Atlanta Flames

Atlanta Flames
Atlanta Flames
Founded	1972
Played	1972-1980
Home ice	The Omni
Based in	Atlanta
Colors	Red, white and yellow.
League	National Hockey League

The Atlanta Flames were a National Hockey League (NHL) team based in Atlanta, Georgia from 1972 to 1980. The team moved to Calgary, Alberta for the start of the 1980-81 NHL season and became the Calgary Flames. The team still resides in Calgary.

Founded: 1972

Now Known As: Calgary Flames (1980 to present)

Arena: The Omni

Uniform colors: Home: white with red and yellow trim; Road: red with white and yellow trim

Logo design: Home: a red "A" containing stylized flames; Road: a white "A" containing stylized flames; "The Flaming A"

Stanley Cups won: none

Franchise History

The Flames history begins in 1968, businessman Tom Cousins and former Georgia governor Carl Sanders brought the second major professional sports franchise to the city, buying the NBA's St. Louis Hawks in 1968 and relocating it in Atlanta.

The Hawks were in need of a venue suitable for professional sports. As a result one was built for them: the Omni Coliseum. This new world-class facility, owned by Cousins and the rest of the Omni Sports Group consortium, was the crux of the expansion bid made to the National Hockey League for a new hockey franchise.

It was announced in November, 1971, nine months to the day after the Omni's construction was complete, that hockey was headed to Dixie: the National Hockey League granted the city of Atlanta a franchise for the 1972-73 NHL season.

When it was first announced that Atlanta would have an NHL franchise, many hockey observers thought that a team based in the southern United States was a ludicrous and foolish move, especially since the talent pool was ravaged by repeated expansion, and was soon to be raided by the upstart World Hockey Association. Nevertheless, the team quickly began front office operations, naming young Blues assistant general manager Cliff Fletcher as general manager. Soon after, Fletcher had found the team its first coach, former Canadiens star defenseman Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion.

The team met with respectable success in their first season on the ice, behind new star goaltenders Dan Bouchard and Phil Myre, solid defensemen such as Randy Manery and Pat Quinn, and forwards Rey Comeau, (captain) Keith McCreary, Larry Romanchych and Bob Leiter. Despite their inexperience as a team, the Flames were quite successful in the beginning of their rookie season, posting a 20-19-8 record by January 19, 1973 off of the personal success of their young goaltending tandem. Unfortunately they lost 19 of their last 31 games, finishing out of the playoffs. However their 65 points were 35 better than their expansion cousin New York Islanders, who toiled at the bottom of the East Division, and a point better than the well-established Maple Leafs.

On- and off-ice success continued into the Flames second season, drafting forwards Tom Lysiak and Eric Vail, who quickly became the team's top forwards. Lysiak led the Flames in scoring in his rookie season, upon which the team improved to fourth in the West Division and their first playoff berth. They were quickly dispatched in the first round, being swept in the best-of-seven series against the powerful Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flames third season, 1974-75, was marked by disappointment as the team failed to qualify for the post-season. Unlike the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft in which Fletcher had picked immediate success from Lysiak, 1974's was notably unsuccessful (the only notable players being Guy Chouinard, the youngest draft pick ever taken, and prospect defenseman Pat Ribble). Injuries plagued the team's top veteran forwards, Leiter and Romanchych, and former first round pick Jacques Richard. Late in the season popular coach Geoffrion, runner-up in the prvious year's coach-of-the-year voting, resigned, forcing Fletcher to replace him with the Flames Central Hockey League affiliate's head coach, Fred Creighton. The season was not without bright spots, as Lysiak continued to lead the team in scoring, and Eric Vail scoring a franchise record 39 goals in his rookie season. Vail won the Calder Trophy as top rookie.

The on-ice play improved the follwing season under the demanding Creighton, as the Flames recorded their first winning season, and qualified for the playoffs once again. Lysiak continued to lead the team in scoring, while Cliff Fletcher added depth at all positions, acquiring tough veteran forward Bill Clement, WHA product Claude St. Sauveur, scoring forward Bill Flett and stalwart defenseman Larry Carriere. Eric Vail's sophomore season was unfortunately cut short by injury. Again, the team bowed out of the post-season quickly, losing to Los Angeles in their opening round best-of-three. However, the off-ice situation, while still relatively successful, began to waiver. Average attendance at The Omni had dropped by 1,000.

1976-77 was marked by the addition noteworthy prospects from the minor league affiliate in Tulsa. Talented forward Guy Chouinard had finally matured into an NHL-caliber player, and tough defenseman Ken Houston and forward Willi Plett began terrorizing opponents with their physical play. The team's older faces (Pat Quinn, Kerry Ketter, Randy Manery, Larry Romanchych, and Bob Leiter among others) had been moved, making way for the young core of Lysiak, Vail, Plett, and Chouinard.

By 1977 outstanding young goaltender Dan Bouchard had publicly stated his desire to be the clear starting goaltender for the club, refusing to share duties with Myre. In 1978 Myre was traded to the Blues, Cliff Fletcher's former employer, along with high-scoring forward Curt Bennett and tough blueliner Barry Gibbs for scoring forward Bob MacMillan and defenseman Dick Redmond. They continued to play well, however attendance continued to fall, another 1,500 a night. Post-season success continued to elude the young Flames, as they were easily dispacthed once again in the preliminary round.

1978-79 began with an impressive 12-1-2 record, the product of a 10-game winning streak. While this pace did not continue throughout the rest of the season, the Flames finished 41-31-8, good for 90 points -- a new team record. While Tom Lysiak contributed greatly to the early streak he became injured for the first time in his career, slowing his point production. He was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks as part of a seven-man trade which saw the Flames acquire talented Yugoslavian center Ivan Boldirev, quick forward Darcy Rota, and staunch defenseman Phil Russell. Chouinard finished the season with 50 goals, the first and only Atlanta Flame to reach the plateau, while MacMillan won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.

1979-80 would prove to be the last season in Atlanta. The Flames lack of success in the playoffs led to the end of Fred Creighton's reign as head coach, replaced by Al MacNeil. Fletcher added more talent, including outstanding Swede Kent Nilsson from the WHA, rookie defenseman Paul Reinhart, Finnish defenseman Pekka Rautakallio, and veteran forward Don Lever. The team made the playoffs once again, and once again were dispatched quickly. Off-ice the Omni Sports Group felt they could not financially maintain the team, as ticket sales fell and operating costs rose. Cousins and the rest of his consortium quickly sold off the Flames to a group of Canadian businessmen, led by the eccentric Nelson Skalbania (who offered an NHL record $16 million for the team), who promptly moved the team to Calgary.

The Flames would make the playoffs six of their first eight seasons, a mark bettered only by the Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, and New York Rangers in the entire history of the NHL, and the team would not post a losing record after the 1974 season. Unfortunately they never won a playoff series. The Atlanta Flames' success carried over to the Calgary Flames, where the team continued to compete well, reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 1986 and 2004 and winning the Cup in 1989.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Logo	Season	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
File:AtlantaFlamesFlamingA.PNG	1972-73	78	25	38	15	65	191	239	852	7th in West	Out of playoffs
File:AtlantaFlamesFlamingA.PNG	1973-74	78	30	34	14	74	214	238	841	4th in West	Lost in quarter-finals (PHI)
File:AtlantaFlamesFlamingA.PNG	1974-75	80	34	31	15	83	243	233	915	4th in Patrick	Out of playoffs
File:AtlantaFlamesFlamingA.PNG	1975-76	80	35	33	12	82	262	237	928	3rd in Patrick	Lost in preliminary (LA)
File:AtlantaFlamesFlamingA.PNG	1976-77	80	34	34	12	80	264	265	889	3rd in Patrick	Lost in preliminary (LA)
File:AtlantaFlamesFlamingA.PNG	1977-78	80	34	27	19	87	274	252	984	3rd in Patrick	Lost in preliminary (DET)
File:AtlantaFlamesFlamingA.PNG	1978-79	80	41	31	8	90	327	280	1158	4th in Patrick	Lost in preliminary (TOR)
File:AtlantaFlamesFlamingA.PNG	1979-80	80	35	32	13	83	282	269	1048	4th in Patrick	Lost in preliminary (NYR)

Career Leaders

• Games: Rey Comeau, Eric Vail, 469
• Goals: Vail, 174
• Assists: Tom Lysiak, 276
• Points: Lysiak, 431
• Penalty Minutes: Pat Quinn, 555
• Goaltender Games: Dan Bouchard, 384
• Goaltender Wins: Bouchard, 164
• Shutouts: Bouchard, 20

Notable Players

Hall of Famers

none

Team captains

• Jean Pronovost 1979-80
• Tom Lysiak 1977-79
• Pat Quinn 1975-77
• Keith McCreary 1972-75

Not to be forgotten

• Willi Plett
• Curt Bennett

Retired Numbers

none

See also

• Calgary Flames
• Atlanta Thrashers
• List of Atlanta Flames players
• Head Coaches of the Atlanta Flames
• List of NHL players
• List of NHL seasons

References

• [1]