Saint John Flames

The Saint John Flames were a Canadian ice hockey team in the American Hockey League from 1993 to 2003 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The Calgary Flames bought and relocated the Utica Devils, to be their AHL affiliate.

Saint John Flames
City	Saint John, New Brunswick
League	American Hockey League
Founded	1977
Operated	1993–2003
Home arena	Harbour Station
Colours	Red, White, Gold & Black
Affiliate	Calgary Flames
Franchise history
1977–1987	Maine Mariners
1987–1993	Utica Devils
1993–2003	Saint John Flames
2005–2007	Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights
2007–2009	Quad City Flames
2009–2014	Abbotsford Heat
2014–2015	Adirondack Flames
2015–2022	Stockton Heat
2022–Present	Calgary Wranglers
Championships
Division titles	2: 1997–98, 2000–01
Conference titles	2: 1997–98, 2000–01
Calder Cups	1: 2000–01

History

The Saint John Flames won the 2001 Calder Cup Championship on home ice at Harbour Station on May 28, 2001 against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the farm team of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flames won the series four games to two with a final score of 1–0. The Flames also played in the Calder Cup Finals in 1998, losing to the Philadelphia Phantoms. With their 2001 victory, the Saint John Flames became the second AHL team based in New Brunswick to win the Calder Cup, the first being the New Brunswick Hawks of Moncton in 1982 against the Binghamton Whalers. This came after other AHL teams based in New Brunswick tried to compete for the cup and lost.

The franchise suspended operations after the 2002–03 season and became dormant for two seasons. In 2005, the franchise was reactivated and then relocated several times playing as the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights from 2005–2007, the Quad City Flames from 2007–2009, the Abbotsford Heat from 2009–2014, the Adirondack Flames for the 2014–15 season, and then the Stockton Heat starting in the 2015–16 season as part of a new Pacific Division.

When the franchise went dormant, the St. John's Maple Leafs were left as the last remaining Atlantic Canadian AHL club for one season as the Toronto Maple Leafs moved their affiliate to Toronto in 2005. The AHL would not return to Atlantic Canada until 2011 with the St. John's IceCaps. The Saint John market is currently served by the QMJHL's Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Saint John Flames originally used a logo of a stylized red and yellow flame that closely resembled that of the Calgary Flames, with a hockey stick and the word "FLAMES" in red letters at the bottom. In 2000, the team's logo was changed to that of a fire-breathing dragon, with the colours being red and orange. This was a rare instance of an AHL team not having the same basic logo (albeit with some modifications) as its NHL affiliate in terms of having the same name. Even the Fredericton Express, in a city not far from Saint John and in the same province, used a logo closely resembling that of one of its two NHL affiliates, the Quebec Nordiques (the other affiliate of the Express was the Vancouver Canucks).

Season-by-season results

Statistics source:

Regular season

Season	Games Played	Wins	Losses	Ties	Overtime Losses	Points	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing
1993–94	80	37	33	10	—	84	304	305	2nd, Atlantic
1994–95	80	27	40	13	—	67	250	286	4th, Atlantic
1995-96	80	35	30	11	4	85	272	264	2nd, Atlantic
1996–97	80	28	36	13	3	72	237	299	2nd, Canadian
1997–98	80	43	24	13	0	99	231	201	1st, Atlantic
1998–99	80	31	40	8	1	71	238	296	4th, Atlantic
1999–00	80	32	32	11	5	80	267	283	2nd, Atlantic
2000–01	80	44	24	7	5	100	269	210	1st, Canadian
2001–02	80	29	34	13	4	75	182	202	5th, Canadian
2002–03	80	32	41	6	1	71	203	223	4th, Canadian

Playoffs

Season	1st round	2nd round	3rd round	Finals
1993–94	L, 3–4, Moncton	—	—	—
1994–95	L, 1–4, P.E.I.	—	—	—
1995–96	W, 3–1, St. John's	W, 4–1, Fredericton	L, 3–4, Portland	—
1996–97	L, 2–3, Hamilton	—	—	—
1997–98	W, 3–1, St. John's	W, 4–2, Portland	W, 4–1, Hartford	L, 2–4, Philadelphia
1998–99	W, 3–0, Lowell	L, 0–4, Fredericton	—	—
1999–00	L, 0–3, Lowell	—	—	—
2000–01	W, 3–0, Portland	W, 4–1, Quebec	W, 4–1, Providence	W, 4–2, W.B.S.
2001–02	Out of Playoffs
2002–03	Out of Playoffs

Career Leaders

Goals: 89 (Ladislav Kohn, 1994–03)

Assists: 152 (Marty Murray, 1995–01)

Points: 230 (Marty Murray, 1995–01)

PIM: 851 (Derick McKinnon, 1994–98)

Chris Dingman

Affiliates

• Calgary Flames (1993-2003)

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in New Brunswick