1993–94 Calgary Flames season

1993–94 Calgary Flames
Pacific Division champions
Division	1st Pacific
Conference	2nd Western
1993–94 record	42–29–13
Home record	25–12–5
Road record	17–17–8
Goals for	302 (3rd)
Goals against	256 (11th)
Team information
General manager	Doug Risebrough
Coach	Dave King
Captain	Joe Nieuwendyk
Alternate captains	Al MacInnis Joel Otto
Arena	Olympic Saddledome
Average attendance	19,325
Team leaders
Goals	Gary Roberts (41)
Assists	Al MacInnis (54)
Points	Robert Reichel (93)
Penalty minutes	Ron Stern (243)
Wins	Mike Vernon (26)
Goals against average	Mike Vernon (2.81)
← 1992–93 1994–95 →

The 1993–94 Calgary Flames season was the 14th National Hockey League season in Calgary. It was a season of change across the NHL, as the league reorganized its divisions and playoff format. The Smythe Division was retired and the Flames joined the new Pacific Division of the Western Conference, as the NHL aligned itself with the other major sports leagues in naming divisions by geographical boundaries. The change angered fans, who preferred the traditional convention, which honoured the game's past builders.^[1]

Realignment also led to significant changes in the playoff format, as the top eight teams in each conference now qualified for the post-season, rather than the top four in each division. Under the new format, the top team in each division was guaranteed one of the top two seeds, and declared the divisional champion, as opposed to having to win two playoff rounds to capture the division title. Thus, the Flames became the first Pacific Division champions, and the second seed in the playoffs. They faced the second place Vancouver Canucks in the playoffs rather than the fourth place Mighty Ducks of Anaheim who failed to qualify under the new system.^[2]

The playoffs ended in another bitter disappointment, as the Flames blew a 3–1 series lead, losing the last three games in overtime to the Canucks,^[3] who would eventually go onto the Stanley Cup finals before bowing out to the New York Rangers.^[4]

Two Flames represented the Western Conference at the 1994 All-Star Game: Forward Joe Nieuwendyk and defenceman Al MacInnis.^[5]

For the second consecutive season, four Flames reached the 30-goal plateau. Three of them (Theoren Fleury, Robert Reichel and Gary Roberts) were also 40-goal scorers.^[6][7]

Prior to the season, Calgary lost two players in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft, as the Florida Panthers selected defenceman Alexander Godynyuk 13th overall, and centre Brian Skrudland 32nd overall. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim did not select any Flames players.

Regular season

The Flames were shorthanded a total of 465 times during the regular season, the most among all 26 teams.^[8]

Season standings

Pacific Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	3	Calgary Flames	84	42	29	13	302	256	97
2	7	Vancouver Canucks	84	41	40	3	279	276	85
3	8	San Jose Sharks	84	33	35	16	252	265	82
4	9	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	84	33	46	5	229	251	71
5	10	Los Angeles Kings	84	27	45	12	294	322	66
6	11	Edmonton Oilers	84	25	45	14	261	305	64

^[9] Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Western Conference^[10]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	y- Detroit Red Wings *	CEN	84	46	30	8	356	275	100
2	x- Calgary Flames *	PAC	84	42	29	13	302	256	97
3	Toronto Maple Leafs	CEN	84	43	29	12	280	243	98
4	Dallas Stars	CEN	84	42	29	13	286	265	97
5	St. Louis Blues	CEN	84	40	33	11	270	283	91
6	Chicago Blackhawks	CEN	84	39	36	9	254	240	87
7	Vancouver Canucks	PAC	84	41	40	3	279	276	85
8	San Jose Sharks	PAC	84	33	35	16	252	265	82
9	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PAC	84	33	46	5	229	251	71
10	Los Angeles Kings	PAC	84	27	45	12	294	322	66
11	Edmonton Oilers	PAC	84	25	45	14	261	305	64
12	Winnipeg Jets	CEN	84	24	51	9	245	344	57

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

bold – Qualified for playoffs; x – Won division; y – Won Conference (and division); * – Division leader

Schedule and results

1993–94 Game Log
October: 8–3–2 (Home: 4–2–1; Road: 4–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 1 October 5 NY Islanders 1 – 2 Calgary 1–0–0 2 2 October 7 San Jose 2 – 6 Calgary 2–0–0 4 3 October 9 Calgary 5 – 1 Vancouver 3–0–0 6 4 October 14 Calgary 2 – 1 San Jose 4–0–0 8 5 October 16 Calgary 4 – 8 Los Angeles 4–1–0 8 6 October 17 Calgary 2 – 2 Anaheim OT 4–1–1 9 7 October 20 Calgary 5 – 3 Edmonton 5–1–1 11 8 October 21 Vancouver 6 – 3 Calgary 5–2–1 11 9 October 23 Boston 3 – 3 Calgary OT 5–2–2 12 10 October 25 Washington 2 – 3 Calgary OT 6–2–2 14 11 October 27 Buffalo 5 – 3 Calgary 6–3–2 14 12 October 30 Edmonton 1 – 4 Calgary 7–3–2 16 13 October 31 Calgary 4 – 3 Winnipeg 8–3–2 18
November: 7–4–2 (Home: 5–2–1; Road: 2–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 14 November 3 Calgary 6 – 3 Hartford 9–3–2 20 15 November 4 Calgary 3 – 6 Boston 9–4–2 20 16 November 6 Calgary 4 – 3 Montreal 10–4–2 22 17 November 9 Los Angeles 3 – 4 Calgary 11–4–2 24 18 November 11 Anaheim 4 – 5 Calgary 12–4–2 26 19 November 13 Vancouver 3 – 4 Calgary 13–4–2 28 20 November 15 Winnipeg 2 – 7 Calgary 14–4–2 30 21 November 18 Calgary 3 – 3 St. Louis OT 14–4–3 31 22 November 20 Calgary 3 – 4 Dallas 14–5–3 31 23 November 22 Anaheim 2 – 1 Calgary 14–6–3 31 24 November 24 Toronto 3 – 5 Calgary 15–6–3 33 25 November 26 Chicago 6 – 3 Calgary 15–7–3 33 26 November 30 Dallas 2 – 2 Calgary OT 15–7–4 34
December: 5–7–2 (Home: 4–3–0; Road: 1–4–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 27 December 4 Philadelphia 0 – 6 Calgary 16–7–4 36 28 December 6 Calgary 6 – 1 Ottawa 17–7–4 38 29 December 7 Calgary 4 – 4 Quebec OT 17–7–5 39 30 December 10 Calgary 2 – 6 Buffalo 17–8–5 39 31 December 11 Calgary 1 – 3 Toronto 17–9–5 39 32 December 14 Vancouver 4 – 8 Calgary 18–9–5 41 33 December 17 St. Louis 4 – 3 Calgary 18–10–5 41 34 December 18 Winnipeg 4 – 5 Calgary OT 19–10–5 43 35 December 20 Los Angeles 5 – 4 Calgary OT 19–11–5 43 36 December 22 Calgary 3 – 7 Edmonton 19–12–5 43 37 December 23 Calgary 3 – 4 Vancouver 19–13–5 43 38 December 28 Calgary 3 – 3 San Jose OT 19–13–6 44 39 December 30 Edmonton 1 – 7 Calgary 20–13–6 46 40 December 31 Montreal 5 – 2 Calgary 20–14–6 46
January: 4–5–3 (Home: 2–2–2; Road: 2–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 41 January 2 Calgary 3 – 4 St. Louis OT 20–15–6 46 42 January 5 Calgary 4 – 1 NY Rangers 21–15–6 48 43 January 7 Calgary 2 – 6 NY Islanders 21–16–6 48 44 January 8 Calgary 2 – 2 Pittsburgh 21–16–7 49 45 January 11 Quebec 0 – 1 Calgary 22–16–7 51 46 January 15 Ottawa 0 – 10 Calgary 23–16–7 53 47 January 17 Calgary 2 – 3 San Jose 23–17–7 53 48 January 19 Calgary 4 – 3 Vancouver 24–17–7 55 49 January 24 Los Angeles 3 – 3 Calgary OT 24–17–8 56 50 January 26 Dallas 3 – 2 Calgary 24–18–8 56 51 January 28 New Jersey 2 – 2 Calgary OT 24–18–9 57 52 January 29 St. Louis 5 – 3 Calgary 24–19–9 57
February: 8–3–1 (Home: 4–2–0; Road: 4–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 53 February 2 Calgary 4 – 2 Anaheim 25–19–9 59 54 February 5 Calgary 5 – 4 Los Angeles OT 26–19–9 61 55 February 7 Edmonton 3 – 4 Calgary 27–19–9 63 56 February 9 Calgary 1 – 6 Edmonton 28–19–9 65 57 February 11 Hartford 1 – 4 Calgary 29–19–9 67 58 February 12 Toronto 2 – 3 Calgary 30–19–9 69 59 February 14 Chicago 4 – 2 Calgary 30–20–9 69 60 February 18 Calgary 2 – 4 Dallas 30–21–9 69 61 February 20 Calgary 5 – 2 Winnipeg 31–21–9 71 62 February 22 Calgary 4 – 4 Vancouver OT 31–21–10 72 63 February 24 Tampa Bay 4 – 0 Calgary 31–22–10 72 64 February 26 Los Angeles 2 – 4 Calgary 32–22–10 74
March: 6–5–2 (Home: 3–1–1; Road: 3–4–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 65 March 1 Calgary 2 – 5 Detroit 32–23–10 74 66 March 3 Calgary 2 – 4 Chicago 32–24–10 74 67 March 5 Calgary 3 – 6 New Jersey 32–25–10 74 68 March 6 Calgary 4 – 4 Washington OT 32–25–11 75 69 March 9 Detroit 5 – 1 Calgary 32–26–11 75 70 March 11 Florida 2 – 4 Calgary 33–26–11 77 71 March 12 San Jose 0 – 2 Calgary 34–26–11 79 72 March 15 Calgary 7 – 3 Tampa Bay 35–26–11 81 73 March 16 Calgary 1 – 2 Florida 35–27–11 81 74 March 20 Calgary 6 – 3 Toronto 36–27–11 83 75 March 22 NY Rangers 4 – 4 Calgary 36–27–12 84 76 March 26 Pittsburgh 3 – 5 Calgary 37–27–12 86 77 March 31 Calgary 4 – 1 Philadelphia 38–27–12 88
April: 4–2–1 (Home: 3–0–0; Road: 1–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 78 April 2 Calgary 3 – 3 Detroit 38–27–13 89 79 April 3 Calgary 1 – 2 Chicago 38–28–13 89 80 April 6 Anaheim 2 – 4 Calgary 39–28–13 91 81 April 8 San Jose 2 – 5 Calgary 40–28–13 93 82 April 9 Detroit 2 – 4 Calgary 41–28–13 95 83 April 11 Calgary 3 – 0 Anaheim 42–28–13 97 84 April 13 Calgary 4 – 6 Los Angeles 42–29–13 97

Playoffs

The Flames entered the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs as the second seed under the new alignment, facing the seventh seeded Vancouver Canucks. After getting blown out at home in game one, the Flames responded by winning the next three games to take a 3–1 series lead. The Flames, however, lost the last three games in overtime, as they proved unable to overcome a series of injuries to key players, and the tenacious play of the Canucks. Pavel Bure scored the series winner on a breakaway in double overtime for the Canucks, who reached the Stanley Cup finals before falling to the New York Rangers in seven games.

For the Flames, it was another year of playoff frustration, as for the fifth consecutive year, Calgary failed to reach the second round of the post-season.

1994 Stanley Cup playoffs

Western Conference quarter-final vs. Vancouver (7) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Attendance Series 1 April 18 Vancouver 5 – 0 Calgary 17,764 Vancouver leads 1–0 2 April 20 Vancouver 5 – 7 Calgary 18,318 Series tied 1–1 3 April 22 Calgary 4 – 2 Vancouver 16,150 Calgary leads 2–1 4 April 24 Calgary 3 – 2 Vancouver 16,150 Calgary leads 3–1 5 April 26 Vancouver 2 – 1 Calgary OT 19,059 Calgary leads 3–2 6 April 28 Calgary 2 – 3 Vancouver OT 16,150 Series tied 3–3 7 April 30 Vancouver 4 – 3 Calgary 2OT 20,230 Vancouver wins 4–3

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
Robert Reichel	26		84	40	53	93	58		7	0	5	5	0
Theoren Fleury	14		83	40	45	85	186		7	6	4	10	5
Gary Roberts	10		71	41	43	84	145		7	2	6	8	24
Al MacInnis	2		75	28	54	82	95		7	2	6	8	12
Joe Nieuwendyk	25		64	36	39	75	51		6	2	2	4	0
German Titov	13		76	27	18	45	28		7	2	1	3	4
Wes Walz	17		53	11	27	38	16		6	3	0	3	2
Kelly Kisio	11		51	7	23	30	28		7	0	2	2	8
Ron Stern	22		71	9	20	29	243		7	2	0	2	12
Paul Ranheim	28		67	10	14	24	20		-	-	-	-	-
Joel Otto	29		81	11	12	23	92		3	0	1	1	4
Michel Petit	7		63	2	21	23	110		-	-	-	-	-
Trent Yawney	18		58	6	15	21	60		7	0	0	0	16
Dan Keczmer†	39		57	1	20	21	48		3	0	0	0	4
Gary Suter	20		25	4	9	13	20		-	-	-	-	-
Ted Drury	27		34	5	7	12	26		-	-	-	-	-
Chris Dahlquist	5		77	1	11	12	52		1	0	0	0	0
Paul Kruse	12		68	3	8	11	185		7	0	0	0	14
Michael Nylander†	92		15	2	9	11	6		3	0	0	0	0
Sandy McCarthy	15		79	5	5	10	173		7	0	0	0	34
Zarley Zalapski†	33		13	3	7	10	18		7	0	3	3	2
Frank Musil	3		75	1	8	9	10		7	1	1	2	8
Brad Schlegel	21		26	1	6	7	4		-	-	-	-	-
Mike Sullivan†	32		19	2	3	5	6		7	1	1	2	8
James Patrick†	6		15	2	2	4	6		7	0	1	1	6
Trevor Kidd	37		31	0	4	4	4		-	-	-	-	-
Vesa Viitakoski	32/19		8	1	2	3	0		-	-	-	-	-
Len Esau	36		6	0	3	3	7		-	-	-	-	-
Kevin Dahl	4		33	0	3	3	23		6	0	0	0	4
Greg Paslawski	23		15	2	0	2	2		-	-	-	-	-
David Haas	19		2	1	1	2	7		-	-	-	-	-
Guy Larose†	42		7	0	1	1	4		-	-	-	-	-
Brad Miller	55/34		8	0	1	1	14		-	-	-	-	-
Lee Norwood	6		16	0	1	1	16		-	-	-	-	-
Jason Muzzatti	31		1	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-
Jeff Reese	35		1	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-
Mark Freer	16		2	0	0	0	4		-	-	-	-	-
Peter Ahola	38		2	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-
David Struch	33		4	0	0	0	4		-	-	-	-	-
Kevin Wortman	34		5	0	0	0	2		-	-	-	-	-
Andrei Trefilov	1		11	0	0	0	4		-	-	-	-	-
Mike Vernon	30		48	0	0	0	14		7	0	0	0	2

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

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
Andrei Trefilov	1		11	623	3	4	2	26	2	2.50		-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Mike Vernon	30		48	2798	26	17	5	131	3	2.81		7	466	3	4	23	0	2.96
Trevor Kidd	37		31	1614	13	7	6	85	0	3.16		-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jeff Reese	35		1	13	0	0	0	1	0	4.62		-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jason Muzzatti	36		1	60	0	1	0	8	0	8.00		-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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

Transactions

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1993–94 season.

Trades

Date	Details
June 20, 1993 (1993-06-20)	To Hartford Whalers Sergei Makarov	To Calgary Flames Future Considerations (1993 WSH 4th-round pick (#95 overall))
June 26, 1993 (1993-06-26)	To Washington Capitals Craig Berube	To Calgary Flames 1993 5th-round pick (#121 overall)
June 26, 1993 (1993-06-26)	To Washington Capitals 1993 7th-round pick (#174 overall)	To Calgary Flames Brad Schlegel
September 2, 1993 (1993-09-02)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Todd Gillingham Paul Holden	To Calgary Flames Jeff Perry Brad Miller
October 5, 1993 (1993-10-05)	To Tampa Bay Lightning Cash	To Calgary Flames Peter Ahola
November 19, 1993 (1993-11-19)	To Hartford Whalers Jeff Reese	To Calgary Flames Dan Keczmer Future Considerations
January 24, 1994 (1994-01-24)	To Hartford Whalers Todd Harkins	To Calgary Flames Scott Morrow
March 10, 1994 (1994-03-10)	To Hartford Whalers Gary Suter Paul Ranheim Ted Drury	To Calgary Flames Michael Nylander James Patrick Zarley Zalapski

Draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, held in Quebec City, Quebec.^[11]

Rnd	Pick	Player	Nationality	Position	Team (league)	NHL statistics
						GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1	18	Jesper Mattsson	Sweden	RW	Malmö Redhawks (SEL)
2	44	Jamie Allison	Canada	D	Detroit Jr. Red Wings (OHL)	372	7	23	30	639
3	70	Dan Tompkins	United States	F	Omaha Lancers (USHL)
4	95	Jason Smith	Canada	D	Princeton (NCAA)
4	96	Marty Murray	Canada	C	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)	261	31	42	73	41
5	121	Darryl LaFrance	Canada	RW	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
5	122	John Emmons	United States	C	Yale University (NCAA)	85	2	4	6	64
6	148	Andreas Karlsson	Sweden	C	Leksands IF (SEL)	264	16	35	51	72
8	200	Derek Sylvester	United States	RW	Niagara Falls Thunder (OHL)
10	252	German Titov	Russia	C	Voskresensk Khimik (RSL)	624	157	220	377	311
11	278	Burke Murphy	Canada	RW	St. Lawrence University (NCAA)

Farm teams

Saint John Flames

The 1993–94 American Hockey League season was the first for the Flames top minor league affiliate as the new expansion team was created in Saint John, New Brunswick. The Flames posted a respectable 37–33–10 record in their first season, good enough for second in the Atlantic division. They fell to the Moncton Hawks in seven games in the first round of the playoffs, however.^[12] Cory Stillman led the Flames with 35 goals, while Mark Freer lead with 86 points. Jason Muzzatti was the starting goaltender, posting a 26–23–3 record with a 3.74 GAA in 51 games.^[13]

See also

• 1993–94 NHL season

References