Thirty-one years ago today, the Calgary Flames lifted the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Montreal Canadiens in six games. Members of the team reunited to "pass" the Cup to each other in a TikTok video on Monday.
31 years have flown by; it seems like just yesterday that we were able to hoist the #StanleyCup as champions of the #NHL.
— FlamesAlumni (@AlumniFlames) May 25, 2020
These are the nights that we remember. #89cup #stanleycupwinners #calgaryflames pic.twitter.com/vrugbi9TPl
In 1986, the two teams met in the final with Montreal having the upper hand, defeating Calgary in five games. Behind defenseman Al MacInnis and forward Doug Gilmour, the Flames got their revenge on the Habs three years later to claim what is still the only Stanley Cup in team history.
Forward Joe Mullen was the Flames' highest-scoring player in the regular season with 110 points, with winger Hakan Loob and Gilmour posting 85 each. In goal, Mike Vernon posted a 2.66 goals-against average that season and outdueled Hockey Hall of Famer Patrick Roy in the Stanley Cup Final.
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On paper, the two teams were evenly matched as the Flames ranked second in the league in goals scored and against. The Canadiens ranked fifth in goals scored and allowed the fewest goals in the league.
After winning Game 1, the Flames dropped Games 2 and 3 to sink to a 2-1 series deficit. After dropping Game 3 in double overtime, the Flames faced a near must-win in Game 4 in Montreal. Behind two goals from Mullen, the Flames won 4-2 to send the series back to Calgary even at two games apiece.
The Flames never looked back, winning Games 5 and 6 3-2 and 4-2, respectively, to finish the season on top of the hockey world.
Here are five facts from the lone Calgary Flames championship team:
31
MacInnis was the 1989 Conn Smythe Trophy winner with 31 points (seven goals, 24 assists). The blueliner led the team with nine points in the Stanley Cup Final as he became the first defenseman in NHL history to have the most points during a single postseason.
The 1999 Norris Trophy winner finished his career with 1,274 points in 1,416 games and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007 after 23 NHL seasons with the Flames and St. Louis Blues.
16
In his 16th NHL season, the then-35-year-old Lanny McDonald was looking at his final chance to lift the Stanley Cup. After amassing over 1,000 points in his career, he still hadn't lifted the illustrious trophy.
The 1983 Bill Masterton Trophy and 1988 King Clancy Memorial Trophy winner wasn't the productive player he was three years earlier when he scored 18 points in 22 playoff games to carry the Flames into the 1986 Stanley Cup Final. However, McDonald scored Calgary's second goal in the Cup-clinching Game 6 in 1989 as the Flames won 4-2.
He retired after the season and got to hang up his skates as a Stanley Cup champion. The Flames icon was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992 with 500 career goals.
5
From the 1989 Calgary Flames championship team, five players earned induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame — MacInnis, McDonald, Gilmour, Mullen and forward Joe Nieuwendyk — with Gilmour and Nieuwendyk going into the Hall together as members of the Class of 2011.
Gilmour finished his career with 1,414 points in 1,474 games, with the center also winning the 1993 Selke Trophy awarded to the league's top defensive forward.
Mullen, who tallied 1,063 points in 1,062 games, was a two-time Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner. The 1988-89 season with the Flames was the only one in his 16-year NHL career in which he notched over 100 points. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000.
Nieuwendyk, an Oshawa, Ont., native, has a full trophy case — winning three Stanley Cups, the 1988 Calder Trophy, the 1995 King Clancy Memorial Trophy and the 1999 Conn Smythe Trophy as a member of the Dallas Stars. In his career, he finished with 1,126 points in 1,257 games in 20 NHL seasons.
2
The 1989 Stanley Cup Final is the last one to feature the two top-seeded teams. The Flames tallied 117 points with a 54-17-9 record, winning the Smythe Division by 26 points over the Los Angeles Kings.
Calgary was pushed to the brink in the first round of the playoffs against the Vancouver Canucks, winning Game 7 in overtime to advance. It was rather smooth sailing through the Clarence Campbell Conference playoffs as they swept L.A. in the division finals before defeating the Chicago Blackhawks in five games in the conference finals.
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Montreal was the best team in the Prince of Wales Conference with 115 points (53-18-9) winning the Adams Division by 27 points over the Boston Bruins.
The Canadiens breezed through the division semifinals and finals, sweeping the Hartford Whalers and defeating the Bruins in five games. In the conference finals, the Habs were pushed to six games by the Philadelphia Flyers.
1
After winning the Stanley Cup, the Calgary Flames became the first relocated team in NHL history to win it. Originally established in Atlanta in 1972, then-owner Tom Cousins sold the team to Canadian investors eight years later as he faced bankruptcy.
The Flames' relocation filled a hockey void in Calgary after the World Hockey Association folded in 1977, ending the two-year run of the Calgary Cowboys.