1989–90 Calgary Flames season

The 1989–90 Calgary Flames season was the Flames' eighteenth season, and their tenth in Calgary. In defense of their first Stanley Cup championship, despite losing both Lanny McDonald and Jim Peplinski to retirement, the Flames remained a dominant team on the ice, finishing atop the Smythe Division and the Campbell Conference for the third consecutive year, and 2nd overall in the NHL with 99 points – two points behind the Boston Bruins.

1989–90 Calgary Flames
Smythe Division champions
Division1st Smythe
Conference1st Campbell
1989–90 record42–23–15
Home record28–7–5
Road record14–16–10
Goals for348 (1st)
Goals against265 (4th)
Team information
General managerCliff Fletcher
CoachTerry Crisp
CaptainJim Peplinski (Oct)
Brad McCrimmon (Oct-Apr)
Alternate captainsDoug Gilmour
Tim Hunter
ArenaOlympic Saddledome
Average attendance19,861
Team leaders
GoalsJoe Nieuwendyk (45)
AssistsDoug Gilmour (67)
PointsJoe Nieuwendyk (95)
Penalty minutesTim Hunter (279)
WinsMike Vernon (23)
Goals against averageMike Vernon (3.13)
Calgary Flames 10th anniversary logo patch

The regular season success did not translate in the postseason, however, as the Flames were stunned by the Los Angeles Kings in six games in the first round of the playoffs. The loss began 15 years of playoff frustration, as the Flames would not win another postseason round until the 2003–04 season.

Following the loss, the Flames fired head coach Terry Crisp, later replacing him with Doug Risebrough. In three seasons with the Flames, Crisp compiled a 144–63–33 record, with one Stanley Cup win and two Presidents' Trophies.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Individually, Russian superstar Sergei Makarov, who was drafted by the Flames in 1983, was allowed to leave the Soviet Union and play in the NHL. Makarov finished 4th in team scoring with 86 points. The 32-year-old Makarov captured the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year. The selection was controversial, as Makarov had played 11 pro seasons in the Soviet Union prior to joining the Flames. As a result, the league changed the rules for the following seasons, stating that only players under the age of 26 would be eligible for the award.[7]

Four Flames were named to represent the Campbell Conference at the 1990 All-Star Game: Forwards Joe Mullen and Joe Nieuwendyk, defenceman Al MacInnis and goaltender Mike Vernon.[8]

Regular season

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The Flames finished first in scoring, with 348 goals for, and first in power-play percentage, with 27.73% (99 for 357).[9]

Season standings

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Smythe Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Calgary Flames 80 42 23 15 348 265 99
Edmonton Oilers 80 38 28 14 315 283 90
Winnipeg Jets 80 37 32 11 298 290 85
Los Angeles Kings 80 34 39 7 338 337 75
Vancouver Canucks 80 25 41 14 245 306 64

[10]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Campbell Conference[11]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 Calgary Flames SMY 80 42 23 15 348 265 99
2 Edmonton Oilers SMY 80 38 28 14 315 283 90
3 Chicago Blackhawks NRS 80 41 33 6 316 294 88
4 Winnipeg Jets SMY 80 37 32 11 298 290 85
5 St. Louis Blues NRS 80 37 34 9 295 279 83
6 Toronto Maple Leafs NRS 80 38 38 4 337 358 80
7 Minnesota North Stars NRS 80 36 40 4 284 291 76
8 Los Angeles Kings SMY 80 34 39 7 338 337 75
9 Detroit Red Wings NRS 80 28 38 14 288 323 70
10 Vancouver Canucks SMY 80 25 41 14 245 306 64

Divisions: NRS – Norris, SMY – Smythe

bold – Qualified for playoffs


Record vs. opponents

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Vs. Campbell Conference

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Vs. Wales Conference


Schedule and results

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1989–90 Schedule
October: 6–3–4 (Home: 3–0–2; Road: 3–3–2)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points
1 October 5 Detroit 7 – 10 Calgary 1–0–0 2
2 October 7 NY Islanders 3 – 6 Calgary 2–0–0 4
3 October 10 Calgary 4 – 2 New Jersey 3–0–0 6
4 October 11 Calgary 4 – 5 NY Rangers 3–1–0 6
5 October 14 Calgary 4 – 4 Washington OT 3–1–1 7
6 October 15 Calgary 3 – 2 Philadelphia 4–1–1 9
7 October 17 Calgary 8 – 8 Quebec OT 4–1–2 10
8 October 18 Calgary 1 – 2 Montreal 4–2–2 10
9 October 21 Boston 2 – 5 Calgary 5–2–2 12
10 October 23 Washington 3 – 3 Calgary OT 5–2–3 13
11 October 25 Calgary 5 – 0 Los Angeles 6–2–3 15
12 October 27 Vancouver 5 – 5 Calgary OT 6–2–4 16
13 October 28 Calgary 3 – 4 Vancouver 6–3–4 16
November: 5–6–4 (Home: 4–1–2; Road: 1–5–2)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points
14 November 1 Winnipeg 3 – 5 Calgary 7–3–4 18
15 November 3 Calgary 2 – 5 Edmonton 7–4–4 18
16 November 4 New Jersey 3 – 7 Calgary 8–4–4 20
17 November 6 Edmonton 1 – 5 Calgary 9–4–4 22
18 November 8 Calgary 5 – 4 Los Angeles 10–4–4 24
19 November 11 Calgary 2 – 3 Minnesota OT 10–5–4 24
20 November 12 Calgary 2 – 3 Winnipeg 10–6–4 24
21 November 14 Los Angeles 8 – 6 Calgary 10–7–4 24
22 November 16 Buffalo 4 – 4 Calgary OT 10–7–5 25
23 November 18 Chicago 4 – 4 Calgary OT 10–7–6 26
24 November 20 Calgary 2 – 3 Montreal 10–8–6 26
25 November 21 Calgary 4 – 4 Quebec OT 10–8–7 27
26 November 24 Calgary 2 – 3 Detroit 10–9–7 27
27 November 25 Calgary 3 – 3 St. Louis OT 10–9–8 28
28 November 30 Minnesota 2 – 5 Calgary 11–9–8 30
December: 6–4–2 (Home: 5–2–0; Road: 1–2–2)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points
29 December 2 Toronto 4 – 7 Calgary 12–9–8 32
30 December 6 Winnipeg 3 – 4 Calgary 12–10–8 32
31 December 10 Calgary 1 – 4 Winnipeg 12–11–8 32
32 December 11 Calgary 3 – 3 Edmonton OT 12–11–9 33
33 December 14 Quebec 2 – 8 Calgary 13–11–9 35
34 December 16 Pittsburgh 3 – 4 Calgary 14–11–9 37
35 December 19 Calgary 2 – 1 Vancouver 15–11–9 39
36 December 20 Vancouver 1 – 2 Calgary OT 16–11–9 41
37 December 23 Calgary 1 – 2 Edmonton 16–12–9 41
38 December 27 Calgary 5 – 5 Los Angeles 16–12–10 42
39 December 29 Winnipeg 2 – 1 Calgary OT 16–13–10 42
40 December 30 Montreal 3 – 5 Calgary 17–13–10 44
January: 8–2–3 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 4–1–2)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points
41 January 2 Philadelphia 4 – 4 Calgary OT 17–13–11 45
42 January 5 Hartford 4 – 6 Calgary 18–13–11 47
43 January 7 Calgary 3 – 1 Edmonton 19–13–11 49
44 January 9 Edmonton 3 – 2 Calgary OT 19–14–11 49
45 January 11 Buffalo 3 – 5 Calgary 20–14–11 51
46 January 13 Calgary 5 – 6 Toronto 20–15–11 51
47 January 14 Calgary 6 – 5 Chicago 21–15–11 53
48 January 16 Calgary 5 – 2 St. Louis 22–15–11 55
49 January 18 Calgary 2 – 2 Boston OT 22–15–12 56
50 January 19 Calgary 3 – 3 Hartford OT 22–15–13 57
51 January 25 NY Rangers 5 – 8 Calgary 23–15–13 59
52 January 27 Minnesota 1 – 3 Calgary 24–15–13 61
53 January 30 Calgary 7 – 2 Vancouver 25–15–13 63
February: 6–5–0 (Home: 3–2–0; Road: 3–3–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points
54 February 1 Vancouver 3 – 4 Calgary OT 26–15–13 65
55 February 3 Calgary 3 – 4 Los Angeles 26–16–13 65
56 February 6 Los Angeles 5 – 3 Calgary 26–17–13 65
57 February 10 Calgary 5 – 7 Detroit 26–18–13 65
58 February 11 Calgary 5 – 2 NY Rangers 27–18–13 67
59 February 13 Calgary 4 – 2 NY Islanders 28–18–13 69
60 February 15 Calgary 4 – 1 Chicago 29–18–13 71
61 February 18 Calgary 1 – 5 Winnipeg 29–19–13 71
62 February 20 Boston 5 – 3 Calgary 29–20–13 71
63 February 22 Toronto 2 – 12 Calgary 30–20–13 73
64 February 25 Edmonton 4 – 10 Calgary 31–20–13 75
March: 10–3–2 (Home: 8–1–0; Road: 2–2–2)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points
65 March 1 Philadelphia 4 – 2 Calgary 31–21–13 75
66 March 3 Vancouver 1 – 5 Calgary 32–21–13 77
67 March 5 Los Angeles 0 – 5 Calgary 33–21–13 79
68 March 7 Pittsburgh 3 – 6 Calgary 34–21–13 81
69 March 9 Calgary 4 – 4 Vancouver OT 34–21–14 82
70 March 11 Calgary 6 – 4 Winnipeg 35–21–14 84
71 March 12 Winnipeg 4 – 5 Calgary OT 36–21–14 86
72 March 15 New Jersey 4 – 5 Calgary 37–21–14 88
73 March 17 Hartford 4 – 5 Calgary 38–21–14 90
74 March 19 St. Louis 2 – 5 Calgary 39–21–14 92
75 March 21 Calgary 4 – 5 Buffalo 39–22–14 92
76 March 24 Calgary 3 – 3 Pittsburgh OT 39–22–15 93
77 March 25 Calgary 1 – 4 Washington 39–23–15 93
78 March 27 Calgary 4 – 2 NY Islanders 40–23–15 95
79 March 30 Edmonton 2 – 6 Calgary 41–23–15 97
April: 1–0–0 (Home: 1–0–0; Road: 0–0–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points
80 April 1 Los Angeles 4 – 8 Calgary 42–23–15 99

Playoffs

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The Flames defense of their first Stanley Cup championship ended quickly as Calgary was stunned by the Los Angeles Kings in six games. The loss would begin a string of playoff disappointments for the Flames, who would not win another playoff round until the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Flames 12–4 defeat in game four of the series remains a Flames team record for most goals against in one playoff game.[13]

1990 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Smythe Division semi-final vs. Los Angeles – Kings win 4–2
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 4 Los Angeles 5 – 3 Calgary 19,172 Los Angeles leads 1–0
2 April 6 Los Angeles 5 – 8 Calgary 20,168 Series tied 1–1
3 April 8 Calgary 1 – 2 Los Angeles OT 16,005 Los Angeles leads 2–1
4 April 10 Calgary 4 – 12 Los Angeles 16,005 Los Angeles leads 3–1
5 April 12 Los Angeles 1 – 5 Calgary 20,107 Los Angeles leads 3–2
6 April 14 Calgary 3 – 4 Los Angeles 2OT 16,005 Los Angeles wins 4–2

Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

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Skaters

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Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player # GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
Joe Nieuwendyk 25 79 45 50 95 40 6 4 6 10 4
Doug Gilmour 39 78 24 67 91 54 6 3 1 4 8
Al MacInnis 2 79 28 62 90 82 6 2 3 5 8
Sergei Makarov 42 80 24 62 86 55 6 0 6 6 3
Gary Suter 20 76 16 60 76 97 6 0 1 1 12
Gary Roberts 10 78 39 33 72 222 6 2 5 7 41
Joe Mullen 7 78 36 33 69 24 6 3 0 3 0
Theoren Fleury 14 80 31 35 66 157 6 2 3 5 10
Paul Ranheim 28 80 26 28 54 23 6 1 3 4 2
Brian MacLellan 27 65 20 18 38 26 6 0 2 2 8
Jamie Macoun 34 78 8 27 35 70 6 0 3 3 10
Joel Otto 29 75 13 20 33 116 6 2 2 4 2
Jiri Hrdina 17 64 12 18 30 31 6 0 1 1 2
Dana Murzyn 5 78 7 13 20 140 6 2 2 4 2
Brad McCrimmon 4 79 4 15 19 78 6 0 2 2 8
Ric Nattress 6 49 1 14 15 26 6 2 0 2 8
Colin Patterson 11 61 5 3 8 20 - - - - -
Jonas Bergqvist 18 22 2 5 7 10 - - - - -
Mark Hunter 22 10 2 3 5 39 - - - - -
Tim Hunter 19 67 2 3 5 279 6 0 0 0 4
Roger Johansson 21 35 0 5 5 48 - - - - -
Sergei Priakin 16 20 2 2 4 0 2 0 0 0 0
Mike Vernon 30 47 0 3 3 21 6 0 0 0 0
Jim Korn 26 9 0 2 2 26 4 1 0 1 12
Jim Peplinski 24 6 1 0 1 4 - - - - -
Brian Glynn 32 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
Steve Guenette 1 2 0 0 0 2 - - - - -
Stu Grimson 35 3 0 0 0 17 - - - - -
Marc Bureau 33 5 0 0 0 4 - - - - -
Ken Sabourin 55 5 0 0 0 10 - - - - -
Rick Wamsley 31 36 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Calgary. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.

Goaltenders

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Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player # GP TOI W L T GA SO GAA GP TOI W L GA SO GAA
Mike Vernon 30 47 2795 23 14 9 146 1 3.13 6 342 2 3 19 0 3.33
Rick Wamsley 31 36 1969 18 8 6 107 0 3.26 1 49 0 1 9 0 11.02
Steve Guenette 1 2 119 1 1 0 8 0 4.03 - - - - - - -

Transactions

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The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1989–90 season.

Trades

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June 16, 1989 To Calgary Flames
2nd round pick in 1989 (Kent Manderville)
To Toronto Maple Leafs
Rob Ramage
March 6, 1990 To Calgary Flames
Jim Korn
To New Jersey Devils
5th round pick in 1990 (Petr Kuchyna)

Free Agents

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Player Former team
Player New team

Draft picks

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Calgary's picks at the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, held in Bloomington, Minnesota.[14]

Rnd Pick Player Nationality Position Team (league) NHL statistics
GP G A Pts PIM
2 24 Kent Manderville   Canada C N/A 646 37 67 104 348
2 42 Ted Drury   United States C N/A 414 41 52 93 367
3 50 Veli-Pekka Kautonen   Finland D HIFK Helsinki (FNL)
3 63 Corey Lyons   Canada RW Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
4 70 Robert Reichel   Czechoslovakia C CHZ LITVÍNOV (CZE) 830 252 378 630 388
4 84 Ryan O'Leary   United States C N/A
5 105 Toby Kearney   United States LW N/A
7 147 Alex Nikolic   Canada LW Cornell (ECAC)
8 168 Kevin Wortman   United States D N/A 5 0 0 0 2
9 189 Sergey Gomolyako   Soviet Union RW Traktor Chelyabinsk (USSR)
10 210 Dan Sawyer   United States D N/A
11 231 Alexander Yudin   Soviet Union D HC Dynamo Moscow (USSR)
12 252 Kenneth Kennholt   Sweden D Djurgårdens IF (SEL)
S 26 Shawn Heaphy   Canada C N/A 1 0 0 0 2

See also

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References

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  • Player stats: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg 122
  • Game log: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg 138
  • Team standings: 1989–90 NHL standings @hockeydb.com
  • Trades: Individual player pages at hockeydb.com
  1. ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE: HOCKEY; Crisp Is Dismissed As Coach of Flames". New York Times. May 8, 1990. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  2. ^ Archives, L. A. Times (May 7, 1990). "A Year After Cup, Flames Oust Crisp : NHL: Defending champion Calgary fires its coach in the wake of a first-round playoff loss to the Kings. No successor is named". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  3. ^ "CRISP FIRED BECAUSE OF HIS PERSONALITY". Deseret News. May 8, 1990. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  4. ^ "Flames fire coach - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  5. ^ Archives, L. A. Times (May 18, 1990). "Flames Name Risebrough as Coach : Hockey: Former Calgary player replaces Terry Crisp, who was fired last month". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  6. ^ Archives, L. A. Times (May 19, 1990). "Flames Replace Fired Crisp With Risebrough". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  7. ^ New Rules for Rookies, New York Times, June 20, 1990, accessed June 10, 2007
  8. ^ All-Stars, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg. 22
  9. ^ "1989-90 NHL Summary".
  10. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
  11. ^ "1989-1990 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  12. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  13. ^ Playoff Records, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg. 225
  14. ^ Calgary Flames draft history, hockeydb.com, accessed June 4, 2007