1998–99 Calgary Flames season

1998–99 Calgary Flames
Division	3rd Northwest
Conference	9th Western
1998–99 record	30–40–12
Home record	15–20–6
Road record	15–20–6
Goals for	211 (15th)
Goals against	234 (22nd)
Team information
General manager	Al Coates
Coach	Brian Sutter
Captain	Todd Simpson
Alternate captains	Theoren Fleury (Oct.–Feb.) Jason Wiemer
Arena	Canadian Airlines Saddledome
Average attendance	16,201
Minor league affiliate(s)	Saint John Flames Johnstown Chiefs
Team leaders
Goals	Theoren Fleury (30)
Assists	Phil Housley (43)
Points	Theoren Fleury (69)
Penalty minutes	Jason Wiemer (177)
Plus/minus	Theoren Fleury (+18) Todd Simpson (+18)
Wins	Fred Brathwaite (11)
Goals against average	Fred Brathwaite (2.45)
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

The 1998–99 Calgary Flames season was the 19th National Hockey League season in Calgary. The Flames opened their season up at "home", in Tokyo, Japan, as the NHL scheduled a two-game series in the Asian country between the Flames and the San Jose Sharks.^[1]

The Flames were plagued by numerous injuries to their goaltenders, including both starter Ken Wregget and backup Tyler Moss at the same time. Ultimately, the Flames were forced to recall Tyrone Garner from his junior team on an emergency basis before finally signing Fred Brathwaite, who was playing in Europe with the Canadian National team. The highly popular Brathwaite recorded a shutout against the Dallas Stars in his first start, allowing the Flames goaltending situation to stabilize. In all, the Flames used six different goaltenders.

February 28, 1999, marked the end of an era for the Flames, as diminutive star Theoren Fleury was dealt to the Colorado Avalanche in a five player trade that ultimately saw prospect Robyn Regehr come to the Flames as part of the deal. Fleury was the Flames' all-time leading scorer when he was dealt. The deal was made as the small-market Flames felt they would be unable to meet Fleury's contract demands, as he was set to become an Unrestricted Free Agent in the summer.^[2]

Despite losing their top star, the Flames proceeded to win seven of their first ten games without Fleury, propelling them into a playoff position. Calgary would win only two of their last eleven games, however, falling to 9th in the conference and missing the playoffs by six points.

Before being dealt, Fleury represented the Flames at the 1999 NHL All Star Game, recording two assists for the North American team.^[3]

During this season, the Flames introduced the "flaming horse" third jerseys in conjunction with the "Year of the Cowboy."^[4]

Prior to the season, the Flames lost defenceman Joel Bouchard to the Nashville Predators in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft. In addition, the Flames dealt Jim Dowd to the Preds in exchange for a promise not to draft a goaltender in the draft.

Northwest Division

R	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
1	2	Colorado Avalanche	82	44	28	10	239	205	1619	98
2	8	Edmonton Oilers	82	33	37	12	230	226	1373	78
3	9	Calgary Flames	82	30	40	12	211	234	1389	72
4	13	Vancouver Canucks	82	23	47	12	192	258	1764	58

^[5]

Western Conference^[6]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Dallas Stars	PAC	82	51	19	12	236	168	114
2	y – Colorado Avalanche	NW	82	44	28	10	239	205	98
3	y – Detroit Red Wings	CEN	82	43	32	7	245	202	93
4	Phoenix Coyotes	PAC	82	39	31	12	205	197	90
5	St. Louis Blues	CEN	82	37	32	13	237	209	87
6	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PAC	82	35	34	13	215	206	83
7	San Jose Sharks	PAC	82	31	33	18	196	191	80
8	Edmonton Oilers	NW	82	33	37	12	230	226	78
9	Calgary Flames	NW	82	30	40	12	211	234	72
10	Chicago Blackhawks	CEN	82	29	41	12	202	248	70
11	Los Angeles Kings	PAC	82	32	45	5	189	222	69
12	Nashville Predators	CEN	82	28	47	7	190	261	63
13	Vancouver Canucks	NW	82	23	47	12	192	258	58

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific, NW – Northwest

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

1998–99 regular season[7][8]
October: 2–5–2 (home: 0–2–2; road: 2–3–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 9 San Jose 3 – 3 Calgary OT Wregget N/A† 0–0–1 1 Recap 2 October 10 Calgary 5 – 3 San Jose Wregget N/A† 1–0–1 3 Recap 3 October 16 Toronto 7 – 3 Calgary Wregget 17,104 1–1–1 3 Recap 4 October 18 Calgary 0 – 2 Detroit Wregget 19,983 1–2–1 3 Recap 5 October 20 Calgary 1 – 3 Dallas Wregget 16,181 1–3–1 3 Recap 6 October 23 Calgary 4 – 3 Nashville Wregget 14,902 2–3–1 5 Recap 7 October 24 Calgary 3 – 4 St. Louis Wregget 19,036 2–4–1 5 Recap 8 October 28 Pittsburgh 5 – 2 Calgary Wregget 15,112 2–5–1 5 Recap 9 October 30 Washington 0 – 0 Calgary OT Wregget 15,164 2–5–2 6 Recap †The Flames and Sharks opened the season with a "home and home" series in Tokyo, Japan.
November: 5–8–0 (home: 4–4–0; road: 1–4–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 10 November 1 Calgary 4 – 1 Chicago Wregget 15,034 3–5–2 8 Recap 11 November 3 Calgary 5 – 2 Detroit Moss 19,983 4–5–2 10 Recap 12 November 6 Nashville 2 – 1 Calgary Moss 15,471 4–6–2 10 Recap 13 November 8 Colorado 1 – 3 Calgary Giguère 16,556 5–6–2 12 Recap 14 November 10 Los Angeles 4 – 5 Calgary OT Giguère 15,247 6–6–2 14 Recap 15 November 12 Vancouver 4 – 3 Calgary Moss 15,358 6–7–2 14 Recap 16 November 14 Anaheim 1 – 0 Calgary Moss 16,288 6–8–2 14 Recap 17 November 16 Detroit 3 – 5 Calgary Moss 15,896 7–8–2 16 Recap 18 November 19 Calgary 3 – 4 Montreal Giguère 20,102 7–9–2 16 Recap 19 November 21 Calgary 1 – 4 Ottawa Moss 17,154 7–10–2 16 Recap 20 November 23 Calgary 2 – 3 Toronto Giguère 15,726 7–11–2 16 Recap 21 November 25 Calgary 3 – 4 Nashville Giguère 14,511 7–12–2 16 Recap 22 November 27 Edmonton 3 – 2 Calgary Moss 17,104 7–13–2 16 Recap 23 November 28 Chicago 4 – 5 Calgary Giguère 15,642 8–13–2 18 Recap
December: 4–8–1 (home: 1–6–0; road: 3–2–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 24 December 3 Tampa Bay 1 – 4 Calgary Moss 15,203 9–13–2 20 Recap 25 December 5 Phoenix 3 – 2 Calgary Moss 15,285 9–14–2 20 Recap 26 December 7 Dallas 3 – 2 Calgary Moss 16,351 9–15–2 22 Recap 27 December 11 Calgary 2 – 1 Tampa Bay Giguère 11,614 10–15–2 24 Recap 28 December 12 Calgary 4 – 2 Florida Giguère 17,337 11–15–2 26 Recap 29 December 14 Calgary 2 – 5 NY Rangers Giguère 18,200 11–16–2 26 Recap 30 December 17 Calgary 3 – 3 Philadelphia OT Giguère 19,449 11–16–3 27 Recap 31 December 18 Calgary 5 – 2 New Jersey Giguère 17,324 12–16–3 29 Recap 32 December 22 Vancouver 5 – 3 Calgary Giguère 16,874 12–17–3 29 Recap 33 December 23 Calgary 2 – 5 Vancouver Giguère 15,987 12–18–3 29 Recap 34 December 27 Colorado 2 – 1 Calgary Giguère 17,104 12–19–3 29 Recap 35 December 29 Philadelphia 4 – 3 Calgary OT Trefilov 17,104 12–20–3 29 Recap 36 December 31 Montreal 2 – 1 Calgary N/A N/A 12–21–3 29 Recap
January: 4–6–2 (home: 3–1–1; road: 1–5–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 37 January 2 Calgary 1 – 7 Buffalo Trefilov 16,419 12–22–3 29 Recap 38 January 4 Calgary 1 – 5 Boston Garner 14,491 12–23–3 29 Recap 39 January 5 Calgary 1 – 5 Pittsburgh Garner 11,992 12–24–3 29 Recap 40 January 8 Dallas 0 – 1 Calgary Brathwaite 16,278 13–24–3 31 Recap 41 January 10 Florida 2 – 1 Calgary Brathwaite 15,348 13–25–3 31 Recap 42 January 13 Calgary 2 – 1 Anaheim Brathwaite 13,542 14–25–3 33 Recap 43 January 14 Calgary 0 – 3 Los Angeles Brathwaite 10,334 14–26–3 33 Recap 44 January 16 Calgary 3 – 3 San Jose OT Brathwaite 17,483 14–26–4 34 Recap 45 January 19 Detroit 1 – 3 Calgary Brathwaite 15,840 15–26–4 36 Recap 46 January 21 Calgary 2 – 4 Colorado Brathwaite 16,061 15–27–4 36 Recap 47 January 28 Chicago 6 – 6 Calgary OT Brathwaite 15,807 15–27–5 37 Recap 48 January 30 St. Louis 3 – 4 Calgary OT Brathwaite 15,822 16–27–5 39 Recap
February: 5–2–5 (home: 4–2–3; road: 1–0–2) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 49 February 1 Calgary 2 – 2 Dallas OT Brathwaite 16,928 16–27–6 40 Recap 50 February 2 Calgary 2 – 2 Phoenix OT Brahwaite 14,117 16–27–7 41 Recap 51 February 4 Nashville 2 – 2 Calgary OT Brathwaite 15,062 16–27–8 42 Recap 52 February 6 Ottawa 2 – 1 Calgary Brathwaite 16,498 16–28–8 42 Recap 53 February 8 Edmonton 1 – 2 Calgary Brathwaite 16,842 17–28–8 44 Recap 54 February 9 Calgary 2 – 1 Colorado Wregget 16,061 18–28–8 46 Recap 55 February 12 Boston 3 – 4 Calgary Brathwaite 15,856 19–28–8 48 Recap 56 February 19 Anaheim 3 – 6 Calgary Wregget 16,347 20–28–8 50 Recap 57 February 20 Los Angeles 2 – 2 Calgary Brathwaite 16,758 20–28–9 51 Recap 58 February 22 NY Rangers 2 – 6 Calgary Brathwaite 17,104 21–28–9 53 Recap 59 February 24 Buffalo 2 – 2 Calgary OT Brathwaite 15,382 21–28–10 54 Recap 60 February 26 St. Louis 4 – 2 Calgary Brathwaite 16,103 21–29–10 54 Recap
March: 7–5–2 (home: 2–1–0; road: 5–4–2) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 61 March 1 San Jose 2 – 1 Calgary Wregget 16,358 21–30–10 54 Recap 62 March 5 Calgary 5 – 1 Vancouver Brathwaite 14,005 22–30–10 56 Recap 63 March 6 Calgary 4 – 1 Los Angeles Brathwaite 14,451 23–30–10 58 Recap 64 March 9 Calgary 7 – 4 St. Louis Wregget 14,861 24–30–10 60 Recap 65 March 12 Calgary 1 – 2 Carolina Wregget 8,564 24–31–10 60 Recap 66 March 13 Calgary 5 – 4 Washington OT Brathwaite 19,740 25–31–10 62 Recap 67 March 16 Calgary 4 – 2 Nashville Wregget 17,298 26–31–10 64 Recap 68 March 17 Calgary 1 – 3 Chicago Brathwaite 15,650 26–32–10 64 Recap 69 March 21 NY Islanders 1 – 2 Calgary Wregget 16,571 27–32–10 66 Recap 70 March 22 Calgary 2 – 2 Edmonton OT Wregget 17,100 27–32–11 67 Recap 71 March 25 Montreal 1 – 2 Calgary Wregget 17,104 28–32–11 69 Recap 72 March 27 Calgary 1 – 2 Phoenix Wregget 16,210 28–33–11 69 Recap 73 March 28 Calgary 1 – 5 Anaheim Brathwaite 15,975 28–34–11 69 Recap 74 March 30 Calgary 3 – 3 Colorado OT Wregget 16,061 28–34–12 70 Recap
April: 2–6–0 (home: 1–4–0; road: 1–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 75 April 1 Phoenix 4 – 1 Calgary Wregget 16,453 28–35–12 70 Recap 76 April 3 Toronto 5 – 1 Calgary Wregget 17,104 28–36–12 70 Recap 77 April 7 Calgary 2 – 4 Edmonton Wregget 17,100 28–37–12 70 Recap 78 April 9 Edmonton 4 – 1 Calgary Wregget 17,104 28–38–12 70 Recap 79 April 12 Vancouver 2 – 0 Calgary Brathwaite 15,238 28–39–12 70 Recap 80 April 14 Calgary 5 – 4 Vancouver Brathwaite 15,135 29–39–12 72 Recap 81 April 15 Colorado 1 – 4 Calgary Wregget 17,104 30–39–12 74 Recap 82 April 17 Calgary 2 – 3 Edmonton Brathwaite 17,100 30–40–12 74 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

• Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
14	Theoren Fleury‡	RW	60	30	39	69	18	68
16	Cory Stillman	C	76	27	30	57	7	38
6	Phil Housley	D	79	11	43	54	14	52
8	Valeri Bure	RW	80	26	27	53	0	22
12	Jarome Iginla	RW	82	28	23	51	1	58
21	Andrew Cassels	C	70	12	25	37	−12	18
53	Derek Morris	D	71	7	27	34	4	73
11	Jeff Shantz†	C	69	12	17	29	15	40
24	Jason Wiemer	C	78	8	13	21	−12	177
23	Clarke Wilm	C	78	10	8	18	11	53
55	Steve Smith	D	69	1	14	15	3	80
62	Andrei Nazarov†	LW	36	5	9	14	1	30
18	Steve Dubinsky†	C	61	4	10	14	−7	14
32	Cale Hulse	D	73	3	9	12	−8	117
17	Hnat Domenichelli	C	23	5	5	10	−4	11
27	Todd Simpson	D	73	2	8	10	18	151
20	Rene Corbet†	LW	20	5	4	9	−2	10
42	Ed Ward	RW	68	3	5	8	−4	67
3	Denis Gauthier	D	55	3	4	7	3	68
25	Dave Roche	C	36	3	3	6	−1	44
5	Tommy Albelin	D	60	1	5	6	−11	8
26	Michael Nylander‡	C	9	2	3	5	1	2
28	Bob Bassen	C	41	1	2	3	−13	35
33	Greg Pankewicz‡	RW	18	0	3	3	0	20
18	Marty McInnis‡	C	6	1	1	2	−1	6
15[a]	Martin St. Louis	C	13	1	1	2	−2	10
40	Fred Brathwaite†	G	28	0	2	2		2
29	Wade Belak†	D	9	0	1	1	3	23
38	Eric Charron	D	12	0	1	1	−6	14
44[b]	Rico Fata	C	20	0	1	1	0	4
47	Jean-Sebastien Giguere	G	15	0	1	1		4
26	Eric Landry	C	3	0	1	1	1	0
30	Tyler Moss	G	11	0	1	1		0
19	Chris O'Sullivan‡	D	10	0	1	1	−1	2
31	Ken Wregget	G	27	0	1	1		8
26	Tom Chorske†	LW	7	0	0	0	−5	2
1	Tyrone Garner	G	3	0	0	0		0
4	Sami Helenius‡	D	4	0	0	0	−2	8
33	Lee Sorochan†	D	2	0	0	0	−3	0
22	Rocky Thompson	RW	3	0	0	0	0	25
35	Andrei Trefilov†	G	4	0	0	0		0

• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.

No.	Player	Regular season
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
40	Fred Brathwaite†	28	11	9	7	796	68	2.45	.915	1	1663
31	Ken Wregget	27	10	12	4	712	67	2.87	.906	1	1590
47	Jean-Sebastien Giguere	15	6	7	1	447	46	3.21	.897	0	860
30	Tyler Moss	11	3	7	0	295	23	2.51	.922	0	550
1	Tyrone Garner	3	0	2	0	74	12	5.18	.838	0	139
35	Andrei Trefilov†	4	0	3	0	84	11	4.01	.869	0	162

Type	Award/honour	Recipient	Ref
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Theoren Fleury	[9]
Team	Molson Cup	Fred Brathwaite	[10]
	Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award	Ed Ward	[11]

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Rico Fata	October 9, 1998	[12]
	Martin St. Louis
	Clarke Wilm
	Tyrone Garner	January 2, 1999
	Lee Sorochan	March 27, 1999

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1998–99 season.^[13]

June 17, 1998	To Calgary Flames Ken Wregget Dave Roche	To Pittsburgh Penguins German Titov Todd Hlushko
June 26, 1998	To Calgary Flames Future Considerations	To Nashville Predators Jim Dowd
July 2, 1998	To Calgary Flames David Cooper	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ladislav Kohn
July 14, 1998	To Calgary Flames Bob Bassen	To Dallas Stars Aaron Gavey
August 7, 1998	To Calgary Flames Future Considerations	To Washington Capitals Rick Tabaracci
October 27, 1998	To Calgary Flames Jeff Shantz Steve Dubinsky	To Dallas Stars Jamie Allison Marty McInnis Erik Andersson
December 29, 1998	To Calgary Flames Andrei Trefilov	To Chicago Blackhawks Future Considerations
February 28, 1999	To Calgary Flames Rene Corbet Wade Belak Robyn Regehr	To Colorado Avalanche Theoren Fleury Chris Dingman
March 22, 1999	To Calgary Flames Tom Chorske	To Washington Capitals Future Considerations
March 23, 1999	To Calgary Flames Cash considerations	To San Jose Sharks Greg Pankewicz

Player Former team

Player New team

This sports-related list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2021)

Calgary's picks at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, held in Buffalo, New York.^[14]

Rnd	Pick	Player	Nationality	Position	Team (league)	NHL statistics
						GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1	6	Rico Fata	Canada	RW	London Knights (OHL)	230	27	36	63	104
2	33	Blair Betts	Canada	C	Prince George Cougars (WHL)	477	41	37	78	118
3	62	Paul Manning	Canada	D	Colorado College (NCAA)	8	0	0	0	2
4	102	Shaun Sutter	Canada	RW	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
4	108	Dany Sabourin	Canada	G	Sherbrooke Beavers (QMJHL)	57	17–23–2–4, 2.87GAA
5	120	Brent Gauvreau	Canada	RW	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
7	192	Radek Duda	Czech Republic	RW	Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
8	206	Jonas Frogren	Sweden	D	Färjestads BK (SEL)	41	1	6	7	28
9	234	Kevin Mitchell	United States	D	Guelph Storm (OHL)

The Baby Flames finished the 1998–99 AHL season with a record of 31–40–8–1, fourth in the Atlantic Division with 71 points. They proceeded to shock the division winning Lowell Lock Monsters in the first round of the playoffs 3 games to 0. The Flames would then be swept themselves by the Fredericton Canadiens.^[15] Martin St. Louis led the Flames in both goals (28) and points (62). Saint John used five different goaltenders as a result of Calgary's injury woes in goal. Jean-Sebastien Giguere played the most games, going 18–16–3 in 39 games.^[16]

The Flames signed a secondary affiliation deal with the Johnstown Chiefs of the East Coast Hockey League prior to the start of the season.^[13] They finished 27–34–9, fifth, and last, in the Northeast Division. The Chiefs missed the playoffs.^[17]

• 1998–99 NHL season