The
2016–17 Calgary Flames season was their
37th season in Calgary, and the 45th season for the
National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 6, 1972.
Off-season
After a season of high expectations from the
2014–15 season for the Flames, those results did not carry over into the 2015–16 season. The team finished with only 77 points and failed to qualify for the 2016 NHL Playoffs. To start with,
Bob Hartley
Robert "Bob" Hartley (born September 7, 1960) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach. He most recently served as the head coach of Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has additionally coached the Latvia men's national ...
was let go, and
Glen Gulutzan
Glen Gulutzan (born August 12, 1971) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers.
Playing career
Gulutzan played junior hockey with the Moose Jaw Warriors, Brandon Wheat Kings and ...
was brought in as the new coach. The biggest question the Flames faced in the off-season was acquiring a proven number one goalie.
Jonas Hiller,
Karri Ramo, and
Joni Ortio
Joni Ortio (born April 16, 1991) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He has previously played for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was a ...
all combined for a save percentage of .892 and goals against of 3.13, an NHL-worst in the 2015–16 season. General manager
Brad Treliving
Brad Treliving (born August 18, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman, and current general manager for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL).
In 1996, Treliving co-founded the Western Professional Hocke ...
addressed this need by acquiring veteran
Brian Elliott on June 24, 2016, in a deal on the sidelines of the
2016 NHL Entry Draft
The 2016 NHL Entry Draft was the 54th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The first three selections were Auston Matthews going to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine go ...
. On the draft's opening day the Flames got top prospect
Matthew Tkachuk as the 6th overall pick of the Draft. On July 1, 2016, the Flames made significant acquisitions by signing power forward
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer (born August 17, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. He played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Washington Capitals, Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers and the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). T ...
and journeyman goaltender
Chad Johnson
Chad Ochocinco Johnson (born Chad Javon Johnson; January 9, 1978), known from 2008 to 2012 as Chad Ochocinco, is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for Santa Monica College and Oregon State University, and pl ...
. Several other players such as
Alex Chiasson
Alex Chiasson ( , , born October 1, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the American Hockey League (AHL). He has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Da ...
and
Linden Vey
Linden Vey (born July 17, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger currently playing for Barys Astana of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Vey previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, Vanco ...
were also brought in. The next biggest task Treliving faced was signing rising stars
Johnny Gaudreau
John Michael Gaudreau (born August 13, 1993) is an American professional ice hockey winger who currently plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the NCAA Division I's Boston College Eagles from 2 ...
and
Sean Monahan to contracts. On August 19, 2016, Monahan and the Flames agreed to a 7-year deal worth $44.625 million. On October 10, 2016, two days before the start of the regular season, Gaudreau and the Flames agreed to a 6-year deal worth $40.5 million. Gaudreau was tied with defenceman and captain
Mark Giordano
Mark Giordano (; born October 3, 1983) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). He also previously played with the Calgary Flames for fifteen seasons, where he was the tea ...
as the highest-paid Flames player.
Regular season
October – December
The Flames open their season with their first two losses 7-4 and 5-3 to their provincial rival Edmonton Oilers. The team was expected to have an improved save percentage with Brian Eliott. However, they had a rough time with their No. 1 goaltender Brian Elliott which led them being placed outside of playoff picture promoting them to switch to their backup goaltender Chad Johnson. Chad Johnson was proved to be a better goaltender than Brian Eliott for about a month. They had a six-game winning streak from November 30 to December 14 which elevated them back into playoff position. After their six-game winning streak ended with a 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3, the starting goaltender position slowly shifted back to Brian Elliott.
January – April
The Flames continued to maintain their position in the playoff spot. They struggled the rest of the month, but they continued to keep pace in the conference standings. Even on February 25, 2017, the Flames still held the first wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
With their win over the
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...
on March 5, the Flames surpassed their total number of wins – 35 – of the
2015–16 season.
With their win over the
Winnipeg Jets on March 11, the Flames surpassed their franchise-long winning streak while based in the city of Calgary, at 9 consecutive games. Goalie
Brian Elliott also recorded his second
shutout in a row. The Flames tied their all-time franchise winning streak of 10 games with a
shootout win over the
Pittsburgh Penguins on March 13. The Atlanta Flames
won 10 straight from October 14 to November 3, 1978. The streak would end with their next game on March 15, being outscored by the
Boston Bruins 5–2. Though
Chad Johnson
Chad Ochocinco Johnson (born Chad Javon Johnson; January 9, 1978), known from 2008 to 2012 as Chad Ochocinco, is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for Santa Monica College and Oregon State University, and pl ...
started in net due to Brian Elliott waking up that morning with the flu, coach
Glen Gulutzan
Glen Gulutzan (born August 12, 1971) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers.
Playing career
Gulutzan played junior hockey with the Moose Jaw Warriors, Brandon Wheat Kings and ...
told reporters that no individual player was responsible for the loss to the Bruins and the end of the streak.
On March 20, Brian Elliott was named the NHL's
3rd Star of the Week for the week of March 20 to the 26th.
[ From February 20 – March 20, Elliott recorded a career-best winning streak of 11 games, featuring back-to-back shutouts on March 9 and 11. In addition during the streak, Elliott also tied the longest winning streak for a Flames game-starting goalie, an 11-game record set by the legendary Mike Vernon from January 17 to February 27, 1989.
Forward Matthew Tkachuk was suspended by the NHL for two games (on March 21 and March 23) due to Tkachuk's elbow purposely hitting the head of the ]L.A. Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference a ...
' Drew Doughty in the Flames' win on March 19.
In the Flames' 3–2 win over the St. Louis Blues on March 25, centreman and alternate captain
In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...
Sean Monahan broke Jarome Iginla
Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla (; born July 1, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. He played over 1500 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Br ...
's franchise regular-season overtime winning goal record with Monahan's seventh career regular-season 5-minute overtime period goal.
With a win against the San Jose Sharks on March 31, the Flames clinched a playoff berth, their first postseason appearance since the 2014–15 season and only their second playoff appearance in the last eight seasons.
Standings
Schedule and results
Pre-season
Regular season
Playoffs
Player statistics
Skaters
Goaltenders
†Denotes player spent time with another organization before joining Flames. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
Awards and honours
Awards
Milestones
Records
Transactions
Trades
Free agents acquired
Free agents lost
Claimed via waivers
Lost via waivers
Player signings
Draft picks
Below are the Calgary Flames' selections at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft
The 2016 NHL Entry Draft was the 54th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The first three selections were Auston Matthews going to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine go ...
, held on June 24–25, 2016, at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo.
* The Calgary Flames' second-round pick went to the St. Louis Blues as the result of a trade on June 24, 2016, that sent Brian Elliott to Calgary in exchange for a conditional third-round pick in 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
and this pick.
* The Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...
' second-round pick went to the Calgary Flames as the result of a trade on February 27, 2016, that sent Jiri Hudler
Jiri ( ne, जिरी) is a municipality in Dolakha District in the Bagmati Province of central Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 13,638 people..
Jiri, which lies about 190 kilometers from Kathmandu, is the m ...
to Florida in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
and this pick.
* The Dallas Stars' second-round pick went the Calgary Flames as the result of a trade on February 29, 2016, that sent Kris Russell to Dallas in exchange for Jyrki Jokipakka, Brett Pollock and this pick (being conditional at time of the trade). The condition – Calgary will receive a second-round pick in 2016 if Dallas fails to qualify for the 2016 Western Conference Final – was converted on May 11, 2016.
* The Minnesota Wild's sixth-round pick went to the Calgary Flames as the result of a trade on February 29, 2016, that sent David Jones to Minnesota in exchange for Niklas Backstrom and this pick.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Calgary Flames Season
Calgary Flames seasons
Calgary Flames
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...