Top 10 Calgary Flames players of all time

After the franchise got its start in Atlanta, the Flames have been in Calgary since 1980.

We’ve shared the top 10 players in their storied history.

10. Joe Mullen

Sandwiched between his time with the St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins, Joe Mullen had a fantastic five-year stint with the Calgary Flames.

In his first two full seasons with the team Mullen topped 40 goals, while his third season saw him score a whopping 51 goals and record 110 total points.

That same season, he helped lead the Flames to their first and only Stanley Cup victory (1989).

9. Gary Roberts

There are two Garys among our list of the top 10 Calgary Flames players of all time and they could really be interchangeable.

We have the Canadian - Roberts - first, as he sits just lower than the next skater on our list in terms of points with 505.

However, he’s still more than worthy of being listed, as he was also a team-mate of Mullen during that Stanley Cup run, while his 257 goals are the fourth-most in franchise history.

8. Gary Suter

The other Gary - Suter - is an American who recorded 436 assists with the Flames (fourth-most) alongside 564 points (fifth-most).

Keep in mind that he put up those numbers as a defenseman, making it that much more impressive.

Suter also brought some hardware to Calgary, as he won the Calder Trophy for the NHL’s best rookie in 1986 and like the first two skaters on our list, he too was a member of the 1989 Stanley Cup team.

7. Johnny Gaudreau

The first skater who was not a part of that championship team is Johnny Hockey. There is an argument to be made that there is some recency bias having Johnny Gaudreau above those other skaters, but he was truly great for Calgary.

Although he left for Columbus after his MVP-calibre season, he brought Calgary fans plenty of joy.

At just 5-9 and 165lbs, Gaudreau racked up 40 goals and 115 points (tied for second-most in the NHL) in his final season with the team.

6. Mark Giordano

With exactly 100 points less than Gaudreau for the seventh-most in franchise history in Mark Giordano. However, he’s a defenseman and had a much different presence on the team.

He’s since played for the Seattle Kraken in their inaugural season and now the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the first 15 years of his career were in Calgary.

It can be a bit more difficult to quantify defenseman with raw numbers, but Flames fans can agree that he served the team well.

5. Joe Nieuwendyk

One skater that had no issues putting up numbers was Joe Nieuwendyk. The center was a prolific goal-scorer, as his 314 is the third-most in franchise history.

Following his rookie season, Nieuwendyk put up back-to-back 50-goal seasons and there was only one full season in which he scored fewer than 36 goals.

In their Stanley Cup-winning season, he recorded 51 goals and 82 total points.

4. Miikka Kiprusoff

It’s about time that we added a goaltender to our list of the top 10 Flames players of all-time and nearly every fan would agree that Miikka Kirusoff is the best netminder in franchise history.

Although he wasn’t their championship-winning goalie, Kiprusoff still led the team to a Stanley Cup Final appearance after a regular season allowing just 1.69 goals per game.

During that playoff run, he also recorded five shutouts and ultimately won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender in 2006.

3. Theo Fleury

The top three of this list are virtually unanimous among fans and analysts alike. It begins with Theo Fleury, whose 830 points is the second-most in franchise history.

Like a few others on this list, Fleury also recorded over 50 goals in a season and he had at least 30 in seven of his 10 years with Calgary.

Over that decade-long span, Fleury was also named to six NHL All-Star teams.

2. Al MacInnis

Another defenseman on this list is hands down the best to do it in a Flames sweater.

The fact that Al MacInnis had just eight points fewer than Fleury says it all - he was a perfect balance of defensive presence while also putting up offensive numbers.

In his last five seasons before leaving for St. Louis he recorded at least 20 goals and even had a 103-point season the year after recording 90 points during the 1989 Stanley Cup run.

1. Jarome Iginla

Perhaps one of the most obvious #1’s for any franchise is Jarome Iginla. His name is synonymous with the Flames after spending 16 years with the team.

Unsurprisingly, his 1,095 points, 525 goals and 161 power play goals are all the most in franchise history.

Those numbers were consistent as well, as Iginla scored at least 30 goals in 11 straight seasons with the team.

He also won an Art Ross Trophy for being the league’s highest point-scorer and was inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame in 2020.