2007–08 Calgary Flames season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	2007–08
Year:	2007
Team:	Calgary Flames
Conference:	Western
Conferencerank:	7th
Division:	Northwest
Divisionrank:	3rd
Record:	42–30–10
Homerecord:	21–11–9
Roadrecord:	21–19–1
Goalsfor:	229
Goalsagainst:	227
Generalmanager:	Darryl Sutter
Coach:	Mike Keenan
Captain:	Jarome Iginla
Altcaptain:	Owen Nolan Robyn Regehr Rhett Warrener Stephane Yelle
Arena:	Pengrowth Saddledome
Attendance:	19,289 (100%)
Goalsleader:	Jarome Iginla (50)
Assistsleader:	Jarome Iginla (48)
Pointsleader:	Jarome Iginla (98)
Plusminusleader:	Jarome Iginla (+27)
Pimleader:	Dion Phaneuf (182)
Winsleader:	Miikka Kiprusoff (39)
Gaaleader:	Miikka Kiprusoff (2.69)

The 2007–08 Calgary Flames season was the 28th season for the Calgary Flames and 36th season for the Flames franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL).

In a surprise move, the Flames announced on June 14 that Jim Playfair would be replaced by "Iron" Mike Keenan as the team's head coach. Playfair remained with the Flames organization until 2011. Keenan entered the season sixth all-time in the NHL in wins.

General manager Darryl Sutter spent big bucks on Cory Sarich. He also acquired Adrian Aucoin (and his $4 million annual salary) in a trade.^[1] Owen Nolan,^[2] Anders Eriksson,^[3] and Mark Smith^[4] are all brought in as GM Sutter's free-agent reclamation projects.^[5] Sutter is unable to come to terms with Mark Giordano, and the highly rated prospect heads to the Dynamo Moscow in Russia instead of the NHL.^[6] Sports writer Steve MacFarlane observes that "The team looks like it has no direction — and no confidence in an unpredictable coach".

At the end of the regular season, Miikka Kiprusoff's goals against average of 2.69 was his worst as a Flame up until that point.^[7]

In the playoffs, the team fell to the Sharks in seven games in the first round.

Team notes

On December 16, Keenan recorded his 600th career win as a head coach in a 5–3 victory over one of his former teams, the St. Louis Blues.^[8]

Al MacInnis was among four players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 12, 2007. MacInnis spent 13 years in Calgary, and captured the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP when the Flames won the Stanley Cup in 1989.^[9]

On November 29, captain Jarome Iginla played in his 804th game, setting a new franchise record for games played in a Flames uniform, surpassing Al MacInnis' mark. Two nights later, Iginla registered his 700th career point in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. On March 10, Iginla scored his 365th goal, surpassing Theoren Fleury's mark of 364 to become the Flames' all-time goal scoring leader.^[10]

In December, the Flames became the third team in NHL history to win all six games of a six-game road trip, a feat previously accomplished by the 1971–72 Bruins and 1982–83 Flyers.^[11] ^[12] The 2001–02 Red Wings also won six consecutive road games, though that trip was broken in half by the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Two Flames players were voted to start for the Western Conference at the 2008 All-Star Game. Defenceman Dion Phaneuf joined Iginla for the game, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia.^[13]

On February 18, Flames' prospect Mickey Renaud, a fifth round pick in the 2007 draft, collapsed and died at the age of 19 at his home in Tecumseh, Ontario. Renaud had been playing for the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League, and was the team's captain.^[14] The cause of death was not immediately known.

Regular season

Conference standings

Game log

2007–08 Game log

October: 6–3–3 (Home: 4–2–2; Road: 2–1–1)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 4		3 – 2	Calgary			19,305	0–1–0	0
2	October 6		4 – 3	Calgary	OT	Kiprusoff	19,289	0–1–1	1
3	October 10	Calgary	2 – 4			Kiprusoff	16,629	0–2–1	1
4	October 12	Calgary	3 – 2		OT	Kiprusoff	17,132	1–2–1	3
5	October 13	Calgary	7 – 4			Kiprusoff	13,152	2–2–1	5
6	October 16	Calgary	4 – 5		SO	Kiprusoff	16,722	2–2–2	6
7	October 18		3 – 4	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,305	3–2–2	8
8	October 20		1 – 4	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	4–2–2	10
9	October 22		4 – 1	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	4–3–2	10
10	October 24		3 – 5	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	5–3–2	12
11	October 26	Colorado	3 – 2	Calgary	OT	Kiprusoff	19,289	5–3–3	13
12	October 30	Nashville	1 – 5	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	6–3–3	15

November: 4–10–0 (Home: 2–5–0 ; Road: 2–5–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
13	November 1	Detroit	4 – 1	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	6–4–3	15
14	November 3	Calgary	1 – 4	Minnesota		Kiprusoff	18,568	6–5–3	15
15	November 5	Calgary	1 – 4	Colorado		Kiprusoff	15,655	6–6–3	15
16	November 8	Vancouver	3 – 2	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	6–7–3	15
17	November 10	Edmonton	4 – 2	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	6–8–3	15
18	November 13	Minnesota	2 – 3	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	7–8–3	17
19	November 17	Calgary	3 – 1	Edmonton		Kiprusoff	16,839	8–8–3	19
20	November 18	Calgary	1 – 4	Vancouver		Kiprusoff	18,630	8–9–3	19
21	November 20	Colorado	1 – 4	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	9–9–3	21
22	November 22		2 – 1	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	9–10–3	21
23	November 24	Calgary	5 – 2	Colorado		Kiprusoff	18,007	10–10–3	23
24	November 25	Calgary	0 – 3				15,138	10–11–3	23
25	November 27	Calgary	3 – 5	Detroit		McElhinney	17,108	10–12–3	23
26	November 29		4 – 1	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	10–13–3	23

December: 9–1–4 (Home: 3–0–4; Road: 6–1–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
27	December 1		4 – 3	Calgary	OT	Kiprusoff	19,289	10–13–4	24
28	December 4	St. Louis	1 – 3	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	11–13–4	26
29	December 6		3 – 2	Calgary	SO	Kiprusoff	19,289	11–13–5	27
30	December 9	Calgary	3 – 2	Chicago		Kiprusoff	13,382	12–13–5	29
31	December 11	Calgary	2 – 1		SO	Kiprusoff	12,499	13–13–5	31
32	December 13	Calgary	9 – 6			Kiprusoff	19,026	14–13–5	33
33	December 14	Calgary	4 – 3			Kiprusoff	15,536	15–13–5	35
34	December 16	Calgary	5 – 3	St. Louis		Kiprusoff	16,733	16–13–5	37
35	December 18	Calgary	3 – 1	Columbus		Kiprusoff	13,181	17–13–5	39
36	December 21	Dallas	3 – 2	Calgary	OT	Kiprusoff	19,289	17–13–6	40
37	December 23		1 – 0	Calgary	OT	Kiprusoff	19,289	17–13–7	41
38	December 27	Calgary	3 – 5	Vancouver		Kiprusoff	18,630	17–14–7	41
39	December 29	Anaheim	3 – 5	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	18–14–7	43
40	December 31	Vancouver	1 – 2	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	19–14–7	45

January: 7–3–1 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 3–2–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
41	January 2		3 – 4	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	20–14–7	47
42	January 3	Calgary	3 – 2	San Jose	OT	Kiprusoff	17,496	21–14–7	49
43	January 5	Calgary	6 – 4	Los Angeles		Kiprusoff	18,118	22–14–7	51
44	January 8		3 – 1	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	22–15–7	51
45	January 11		5 – 4	Calgary	SO	Kiprusoff	19,289	22–15–8	52
46	January 13	Calgary	1 – 2	Edmonton		Kiprusoff	16,839	22–16–8	52
47	January 15	Calgary	0 – 3	Nashville		Kiprusoff	11,764	22–17–8	52
48	January 16	Calgary	3 – 2	Minnesota	SO	Kiprusoff	18,568	23–17–8	54
49	January 18	Los Angeles	1 – 6	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	24–17–8	56
50	January 22	Minnesota	1 – 2	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	25–17–8	58
51	January 30	San Jose	4 – 5	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	26–17–8	60

February: 7–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1; Road: 4–4–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
52	February 2	Dallas	2 – 1	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	26–18–8	60
53	February 4	Calgary	0 – 5	Edmonton			16,839	26–19–8	60
54	February 5	Phoenix	3 – 4	Calgary	SO	Kiprusoff	19,289	27–19–8	62
55	February 7	Chicago	3 – 1	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	27–20–8	62
56	February 9	Edmonton	1 – 4	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	28–20–8	64
57	February 12	Calgary	4 – 3	San Jose	OT	Kiprusoff	17,269	29–20–8	66
58	February 15	Calgary	3 – 6	Los Angeles		Kiprusoff	18,118	29–21–8	66
59	February 17	Calgary	2 – 4	Anaheim		Kiprusoff	17,174	29–22–8	66
60	February 19	Calgary	4 – 1	Phoenix		Kiprusoff	15,208	30–22–8	68
61	February 20	Calgary	3 – 2	Dallas		Joseph	18,584	31–22–8	70
62	February 22	Detroit	0 – 1	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	32–22–8	72
63	February 24	Calgary	2 – 1	Minnesota		Kiprusoff	18,568	33–22–8	74
64	February 26	Colorado	3 – 2	Calgary	OT	Kiprusoff	19,289	33–22–9	75
65	February 29	Calgary	1 – 3	Anaheim		Kiprusoff	17,174	33–23–9	75

March: 7–6–1 (Home: 5–1–1; Road: 2–5–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
66	March 1	Calgary	3 – 1	Phoenix		Joseph	17,529	34–23–9	77
67	March 4	Columbus	0 – 1	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,239	35–23–9	79
68	March 7	Nashville	2 – 1	Calgary	OT	Kiprusoff	19,289	35–23–10	80
69	March 10	St. Louis	3 – 7	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	36–23–10	82
70	March 12	Calgary	2 – 3			Kiprusoff	17,560	36–24–10	82
71	March 13	Calgary	4 – 6			Joseph	16,244	36–25–10	82
72	March 16	Calgary	4 – 2	Chicago		Kiprusoff	20,177	37–25–10	84
73	March 18	Calgary	0 – 3	Columbus		Kiprusoff	14,270	37–26–10	84
74	March 20	Colorado	1 – 2	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	38–26–10	86
75	March 22	Minnesota	4 – 5	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	39–26–10	88
76	March 24	Calgary	0 – 2	Colorado		Kiprusoff	18,007	39–27–10	88
77	March 25	Vancouver	2 – 3	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	40–27–10	90
78	March 29	Edmonton	2 – 1	Calgary		Kiprusoff	19,289	40–28–10	90
79	March 30	Calgary	2 – 6	Vancouver		Kiprusoff	18,630	40–29–10	90

April: 2–1–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 2–1–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
80	April 1	Calgary	3 – 2	Edmonton		Kiprusoff	16,839	41–29–10	92
81	April 3	Calgary	1 – 3	Minnesota		Kiprusoff	18,568	41–30–10	92
82	April 5	Calgary	7 – 1	Vancouver		Joseph	18,630	42–30–10	94

Playoffs

The Flames finished 7th in the Western Conference with 94 points, earning a first-round match-up against the Pacific Division champion San Jose Sharks. It was the third time the two teams had met in the playoffs, with the Sharks defeating the Flames in seven games in the first round of the 1995 playoffs, while the Flames defeated San Jose in six games in the 2004 Western Conference final.

After splitting the first two games in San Jose, the Flames gave up three goals to the Sharks in the first 3½ minutes of the game, but came back to win 4–3. In doing so, the Flames became only the second team in NHL history, after the 1985 Minnesota North Stars to come back from a 3–0 deficit in the first ten minutes of a playoff game.^[15] During Game 6, in which the Flames faced elimination, they scored once in the first and second period each to shut out the Sharks 2–0, as the Sharks did during Game 2. Nolan and Langkow scored both goals respectively and Kiprusoff made 21 saves for his 6th postseason shutout.

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus

	Regular season						Playoffs
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
	82	50	48	98	83	27	7	4	5	9	2	-1
	81	25	41	66	40	10	7	0	4	4	6	-1
	80	30	35	65	19	16	7	3	2	5	0	E
	82	17	43	60	182	12	7	3	4	7	4	-2
	78	18	40	58	48	11	7	0	4	4	4	-1
	82	14	22	36	67	-6	7	0	0	0	4	-2
	76	10	25	35	37	13	7	0	3	3	4	3
	79	12	22	34	71	6	7	0	2	2	8	E
	77	16	16	32	71	6	7	3	2	5	2	E
	82	5	15	20	79	11	7	0	2	2	2	E
	61	1	17	18	36	-5	3	0	1	1	2	E
	74	3	9	12	20	-4	7	2	0	2	6	2
	48	7	5	12	6	-11	—	—	—	—	—	—
	41	4	7	11	10	-4	5	1	1	2	4	2
	43	3	7	10	26	-3	7	1	0	1	4	E
	44	3	7	10	48	-5	7	0	0	0	2	-2
	80	2	5	7	135	2	7	0	1	1	4	1
	47	3	2	5	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	E
	54	1	3	4	59	-6	—	—	—	—	—	—
	31	1	3	4	21	-2	—	—	—	—	—	—
	74	1	1	2	171	-8	5	0	0	0	2	E
Jim Vandermeer^†	21	0	2	2	39	4	7	0	0	0	4	-6
	58	0	2	2	46	E	6	0	0	0	2	-1
	1	0	0	0	0	-1	—	—	—	—	—	—

^†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; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

	Regular season									Playoffs
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
	76	4398	39	26	10	197	2	.906	2.69	7	336	2	4	18	1	.908	3.21
	9	400	3	2	0	17	0	.906	2.55	2	79	1	0	1	0	.970	0.76
	5	150	0	2	0	5	0	.902	2.00	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	1	9	0	0	0	0	0	1.000	0.00	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Records

7: most games to start the season with a player scoring two goals in one game.^[16]
6: consecutive wins on a single road trip (tied for record).

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached
	100th NHL point	October 4, 2007
	200th NHL goal 500th NHL point	October 18, 2007
Daymond Langkow	300th NHL assist	October 20, 2007
	1st NHL game	October 22, 2007
	1000th NHL game	October 22, 2007
	1st NHL goal 1st NHL point	October 30, 2007
	1st NHL game	November 5, 2007
	804th NHL game (franchise record)	November 29, 2007
	1st NHL game	November 29, 2007
Jarome Iginla	700th NHL point	December 1, 2007
	600th Coaching win	December 16, 2007
	800th NHL game	December 18, 2007
Owen Nolan	800th NHL point	February 24, 2008
Jarome Iginla	365th NHL goal (franchise record)	March 10, 2008

Transactions

The Flames have been involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.

Trades

June 22, 2007	To Calgary Flames Adrian Aucoin 7th-round pick in 2007 – C. J. Severyn	To Chicago Blackhawks Andrei Zyuzin Steve Marr
June 22, 2007	To Calgary Flames 24th overall pick in 2007 – Mikael Backlund 3rd round pick in 2007 – John Negrin	To St. Louis Blues 18th overall pick in 2007 – Ian Cole
February 20, 2008	To Calgary Flames Jim Vandermeer	To Philadelphia Flyers 3rd-round pick in 2009 – Adam Morrison

Free agents

Players signed	Former team	Contract terms
		5 years, $18 million
		1 year, $2 million
		2 years, $3 million
		1 year, $475,000
	San Jose Sharks	1 year, $488,000
	Phoenix Coyotes	1 year, $1.5 million

Players lost	New team
	Montreal Canadiens
	Vancouver Canucks
	Los Angeles Kings
	Detroit Red Wings
	Metallurg (RSL)
	Moscow Dynamo (RSL)

Draft picks

The Flames made five selections at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio.^[17] Calgary selected Swedish forward Mikael Backlund with their first selection, 24th overall. Heading into the draft, Backlund was the second highest ranked European prospect, and 10th overall, by International Scouting Services.^[18] Backlund joined third round selection John Negrin in making their NHL debuts with the Flames in the 2008–09 season. The Flames tragically lost their fifth round draft pick, Mickey Renaud, when the 19-year-old captain of the Windsor Spitfires collapsed and died in his home late in the 2007–08 OHL season.^[19] The Ontario Hockey League created a new trophy in his honour, the Mickey Renaud Captain's Trophy in 2009.^[20]

Rnd	Pick	Player	Nationality	Position	Team (league)	NHL statistics
Rnd	Pick	Player	Nationality	Position	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1	24	Mikael Backlund^†		C	Västerås IK (SEL)	298	51	77	128	115
3	70	John Negrin		D	Kootenay Ice (WHL)	3	0	1	1	2
4	116	Keith Aulie^†		D	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)	167	4	10	14	196
5	143	Mickey Renaud		C	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
7	186	C. J. Severyn		LW	U.S. National Team Development Program (NAHL)

Statistics are updated to the end of the 2014–15 NHL season. ^† denotes player was on an NHL roster in 2014–15.

Farm teams

Quad City Flames

After two seasons in Omaha, Nebraska, and over $4 million in operating losses, the Calgary Flames chose to relocate their American Hockey League affiliate to the Quad Cities.^[21] The new team, known as the Quad City Flames, will play in the West Division of the Western Conference.

Las Vegas Wranglers

Led by team scoring leader Chris Ferraro, the Las Vegas Wranglers reached the ECHL's Kelly Cup Finals in 2007–08 where they fell to the Cincinnati Cyclones four games to two. Head Coach Glen Gulutzan expressed the team's disappointment in losing the championship. "It's an empty feeling, and I certainly don't like to talk about it, but the only way around it for me now is to try to move forward and start looking at next year," said Gulutzan.^[22]

The playoff disappointment represented a bitter end to a successful season, as the Wranglers finished first in the Pacific Division for the second consecutive season. Their 47–13–5–7 record was the best in the National Conference, and their 106 points was good enough to finish third overall in the ECHL.^[23]

References

Player stats: Calgary Flames player stats on espn.com
Game log: Calgary Flames game log on espn.com
Team standings: NHL standings on espn.com

Notes and References

Web site: Flames' fall from glory Hockey Sports London Free Press . 2018-10-04 . 2017-08-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170816004615/http://www.lfpress.com/sports/hockey/2010/04/10/13539811.html . dead .
http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8449895&view=notes Owen Nolan - Notes - NHL.com - Players
http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8459443&view=notes Anders Eriksson - Notes - NHL.com - Players
http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8466343&view=notes Mark Smith - Notes - NHL.com - Players
The Calgary Sun, April 11, 2007, Sports Pullout p. 9
http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8470966&view=notes Mark Giordano, Flames - Notes - NHL.com - Players
http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8462147 Miikka Kiprusoff, Flames - Stats - NHL.com - Players
Board, Mike, Keenan joins elite 600–win club, Calgary Flames Hockey Club, December 16, 2007.
Board, Mike, Interview with Hall-of-Fame inductee Al MacInnis, calgaryflames.com, June 29, 2007.
https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=231745&hubname= Iginla passes Fleury in Flames' win
https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=225548 Keenan rediscovers passion for coaching
McFarlane, Steve, Road warriors complete sweep, Calgary Sun, December 19, 2007.
Rosen, Dan, NHL tabs All-Star starters, nhl.com, January 8, 2008.
https://www.tsn.ca/chl/news_story/?ID=229972&hubname= Windsor Spitfires captain Renaud dies
https://archive.today/20120715060101/http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=280413003 Game Story: San Jose 3, Calgary 4
http://flames.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=340333 Calgary Flames - News: Flames 'twos' are in the record book - 10/18/2007
Book: 2009–10 Calgary Flames Media Guide . Calgary Flames Hockey Club . Hanlon, Peter . Kelso, Sean . 130.
Web site: ISS Top 30 for 2007 -- Final Ranking. 2007-06-12. Hockey's Future . 2009-11-11.
News: Windsor Spitfires captain Mickey Renaud dead at 19 . . 2008-02-18 . 2009-11-11.
Web site: Ontario Hockey League to present annual award in honour of Mickey Renaud . Ontario Hockey League . 2009-02-04 . 2009-11-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20090207013147/http://ontariohockeyleague.com/ontario-hockey-league-to-present-annual-award-in-honour-of-mickey-renaud-p127548 . February 7, 2009. dead.
https://archive.today/20120907115847/http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=2384412 AHL: Knights are leaving for the Quad Cities
News: Dewey . Todd . Wranglers struggle to digest finals loss . June 10, 2008 . September 24, 2008 . Las Vegas Review-Journal .
Web site: 2007–08 ECHL season . September 24, 2008 . The Internet Hockey Database . https://web.archive.org/web/20081007232024/http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/echl19892008.html. 7 October 2008 . live.