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1990–91 Calgary Flames season

The 1990–91 Calgary Flames season was the 11th National Hockey League season in Calgary. The Flames entered the season with a new coach, as they replaced Terry Crisp with Doug Risebrough. Crisp coached 277 games with the Flames over three years, and his .669 regular season winning percentage remains a Flames record.[1]

The Los Angeles Kings ended the Flames three-year run at the top of the Smythe Division standings, finishing two points ahead of Calgary. The Flames finished 4th overall in the NHL[2] Calgary's 344 goals led the NHL, the second time the Flames led the league in scoring. In the playoffs, Calgary met the defending champion Edmonton Oilers in the first round. Despite finishing 20 points ahead of Edmonton, the Flames fell to the Oilers in seven games.

Four Flames represented the Campbell Conference at the 1991 All-Star Game: forward Theoren Fleury, defencemen Al MacInnis and Gary Suter and goaltender Mike Vernon. Additionally, MacInnis was named to the first All-Star team for the second season in a row.[3]

Fleury's 51 goals tied him for 2nd in league scoring, behind Brett Hull's 86. Fleury (104) and MacInnis (103) placed 8th and 9th respectively in league point scoring, with MacInnis leading the league in scoring by a defenceman. MacInnis also placed 3rd in the league in assists.[4]

In an 8-4 Flames' road win over the St. Louis Blues on March 9, 1991, Theoren Fleury scored three short-handed goals.[5]

Regular season

For the second consecutive season, the Flames led the league in scoring (344 goals for), power-play goals scored (91: tied with the New York Rangers) and power-play percentage, with 23.70% (91 for 384).[6]

Season standings

Smythe Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Los Angeles Kings 80 46 24 10 340 254 102
Calgary Flames 80 46 26 8 344 263 100
Edmonton Oilers 80 37 37 6 272 272 80
Vancouver Canucks 80 28 43 9 243 315 65
Winnipeg Jets 80 26 43 11 260 288 63

[7]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[8]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 p – Chicago Blackhawks NRS 80 49 23 8 284 211 106
2 St. Louis Blues NRS 80 47 22 11 310 250 105
3 Los Angeles Kings SMY 80 46 24 10 340 254 102
4 Calgary Flames SMY 80 46 26 8 344 263 100
5 Edmonton Oilers SMY 80 37 37 6 272 272 80
6 Detroit Red Wings NRS 80 34 38 8 273 298 76
7 Minnesota North Stars NRS 80 27 39 14 256 266 68
8 Vancouver Canucks SMY 80 28 43 9 243 315 65
9 Winnipeg Jets SMY 80 26 43 11 260 288 63
10 Toronto Maple Leafs NRS 80 23 46 11 241 318 57

Divisions: NRS – Norris, SMY – Smythe

bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy


Schedule and results

1990–91 regular season[9]
October: 9–4–0 (home: 6–1–0; road: 3–3–0)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts
1 [October 4 Vancouver 2 – 3 Calgary OT 1–0–0 2
2 October 6 Toronto 1 – 4 Calgary 2–0–0 4
3 October 8 Calgary 4 – 3 Winnipeg 3–0–0 6
4 October 10 Calgary 5 – 6 Detroit OT 3–1–0 6
5 October 13 Calgary 3 – 5 New Jersey 3–2–0 6
6 October 14 Calgary 3 – 1 Chicago 4–2–0 8
7 October 18 St. Louis Blues 4 – 3 Calgary 4–3–0 8
8 October 20 Boston 1 – 8 Calgary 5–3–0 10
9 October 21 Calgary 2 – 1 Edmonton 6–3–0 12
10 October 23 Calgary 4 – 6 Los Angeles 6–4–0 12
11 October 25 Edmonton 2 – 4 Calgary 7–4–0 14
12 October 27 Washington 4 – 9 Calgary 8–4–0 16
13 October 30 New Jersey 3 – 6 Calgary 9–4–0 18
November: 5–5–3 (home: 2–2–1; road: 3–3–2)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts
14 November 1 Winnipeg 1 – 3 Calgary 10–4–0 20
15 November 3 Calgary 7 – 3 Toronto 11–4–0 22
16 November 4 Calgary 1 – 2 Buffalo 11–5–0 22
17 November 6 Calgary 5 – 6 Pittsburgh 11–6–0 22
18 November 8 Calgary 8 – 2 Philadelphia 12–6–0 24
19 November 10 Calgary 1 – 5 NY Islanders 12–7–0 24
20 November 11 Calgary 4 – 4 NY Rangers OT 12–7–1 25
21 November 15 NY Islanders 4 – 3 Calgary OT 12–8–1 25
22 November 17 Buffalo 3 – 3 Calgary OT 12–8–2 26
23 November 19 Calgary 6 – 4 Vancouver 13–8–2 28
24 November 22 Los Angeles 3 – 6 Calgary 14–8–2 30
25 November 24 Chicago 5 – 3 Calgary 14–9–2 30
26 November 28 Calgary 2 – 2 Winnipeg OT 14–9–3 31
December: 8–5–1 (home: 3–4–0; road: 5–1–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts
27 December 1 Calgary 5 – 3 Montreal 15–9–3 33
28 December 2 Calgary 5 – 5 Quebec OT 15–9–4 34
29 December 5 NY Rangers 1 – 4 Calgary 16–9–4 36
30 December 7 Quebec 5 – 3 Calgary 16–10–4 36
31 December 9 Calgary 3 – 2 Edmonton 17–10–4 38
32 December 11 Calgary 5 – 4 Minnesota 18–10–4 40
33 December 13 Calgary 4 – 1 Winnipeg 19–10–4 42
34 December 16 Calgary 5 – 1 Vancouver 20–10–4 44
35 December 18 Vancouver 3 – 2 Calgary 20–11–4 44
36 December 20 Los Angeles 4 – 3 Calgary OT 20–12–4 44
37 December 22 Edmonton 6 – 2 Calgary 20–13–4 44
38 December 27 Calgary 1 – 4 Edmonton 20–14–4 44
39 December 29 Hartford 2 – 8 Calgary 21–14–4 46
40 December 31 Montreal 2 – 7 Calgary 22–14–4 48
January: 5–6–1 (home: 3–0–0; road: 2–6–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts
41 January 2 Calgary 3 – 3 Winnipeg OT 22–14–5 49
42 January 5 Detroit 0 – 7 Calgary 23–14–5 51
43 January 8 Calgary 5 – 3 Toronto 24–14–5 53
44 January 10 Calgary 1 – 5 Pittsburgh 24–15–5 53
45 January 11 Calgary 2 – 4 Washington 24–16–5 53
46 January 13 Calgary 3 – 4 Winnipeg 24–17–5 53
47 January 15 Winnipeg 5 – 7 Calgary 25–17–5 55
48 January 22 Calgary 3 – 4 Philadelphia 25–18–5 55
49 January 23 Calgary 4 – 5 Hartford 25–19–5 55
50 January 26 Calgary 2 – 5 Boston 25–20–5 55
51 January 27 Calgary 5 – 4 Buffalo 26–20–5 57
52 January 30 NY Rangers 1 – 5 Calgary 27–20–5 59
February: 8–2–2 (home: 6–0–1; road: 2–2–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts
53 February 2 Chicago 1 – 3 Calgary 28–20–5 61
54 February 5 Calgary 1 – 2 New Jersey 28–21–5 61
55 February 7 Calgary 4 – 1 Boston 29–21–5 63
56 February 9 Calgary 5 – 2 Hartford 30–21–5 65
57 February 12 Calgary 4 – 4 Los Angeles OT 30–21–6 66
58 February 15 Washington 2 – 8 Calgary 31–21–6 68
59 February 17 St. Louis 4 – 7 Calgary 32–21–6 70
60 February 19 Detroit 4 – 4 Calgary OT 32–21–7 71
61 February 21 Vancouver 4 – 6 Calgary 33–21–7 73
62 February 23 Quebec 8 – 10 Calgary 34–21–7 75
63 February 25 Calgary 2 – 4 Vancouver 34–22–7 75
64 February 27 Edmonton 2 – 4 Calgary 35–22–7 77
March: 11–4–1 (home: 9–1–1; road: 2–3–0)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts
65 March 1 Pittsburgh 2 – 6 Calgary 36–22–7 79
66 March 2 Minnesota 1 – 5 Calgary 37–22–7 81
67 March 4 Montreal 2 – 3 Calgary OT 38–22–7 83
68 March 7 Philadelphia 2 – 4 Calgary 39–22–7 85
69 March 9 Calgary 8 – 4 St. Louis 40–22–7 87
70 March 10 Calgary 3 – 7 Minnesota 40–23–7 87
71 March 12 Winnipeg 3 – 5 Calgary 41–23–7 89
72 March 14 NY Islanders 2 – 4 Calgary 42–23–7 91
73 March 16 Los Angeles 4 – 3 Calgary 42–24–7 91
74 March 18 Winnipeg 3 – 4 Calgary OT 43–24–7 93
75 March 20 Calgary 3 – 2 Vancouver 44–24–7 95
76 March 23 Calgary 4 – 8 Los Angeles 44–25–7 95
77 March 26 Vancouver 2 – 7 Calgary 45–25–7 97
78 March 28 Edmonton 4 – 4 Calgary 45–25–8 98
79 March 29 Calgary 5 – 6 Edmonton OT 45–26–8 98
80 March 31 Los Angeles 3 – 5 Calgary 46–26–8 100

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

The Flames met their arch-rivals, the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs. Despite finishing 20 points ahead of Edmonton in the regular season, the Flames fell to the Oilers in seven games. Calgary's game six victory featured Theoren Fleury's memorable dash down the length of the ice following his overtime winning goal. It was the last time the rivals met in the playoffs, until 2022.

1991 Stanley Cup playoffs[9]
Smythe Division Semifinals vs. Edmonton Oilers – Edmonton wins 4–3
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Attendance Series
1 April 4 Edmonton 3 – 1 Calgary 20,176 Edmonton leads 1–0
2 April 6 Edmonton 1 – 3 Calgary 20,176 Series tied 1–1
3 April 8 Calgary 3 – 4 Edmonton 17,242 Edmonton leads 2–1
4 April 10 Calgary 2 – 5 Edmonton 17,503 Edmonton leads 3–1
5 April 12 Edmonton 3 – 5 Calgary 20,176 Edmonton leads 3–2
6 April 14 Calgary 2 – 1 Edmonton OT 17,503 Series tied 3–3
7 April 16 Edmonton 5 – 4 Calgary OT 20,176 Edmonton wins 4–3

Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

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
Theoren Fleury 14 79 51 53 104 136 7 2 5 7 14
Al MacInnis 2 78 28 75 103 90 7 2 3 5 8
Joe Nieuwendyk 25 79 45 40 85 36 7 4 1 5 10
Doug Gilmour 39 78 20 61 81 144 7 1 1 2 0
Sergei Makarov 42 78 30 49 79 44 3 1 0 1 0
Gary Suter 20 79 12 58 70 102 7 1 6 7 12
Gary Roberts 10 80 22 31 53 252 7 1 3 4 18
Robert Reichel 26 66 19 22 41 22 6 1 1 2 0
Joel Otto 29 76 19 20 39 183 7 1 2 3 8
Stephane Matteau 23 78 15 19 34 93 5 0 1 1 0
Paul Ranheim 28 39 14 16 30 4 7 2 2 4 0
Brian MacLellan 27 57 13 14 27 55 1 0 0 0 0
Mark Hunter‡ 22 57 10 15 25 125 - - - - -
Jamie Macoun 34 79 7 15 22 83 7 0 1 1 4
Frank Musil† 3 67 7 14 21 160 7 0 0 0 10
Ric Nattress 6 58 5 13 18 63 7 1 0 1 2
Roger Johansson 21 38 4 13 17 47 - - - - -
Tim Sweeney 7 42 7 9 16 8 - - - - -
Paul Fenton† 12 31 5 7 12 10 5 0 0 0 2
Jim Kyte† 4 42 0 9 9 69 7 1 3 4 14
Tim Hunter 19 34 5 2 7 142 7 0 0 0 10
Sergei Priakin 16 24 1 6 7 0 - - - - -
Ron Stern† 22 13 1 3 4 69 7 1 3 4 14
Ken Sabourin‡ 55 16 1 3 4 36 - - - - -
Mike Vernon 30 54 0 4 4 8 7 0 0 0 0
Jiri Hrdina‡ 17 14 0 3 3 4 - - - - -
Martin Simard 38 16 0 2 2 53 - - - - -
Dana Murzyn 5 19 0 2 2 30 - - - - -
Rick Lessard 32 1 0 1 1 0 - - - - -
Rick Wamsley 31 29 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Steve Guenette 1 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
Paul Kruse 18 1 0 0 0 7 - - - - -
Kevan Guy† 5 4 0 0 0 4 - - - - -
Marc Bureau 33 5 0 0 0 2 - - - - -
Colin Patterson 11 - - - - - 1 0 0 0 0

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Calgary. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
‡Traded mid-season

Goaltenders

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
Rick Wamsley 31 29 1670 14 7 5 85 0 3.05 1 2 0 0 1 0 30.00
Mike Vernon 30 54 3121 31 19 3 172 1 3.31 7 427 3 4 21 0 2.95
Steve Guenette 1 1 60 1 0 0 4 0 4.00 - - - - - - -

Transactions

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1990–91 season.

Trades

October 26, 1990 To Calgary Flames
Frank Musil 		To Minnesota North Stars
Brian Glynn
December 13, 1990 To Calgary Flames
Jim Kyte 		To Pittsburgh Penguins
Jiri Hrdina
January 24, 1991 To Calgary Flames
Paul Fenton 		To Washington Capitals
Ken Sabourin
March 5, 1991 To Calgary Flames
Carey Wilson 		To Hartford Whalers
Mark Hunter
March 5, 1991 To Calgary Flames
Ron Stern
Kevan Guy
Future Considerations 		To Vancouver Canucks
Dana Murzyn

Free Agents

Player Former team
Player New team

Draft picks

Main article: List of Calgary Flames draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, held in Vancouver, British Columbia.[10]

Rnd Pick Player Nationality Position Team (league) NHL statistics
GP G A Pts PIM
1 11 Trevor Kidd  Canada G Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 387 140–162–52, 2.84GAA
2 26 Nicolas Perreault  Canada D N/A
2 32 Vesa Viitakoski  Finland LW SaiPa (FNL) 23 2 4 6 8
2 41 Etienne Belzile  Canada D Cornell University (ECAC)
3 62 Glen Mears  United States D Rochester Mustangs (USHL)
4 83 Paul Kruse  Canada LW Kamloops Blazers (WHL) 423 38 33 71 1074
6 125 Chris Tschupp  United States LW N/A
7 146 Dmitri Frolov  Soviet Union D Dynamo Moscow (USSR)
8 167 Shawn Murray  United States G N/A
9 188 Michael Murray  United States RW N/A
10 209 Rob Sumner  Canada D Victoria Cougars (WHL)
12 251 Leo Gudas  Czechoslovakia D N/A
S 25 Lyle Wildgoose  Canada LW N/A

See also

References

  • Player stats: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg 121
  • Game log: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg 138
  • Team standings: 1990–91 NHL standings @hockeydb.com
  • Trades: Individual player pages at hockeydb.com
  1. ^ Head Coaches, 2006–07 Calgary Flames media guide, pg. 103
  2. ^ 1990–91 season, 2006–07 Calgary Flames media guide, pg. 121
  3. ^ All-Stars, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg. 22
  4. ^ 1990–91 league leaders, hockeydb.com
  5. ^ "Calgary Flames at St. Louis Blues Box Score — March 9, 1991".
  6. ^ "1990-91 NHL Summary".
  7. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
  8. ^ "1990-1991 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  9. ^ a b "1990-91 Calgary Flames Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  10. ^ Calgary Flames draft history, hockeydb.com, accessed May 16, 2007