Ice hockey in Calgary
The first recorded ice hockey game in Alberta took place in Calgary on January 4, 1893, between two city teams: the Town Boys and the Tailors.
Shortly after, the Town Boys met a challenge from a team of North-West Mounted Police officers, losing 4-0 before avenging the defeat in a rematch.
The Calgary Tigers brought five future Hockey Hall of Fame players to the city in Barney Stanley, Red Dutton, Rusty Crawford, Herb Gardiner and Harry Oliver.
Following the demise of the Tigers, no major professional club would emerge in Calgary until the 1975 arrival of the World Hockey Association.
The Canucks was the brainchild of Doug Eastcott, and was created as an outlet to give Calgary area youngsters a place to play without sacrificing their education.
Nearly 50 former Canucks have gone on to play in the NHL, including Heatley, Mike Vernon, Jason Smith, Doug Houda and Craig Adams.
The franchise renamed itself the Calgary Centennials the following year, and had moderate success in the mid-1970s, winning three division titles and reaching the league finals once.
Doug Houda, Kelly Kisio, Dana Murzyn and former Flames head coach Jim Playfair are among the former Wranglers who made the NHL.
The Hitmen created an immediate controversy with their logo, featuring a stylized "Jason Voorhees" type mask and distinctive pink and grey jersey colours.
The team also faced further controversy when head coach Graham James resigned after being charged with, and later convicted of, sexually abusing two of his players when he was with the Swift Current Broncos.
The Hitmen have not managed to duplicate that success, but in recent years have showcased many good, young players who have helped Canada dominate the World Junior Hockey Championship.
In 1971, a fledgling operation known as the World Hockey Association announced its intention to compete against the NHL as North America's second major league.
Among the original franchises announced for the league was the Calgary Broncos, who were to play out of the Stampede Corral and were expected to form a strong rivalry with the Edmonton Oilers.
The Cowboys finished the 1975–76 season with a respectable 41-35-4 record, upsetting the Quebec Nordiques in the playoffs before losing to the eventual Avco Cup champion Winnipeg Jets.
In 1980, the National Hockey League finally arrived in Calgary when Nelson Skalbania, a Vancouver-based businessman, got wind of the pending sale of the Atlanta Flames to a group of Calgary-area businessmen.
The series winning goal was scored by Oilers' rookie defenseman Steve Smith - on his birthday - after he banked the puck into his own net off the skate of goaltender Grant Fuhr.
Embroiled in a contract dispute with Doug Gilmour, Risebrough traded the disgruntled star to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with Rick Wamsley, Ric Nattress, Jamie Macoun and Kent Manderville for Gary Leeman, Michel Petit, Jeff Reese, Craig Berube and Alexander Godynyuk.
The deal - one of the largest in NHL history - catapulted the formerly inept Maple Leafs into years of being a contender, while hastening the decline of the Flames.
Led by coach/GM Darryl Sutter, superstar forward Jarome Iginla and the emerging goaltending star Miikka Kiprusoff, the Flames shocked the ice hockey world by becoming the first team to defeat three division winners en route to the Stanley Cup Finals.
[9] The Flames followed up that season by winning their sixth division championship in 2005–06, but were beaten in the first round of the playoffs by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
