. But something I haven’t mentioned yet is what the Flames were known as during this season.

Known for their ability to comeback in games, people called them “the comeback kids.” An ideal situation for them was to be down two goals heading into the third period. They always found ways to come back.

Related Story: Throwback Thursday - Gaudreau's First Hat Trick

In this specific game on Dec. 22nd, 2014, the Flames were down 3-0. With about two minutes left in the second period, the Flames had a powerplay and Mr. Johnny Hockey cuts the lead to two.

Cue the comeback.

Unfortunately for the Flames, they couldn’t get another goal for most of the third period. Then with a little over two minutes left in the game and they’re down two goals, they took out the goalie for an extra skater. Gaudreau was behind the Kings net, he wraps around, goes quite far out, and scores!

All five Kings skaters are surrounding the net basically all looking at each other like, “I thought you had him?”

The Flames now have two minutes to tie up the game. Plenty of time for the comeback kids.

With about a minute left of the game, Jiri Hudler slides the puck down the ice to Gaudreau who’s all by himself with two Kings defencemen on him. Gaudreau goes past the net, shoots it back hoping a Flames skater is there ready for the puck, but in a lucky break, it bounced off of Drew Doughty‘s skate and into the net. Johnny Hockey gets his first NHL hat trick! And a natural hat trick too!

It doesn’t show in this video, but then in OT, Flames captain Mark Giordano gets the game-winner and Jonathan Quick smashes his stick in frustration. But I like that video because hearing the Flames commentators get excited always gets me excited too. But fine, if you want to see Quick get angry, here you go.

Am I a bad person for enjoying that?

Number 6 – Steve Smith Own Goal, 1986

Another Throwback Thursday we’ve done here. But this was exciting for Calgary Flames fans. For Edmonton Oilers fans? Not so much.

It was game 7 in the Smythe Division finals for the Flames and Oilers. The winner moves on to the next round in the playoffs. There was 14 minutes left of the game and the game was tied. So what happens?

Poor Oilers rookie defenceman Steve Smith tries to clear the zone and accidentally puts the puck into his own net. You can see the regret in his body language immediately. He right away lays down on the ice and puts his head down.

Unfortunately for the Oilers, they never recovered and the Flames went on all the way to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history (they lost to Montreal).

The worst thing about that? It was Smith’s 23rd birthday. Yikes.

You can see the excitement in the Flames players faces when they realize a goal’s been scored. And the best part about being a Flames fan is that it happened in Edmonton too. Ah, the joy I get from that.

Related Story: Throwback Thursday - Steve Smith Own Goal in Game 7

I asked my dad a while back about this game, and he said that every time the Oilers would play in Calgary, whenever Steve Smith had the puck, people would yell, “Shoot!” And funnily enough, he ended up playing for the Flames years later too.

And he even was captain too!

Don’t feel too bad for Smith because the following year, the Oilers won the Cup. So it took Oilers fans about a year to get over it, but hey! Everyone needs time to heal, right?

Number 5 – Jarome Iginla’s First Return to Calgary, 2013

Get the tissues out, this one’s an emotional one. Jarome Iginla had been playing with the Calgary Flames since 1996. And he was their captain for a decade. He is the franchise’s all-time leader in goals and points.

So when he was 35 years old and time was starting to wind down, something needed to happen. In 2013, Iginla was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in hopes of achieving a Stanley Cup. But unfortunately, they lost in the Eastern Conference finals. The following season, he joined the Boston Bruins for 2013-14. His first game back in Calgary was in December and everyone knew this would be an emotional one.

First, it started off as Beasley’s doing his regular announcements and talking about some charities, the crowd is already yelling, “Iggy! Iggy!” He takes the puck drop against new Flames captain Mark Giordano. And then roll the tears, because they showed a tribute video for Iginla.

After the tribute video the cheers and Iggy chants are going on for more than two minutes. I know it doesn’t seem like a long time, but they generally don’t last that long.

After the game, the Bruins won 2-1 (Iginla didn’t have any points), but he was still named the third star of the game.

A few of the Bruins players were on the bench and captain Zdeno Chara made Iggy do a lap around the rink as the fans were chanting his name. Then all the Bruins players came back from the locker room onto the bench to cheer on their teammate as his old fans kept chanting his name and cheering for him. Let me tell you, I think this is the biggest cheer a third star of a game has ever gotten.

I was a total mess this game, I’m not going to lie to you. Maybe we’ll see Iggy in a flaming C for one last season before he decides to hang his skates up.

Number 4 – Theoren Fleury Sliding Celebration, 1991

This was a fun one. In 1991, it was the Smythe Division finals with two arch-nemesis: The Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers. It was game 6 and the Oilers had a 3-2 lead in the series. One more win and they’d advance to the next round. Calgary needed a win to stay in it.

But this game would be decided in overtime. Even more stress now.

Theoren Fleury, one of Calgary best players in franchise history, gets the puck from Mark Messier who unfortunately gave it away to Fleury. Fleury hadn’t scored a goal all series long yet. Looking for his first goal.. he shoots.. and he SCORES! The Flames came back from being down 3-1 in the series to tying it up!

But that wasn’t the fun part. The fun part came with Fleury’s celebration.

The funny thing about this is that a few years ago, the Oilers were playing a game against the LA Kings and they were down 1-0. So cue Nail Yakupov to the rescue and scores with 4.7 seconds left of the game to tie it up. And you know how he celebrated? I mean, I’m sure you can guess.

He did his best Fleury impression. In fact, it was almost an exact replica of Fleury’s celebration.

Don’t worry Theo, we think yours was better.

Number 3 – Game 6 Against Vancouver, 2015

I feel like I start them all like this, but this was also a good one. Like I already mentioned, the Calgary Flames were known as the comeback kids in the 2014-15 season. And the playoffs were no different.

Making the playoffs in their Cinderella story of a season wasn’t easy, especially since they hadn’t made the playoffs for six years. And they hadn’t made it past the first round in 11 years.

They would be playing one of their biggest rivals in the first round: the Vancouver Canucks. The Flames took the first game and they were up 3-2 in the series. Since Vancouver had home-ice advantage, game 6 would be spent in Calgary. Exactly how the Flames would want it.

But the game didn’t start off great at all. In fact, it was somewhat of a disaster.

After letting in two goals in the first eight minutes of the game, Flames goaltender Jonas Hiller was replaced by Karri Ramo. But with some bad plays by the Flames, the Canucks would have a powerplay and the goalie change didn’t quite matter that much. Because just two minutes after it happened, the Canucks made it 3-0.

I remember being at the bar with my friend and after that third goal she just kind of looks at me sadly and says, “Wow, sorry man.”

Related Story: Throwback Thursday - Game 6 Against the Canucks

Moving on, like I said, the Flames were the comeback kids. So when there was just three minutes left of the first period and Micheal Ferland made cut the lead to two, the crowd went wild. It was as if he just scored a game winning goal with a minute left of the game.

Suddenly, the Calgary Flames were ignited.

Now it’s time for the second period and the Flames were on the powerplay. A minute in, and they make it a one-goal game. The players are feeling it, the crowd is feeling it. We were in for a great game. Not even five minutes later, the Flames tie up the game. Now there’s over half the game left and we’ve got a 3-3 hockey game.

But don’t get too excited because the Canucks managed to make it 4-3 with a little less than ten minutes to go in the the second period. The score would remain like that until the third period. The Flames definitely started the third period as the weaker team. Canucks were all over them for the first five minutes before the Flames finally caught a break by getting a powerplay.

And boy did they put that powerplay to good use. With 13:46 left, we’ve got a tie game again!

The Flames again were ignited. Then something fun happened.

With less than five minutes to go in a tie-game, the Canucks unfortunately had a turnover in the neutral zone. David Jones shoots…. and save. Then Micheal Ferland gets the rebound and.. save. But then, Matt Stajan grabs the puck, takes an extra second before shooting, and… SCORES! The Flames are now up 5-4 with less than five to go in the game. The players on the ice are going crazy, the bench is absolutely losing their minds, and the crowd is as loud as ever.

Add a couple of empty-netters to the mix and the Flames came back from a 3-0 deficit to winning the game 7-4. I told you we were in for a good hockey game. This also means they would advance to the second round for the first time in 11 years. The crowd was on fire!

This is definitely the video that I watch the most often. It gets me so pumped and ready for the hockey season to start again.

Number 2 – Matt Stajan Emotional Penalty Shot, 2014

Get your tissues out, we’ve got another emotional one.

In 2014, something tragic happened to Calgary Flames forward and veteran, Matt Stajan. Him and his wife, Katie, had an unfortunate family emergency where their newborn son had passed away. Matt Stajan of course took a leave of absence, but decided to join the lineup again.

Of course, the team wanted him to take as much time as he needed.

Via Calgary Herald:

They said straight out to me, if I take the rest of the year off, that’s fine — ‘Just do whatever you need to do.’ Sitting down with my wife (Katie) the last couple weeks — and obviously going through what we’ve been through — we talked. It’s about moving forward and taking steps. Obviously, we’re always going to remember and it never gets easy. But you’ve got to move on and . . . this is another step forward. I want to play. Nothing’s going to change anything. I want to get right back into game action. That’s what hockey players do. That’s the plan. I’m excited to get right back at it.

After missing eight games, Stajan rejoined the Flames. And then something inspiring happened.

On March 22nd, 2014, the Flames were playing a game against the Edmonton Oilers (I feel like we’re mentioning them a lot today). During the second period, Matt Stajan gets clipped during a shot attempt and people thought the Flames were going to get a powerplay. But Stajan ends up getting a penalty shot.

He takes his shot and he scores. And right after he scores, he points to the sky as somewhat of an honor to his son, and the entire bench is praising him for that goal. They’re all giving him pats and words of encouragement.

The Flames ended up winning 8-1 and Stajan had three assists that night. He earned the second star of the night.

It was a heartwarming game and showed us all that there are bigger things in life than just sports.