# 1998–99 Calgary Flames season

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

## Regular season
### Season standings

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 |
Western Conference :
| 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

## Schedule and results

1998–99 regular season :
October: 2–5–2 (home: 0–2–2; road: 2–3–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
1October 9San Jose3 – 3CalgaryOTWreggetN/A$^†$0–0–11Recap
2October 10Calgary5 – 3San JoseWreggetN/A$^†$1–0–13Recap
3October 16Toronto7 – 3CalgaryWregget17,1041–1–13Recap
4October 18Calgary0 – 2DetroitWregget19,9831–2–13Recap
5October 20Calgary1 – 3DallasWregget16,1811–3–13Recap
6October 23Calgary4 – 3NashvilleWregget14,9022–3–15Recap
7October 24Calgary3 – 4St. LouisWregget19,0362–4–15Recap
8October 28Pittsburgh5 – 2CalgaryWregget15,1122–5–15Recap
9October 30Washington0 – 0CalgaryOTWregget15,1642–5–26Recap
$^†$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)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
10November 1Calgary4 – 1ChicagoWregget15,0343–5–28Recap
11November 3Calgary5 – 2DetroitMoss19,9834–5–210Recap
12November 6Nashville2 – 1CalgaryMoss15,4714–6–210Recap
13November 8Colorado1 – 3CalgaryGiguère16,5565–6–212Recap
14November 10Los Angeles4 – 5CalgaryOTGiguère15,2476–6–214Recap
15November 12Vancouver4 – 3CalgaryMoss15,3586–7–214Recap
16November 14Anaheim1 – 0CalgaryMoss16,2886–8–214Recap
17November 16Detroit3 – 5CalgaryMoss15,8967–8–216Recap
18November 19Calgary3 – 4MontrealGiguère20,1027–9–216Recap
19November 21Calgary1 – 4OttawaMoss17,1547–10–216Recap
20November 23Calgary2 – 3TorontoGiguère15,7267–11–216Recap
21November 25Calgary3 – 4NashvilleGiguère14,5117–12–216Recap
22November 27Edmonton3 – 2CalgaryMoss17,1047–13–216Recap
23November 28Chicago4 – 5CalgaryGiguère15,6428–13–218Recap :
December: 4–8–1 (home: 1–6–0; road: 3–2–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
24December 3Tampa Bay1 – 4CalgaryMoss15,2039–13–220Recap
25December 5Phoenix3 – 2CalgaryMoss15,2859–14–220Recap
26December 7Dallas3 – 2CalgaryMoss16,3519–15–222Recap
27December 11Calgary2 – 1Tampa BayGiguère11,61410–15–224Recap
28December 12Calgary4 – 2FloridaGiguère17,33711–15–226Recap
29December 14Calgary2 – 5NY RangersGiguère18,20011–16–226Recap
30December 17Calgary3 – 3PhiladelphiaOTGiguère19,44911–16–327Recap
31December 18Calgary5 – 2New JerseyGiguère17,32412–16–329Recap
32December 22Vancouver5 – 3CalgaryGiguère16,87412–17–329Recap
33December 23Calgary2 – 5VancouverGiguère15,98712–18–329Recap
34December 27Colorado2 – 1CalgaryGiguère17,10412–19–329Recap
35December 29Philadelphia4 – 3CalgaryOTTrefilov17,10412–20–329Recap
36December 31Montreal2 – 1CalgaryN/AN/A12–21–329Recap :
January: 4–6–2 (home: 3–1–1; road: 1–5–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
37January 2Calgary1 – 7BuffaloTrefilov16,41912–22–329Recap
38January 4Calgary1 – 5BostonGarner14,49112–23–329Recap
39January 5Calgary1 – 5PittsburghGarner11,99212–24–329Recap
40January 8Dallas0 – 1CalgaryBrathwaite16,27813–24–331Recap
41January 10Florida2 – 1CalgaryBrathwaite15,34813–25–331Recap
42January 13Calgary2 – 1AnaheimBrathwaite13,54214–25–333Recap
43January 14Calgary0 – 3Los AngelesBrathwaite10,33414–26–333Recap
44January 16Calgary3 – 3San JoseOTBrathwaite17,48314–26–434Recap
45January 19Detroit1 – 3CalgaryBrathwaite15,84015–26–436Recap
46January 21Calgary2 – 4ColoradoBrathwaite16,06115–27–436Recap
47January 28Chicago6 – 6CalgaryOTBrathwaite15,80715–27–537Recap
48January 30St. Louis3 – 4CalgaryOTBrathwaite15,82216–27–539Recap :
February: 5–2–5 (home: 4–2–3; road: 1–0–2)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
49February 1Calgary2 – 2DallasOTBrathwaite16,92816–27–640Recap
50February 2Calgary2 – 2PhoenixOTBrahwaite14,11716–27–741Recap
51February 4Nashville2 – 2CalgaryOTBrathwaite15,06216–27–842Recap
52February 6Ottawa2 – 1CalgaryBrathwaite16,49816–28–842Recap
53February 8Edmonton1 – 2CalgaryBrathwaite16,84217–28–844Recap
54February 9Calgary2 – 1ColoradoWregget16,06118–28–846Recap
55February 12Boston3 – 4CalgaryBrathwaite15,85619–28–848Recap
56February 19Anaheim3 – 6CalgaryWregget16,34720–28–850Recap
57February 20Los Angeles2 – 2CalgaryBrathwaite16,75820–28–951Recap
58February 22NY Rangers2 – 6CalgaryBrathwaite17,10421–28–953Recap
59February 24Buffalo2 – 2CalgaryOTBrathwaite15,38221–28–1054Recap
60February 26St. Louis4 – 2CalgaryBrathwaite16,10321–29–1054Recap :
March: 7–5–2 (home: 2–1–0; road: 5–4–2)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
61March 1San Jose2 – 1CalgaryWregget16,35821–30–1054Recap
62March 5Calgary5 – 1VancouverBrathwaite14,00522–30–1056Recap
63March 6Calgary4 – 1Los AngelesBrathwaite14,45123–30–1058Recap
64March 9Calgary7 – 4St. LouisWregget14,86124–30–1060Recap
65March 12Calgary1 – 2CarolinaWregget8,56424–31–1060Recap
66March 13Calgary5 – 4WashingtonOTBrathwaite19,74025–31–1062Recap
67March 16Calgary4 – 2NashvilleWregget17,29826–31–1064Recap
68March 17Calgary1 – 3ChicagoBrathwaite15,65026–32–1064Recap
69March 21NY Islanders1 – 2CalgaryWregget16,57127–32–1066Recap
70March 22Calgary2 – 2EdmontonOTWregget17,10027–32–1167Recap
71March 25Montreal1 – 2CalgaryWregget17,10428–32–1169Recap
72March 27Calgary1 – 2PhoenixWregget16,21028–33–1169Recap
73March 28Calgary1 – 5AnaheimBrathwaite15,97528–34–1169Recap
74March 30Calgary3 – 3ColoradoOTWregget16,06128–34–1270Recap :
April: 2–6–0 (home: 1–4–0; road: 1–2–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
75April 1Phoenix4 – 1CalgaryWregget16,45328–35–1270Recap
76April 3Toronto5 – 1CalgaryWregget17,10428–36–1270Recap
77April 7Calgary2 – 4EdmontonWregget17,10028–37–1270Recap
78April 9Edmonton4 – 1CalgaryWregget17,10428–38–1270Recap
79April 12Vancouver2 – 0CalgaryBrathwaite15,23828–39–1270Recap
80April 14Calgary5 – 4VancouverBrathwaite15,13529–39–1272Recap
81April 15Colorado1 – 4CalgaryWregget17,10430–39–1274Recap
82April 17Calgary2 – 3EdmontonBrathwaite17,10030–40–1274Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Scoring

* 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 | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | 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 | 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 | 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 |

### Goaltending

* † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | 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 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

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

### Milestones

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

## Transactions

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1998–99 season.

### Trades

| 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 |

### Free agents

| Player | Former team |
| Player | New team |

## Draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, held in Buffalo, New York.
| Rnd | Pick | Player | Nationality | Position | Team (league) | NHL statistics | NHL statistics | NHL statistics | NHL statistics | NHL statistics |
| Rnd | Pick | Player | Nationality | Position | Team (league) | 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 | 17–23–2–4, 2.87GAA | 17–23–2–4, 2.87GAA | 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) | | | | | |

## Farm teams
### Saint John Flames

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. 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.

### Johnstown Chiefs

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