FLAMESTUFF

Backyard Flamestuff

2012-03-04T13:34:00.001-04:00

Many Canadians and some Americans started playing hockey on a rink their father built for them in their back yard. That was certainly where I spent most of my childhood winters, and I've been building a rink in my own back yard for several years now. In addition to Flamestuff, I also write a not-very-prolific blog about the culture of skating outdoors - it's called "Backyard Ice," and you can check it out here if you are interested. One article from the "Backyard Ice" archives that I'd recommend is a story about my experiences at the World Pond Hockey Championships in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick, which featured a tilt against a team from Calgary featuring Brian Skrudland. Another article (found here), contains this remarkable old picture of a young me skating on the back yard rink that my father built.

Tough call about what is the most remarkable thing in that photo...seeing as how you are currently reading a blog about Flames memorabilia, it might be the vintage Flames home jersey. It could also be the huge snowbanks or those crazy Cooperalls, but if you could see the lack of hair currently on my head you would probably agree that it is that wonderful mop of hair!

I have another Flames memorabilia item that is tied to my time spent skating on outdoor rinks. It's an old Calgary Flames hockey puck that has been slapped around a back yard more than a few times, and here is a picture of it that I took today on my rink...

I'm glad I took that picture today for two reasons...one, a few more games and the logo on the puck will be worn out; and two, this year's back yard rink season is all-too-rapidly coming to a close. Here are pictures of both sides of the puck, along with my son's stick (which also sports some Flames-style hockey tape)...

Many of you might now be wondering, "what is `Ponderosa Steakhouse' and why is it on a hockey puck?" I guess you might still find them in the US, but Ponderosa was, at one time, a fairly wide-spread chain of restaurants in Canada; the last Canadian restaurant, which was about a 2.5 hour drive from my house, closed down in 2010. While I have long since forgotten the exact details of how I got this puck, it was likely from a promotion in the 1980s, and I almost certainly got it at the Saint John NB location.

Looking back now, I think that a hockey puck probably isn't the greatest thing to associate with a steakhouse...you'd just be providing critics of your restaurant with an easy simile for a scathing review of an over-done filet mignon!

Dealing With Deals - and PCs

2012-02-29T13:49:00.000-04:00

This year's trade deadline day has passed, and considering all the hype surrounding it I think most hockey fans would call it a snoozer. However, many people are calling the Vancouver trade of Cody Hodgson the biggest move of the day, and I tend to agree. Hodgson isn't a big star - yet - but the reaction to his eastward move includes a couple of interesting articles from two hockey card blogs I enjoy reading. These articles made me think back to the days when two of my favourite players left the Flames.

The first blog post, from "Collecting for Kicks," deals with the trade from a Canuck fan who has only recently started a player collection of Hodgson cards. The author, Michael, put his immediate feelings on the trade out there in this article, and I definitely get a sense of how he feels:

It's really hard to put my thoughts into words right now. [Hodgson] is/was my favourite player. It's really hard seeing a guy you've cheered for and supported since his draft day to be snapped away from you just like that.

Michael goes on to question what he should do regarding his player collection. He obviously remains a fan of the player, but isn't too excited about collecting what will be several cards that aren't of his favourite team. I think Michael will continue his CoHo PC, just like another Canuck fan - bamlinden at the blog "My Hockey Card Obsession" - did with his Trevor Linden player collection back in 1998. He tells his story in this article, and here's a quote from that post that I'm sure Michael will consider:

I have no doubt that if I abandoned my Linden collection after Trevor was traded in '98, I'd be regretting it to this day.

As a Calgary Flames fan since day one, I have seen a number of players leave Flamesville under various circumstances. Player collections weren't always the challenge they are today, what with all the parallel sets, inserts, game-used sets, autograph sets, etc, so it was certainly easier to maintain a PC up until recently - at least, consisting of cards released while the player was active. My first favourite Flame was Paul Reinhart, and back then you had only O-Pee-Chee base set cards, plus the odd sticker or card found in a cereal box or something. In September 1988, Reinhart was traded to the Canucks following a season in which back problems limited him to 14 games. I was sad to see him go, and I have no idea how he must have felt while watching the Flames win the Cup that season. However, he did have two fine seasons in Vancouver before retiring.

My next favourite Flame to leave Calgary was 1989 hero (and fellow Maritimer) Al MacInnis. In 1994, after a run of playoff disappointments since 1989, both MacInnis and the Flames were looking for a change. MacInnis signed an offer sheet with the Blues, and because of his RFA status at the time, the Flames compensation package included Phil Housley.

Both Reinhart and MacInnis had been Flames for a long time, as were most of my favourite players who eventually left Calgary. Recently, I haven't gotten "attached" to a young Flames player of Cody Hodgson's stature - probably because the Flames have not had a young player of Cody Hodgson's stature in a dog's age - so I haven't recently begun a "proper" all-inclusive player collection. However, I would be very disappointed if I began a PC of, for example, TJ Brodie only to watch him leave Calgary essentially before his career really started. Well, maybe I should start one anyway...to paraphrase noted hockey-card collector Alfred Lord Tennyson:

'Tis better to have begun a PC and see the player get traded than never to have begun a PC at all.

Ten Years Ago...

2012-02-22T09:13:00.000-04:00

Yep, ten years ago this week - February 24, 2002 - the Canadian Olympic hockey team won the gold medal. This was the first Olympic gold for my home and native land in 50 years, and by the time Bob Cole said "stand up and cheer everybody!" I already was. Since the Calgary Flames had some connections with Team Canada, this article will share some hockey cards of the former, current, and future Flames who were part of that championship team.

Yes, I know that Coach Quinn also played for the Flames.

Let's start with Jarome Iginla, who went from being a late invitee to Team Canada's 2001 summer camp to an important part of the team. He saved his best for the gold medal game, scoring two goals while playing on a line with Simon Gagne and tournament MVP Joe Sakic.

The 2001-02 NHL season was also a breakout year for young Iggy, as he scored 52 goals and 96 points, earning the Maurice Richard and Art Ross trophies (as well as the attention of autograph seekers, according to the picture on his hockey card the following year). He also won the Lester B. Pearson Award - MVP as voted on by the NHLPA - and would have won the Hart Trophy as league MVP if (as the legend goes) a single voter from Quebec hadn't somehow left him off his ballot entirely. This "Memorable Season" card, also from Upper Deck's 2002-03 base set, states on the back that "the 2001-02 season will forever be remembered as the year Iginla took the league by storm"...

...except for that one Hart voter in Quebec.

A few other members of Team Canada 2002 were former Calgary Flames Joe Nieuwendyk, Theoren Fleury and Al MacInnis, all of whom were also part of the 1989 Stanley Cup team. Here are their O-Pee-Chee cards from the set after the Cup win, and their Upper Deck cards from the 2002-03 base set that followed their Olympic gold:

Rounding out the Flame connection to the 2002 Olympic champions were eventual - and brief - Calgary teammates Owen Nolan and Curtis Joseph.

Joseph's stint in Calgary was only slightly longer than his Olympic experience, as he signed with Calgary halfway through the 2007-08 season. In fact, finding a hockey card showing him in a Flames uniform is not easy, since he started after most sets were produced and then went back to the Maple Leafs after that season. Owen Nolan was also on the move after his one season in Calgary.

So, unless a trade brings one of the few remaining active members of the 2002 Olympic team to Calgary (eg. Simon Gagne), I guess that will be a wrap for this theme here at Flamestuff. Eight years from now when I look back at the 2010 championship team, the article might be a lot shorter - Iginla is currently the only player with an affiliation to the Flames who was on that team.

A Flame-ay V-Day on ebay

2012-02-14T12:48:00.000-04:00

Group hug!

Yeah, so that's a fairly crummy title. Let's move on.

Today is, of course, Valentine's Day - supposedly the most romantic day of the year. Believe it or not, despite all the hugging, hockey actually isn't all that romantic. Still, I thought it wouldn't be too hard to find some nice Flames gifts to give a lady friend for their special day. Now, my wife is a Leafs fan, so I didn't get her anything that I'm sharing here - she's getting the old-school Valentine's combo: flowers, chocolates and a card. Besides, the Flames have been giving the occasional and extremely extravagant gift to the Leafs at around this time of year since 1992.

I haven't taken a look at ebay for random stuff in quite a while, so I decided to "shop" around there and see what is available...first off:

These are some earrings that the seller thinks looks like a Flames logo and I can certainly see where that idea is coming from. The seller says in the product description that he/she is a die-hard Flames fan, so I'll give it a pass. What else is out there? Well, some more obvious Calgary Flames earrings, for starters...

The NHL might (I repeat, might) just get their cut of the $75 you'd spend on those dangle earrings, as they are described as being "NHL officially licensed." The button earrings, well...maybe not so much. The first clue is that the item is in Hong Kong, the second is that they are described as "custom-made," and the third clue is that they cost less than five bucks. I wonder what colour a girl's ear would be after wearing these things?

Some guys might also buy their female companions underwear on Valentine's Day. While I would never buy underwear on the internet, I suppose there must be some people who don't have the same reservations. After all, if nobody was buyin', I don't think anybody would be sellin' items like these...

A TU Z

2012-02-07T12:47:00.000-04:00

I was looking at the page featuring the ever-growing list of players whose hockey cards have been been featured on this blog, "Players (Cards)." It is an alphabetical list - sorted by surname - and I noticed that all 26 letters of the English alphabet have been used at least once - except for A, T, U, X and Z. There have been exactly zero players with a surname beginning with "X" who have played in the NHL, let alone for the Flames, so I'm thinking that it might be a while before that particular slot is filled.

It won't be too difficult to fill the other spots - A, T, U, Z - even though there has only been one Flames player with a surname beginning with U...

This picture is from a 2007 online auction, and features a game-worn jersey. I wonder if it was the jersey he wore all season...the description notes that the jersey "shows good game use with numerous heavy stick marks" and also sports "burns [and] a slice on the right sleeve." (Wait, what?..."Burns?" Well, the team is called the Flames...)

Hockey fans know all about Unger's ironman streak, but it's possible that not too many know that it was Flames coach Al MacNeil who benched Unger on December 22, 1979, ending his streak at 914 straight games. Maybe it was the game that the hockey card photographer showed up for, because there aren't any cards showing Unger in a Flames jersey; here are the cards from around this point in his career:

Sure, the streak was impressive, but I think the most incredible statistic from Unger's career is from the 1986-87 season. After his NHL career, Unger played a few seasons in the British Hockey League; in his second year there, 1986-87, he scored a whopping 95 goals and 143 assists for the Peterborough Pirates in only 30 games! That's a season of Sam Gagner-like eight points per game, which doesn't say a whole lot for the quality of players in the BHL at the time. Heck, I probably could have played in that league!

For the player brought to you by the letter "T," I will go with a guy who scored 51 points in 78 games for the Flames in the same season that Unger was tearing the BHL apart:

I always like the way Tonelli played, especially in the 1984 Canada Cup when whe was named tournament MVP. This was also a great tournament for one of Tonelli's future Flames teammates, Håkan Loob, and a Flames star who left Calgary before Tonelli arrived, Kent Nilsson.

Finally, for the Z and A slots, here are a couple of cards demonstrating how much a hockey stick can flex when ripping a slap shot...

Amonte, Tonelli, Unger and Zalapski...A TU Z, and my Flamestuff alphabet is almost complete. Now come on all you Xaviers, get your kids some skates and a hockey stick!

Went Shoppin'

2012-01-29T12:58:00.001-04:00

I've already discussed my modus operandi when it comes to hockey card collecting; to reiterate, I enjoy collecting Upper Deck base set cards of several players, many of whom have never played for the Flames (and never will). I also mentioned before that I fill these gaps in my collection with the occasional purchase on eBay or an online market like Beckett. However, this intent of this post is to share a recent order I made of about 70 cards from a different internet hockey card store. I want to let you other collectors know about it because it might be a great place for you to look for any cards that are on your "need em" list. I'll show you some cards of former and current Flame players from my order, then I'll tell you a bit more about the store.

Of course, Upper Deck Series One and Two aren't the only hockey card sets available, and I also collect some cards of favourite players from different sets...

The above Iginla card, from last year's Victory set, was the second-most expensive card in my order, clocking in at 75 cents. The most expensive card I purchased, by the way, was from the same set as that Nieuwendyk card (1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier) - it was an Owen Nolan rookie card costing $1.50. But, the bulk of my order was made up of Upper Deck base set cards averaging around 30 cents apiece; here are some former Flames:

Some more recently "former" than others, eh Reggie?

And, finally, here is a very nice card from this year's Series One set showing a current Flame:

This Kipper card was featured in this article from the blog "Puck Junk" about the best cards in the set, and I agree it definitely belongs in the top 10. Even considering Upper Deck's high quality photography, it is a very unique looking hockey card. The "Puck Junk" article noted the huge scoreboard and the fireworks in the background, and of course the open sky (my favourite feature). My daughter likes the uniform colours because they look like something from a Harry Potter movie :P

So, I picked up these cards (and over 60 others) at an on-line store called "Canadian Hockey Cards" (http://www.canadianhockeycards.com/). Prices are very reasonable - the eight cards featured in this article cost me a grant total of $2.35 - and shipping is even better than very reasonable...it is free if your card order exceeds just $10 and you live in North America. If you spend less than $10, shipping is just $1; like the website says, "are you tired of paying more in shipping than you paid for the hockey cards?" The cards arrived in my mailbox in about a week, which is very impressive considering they had to travel clear across the second-largest country on the planet (all the way from Vancouver to New Brunswick). I will definitely be back for future purchases, and I'd recommend that any collectors who read this article have a look at "Canadian Hockey Cards" and see if you can find some cards on your want list...that is, if you haven't already!

Cammy's Back

2012-01-13T16:29:00.001-04:00

The title of this post is not intended to state the obvious, which is that Mike Cammalleri is back in Calgary. Rather, it is to show you what the back of his jersey is going to look like. From the Flames' website, here it is...

The interesting thing in the little article about Cammalleri's new number (to me, anyway) is that this will be only the second time in Flames' history that a player has worn a jersey number in the 90s. (In fact, as of the moment, the next-highest number worn by a Flame is Rico Fata's 62, which was also worn by Andrei Nazarov.) Here are a couple hockey cards of the guy who was the first (and, until Saturday night, only) Flames player to wear a 2-digit number starting with 9; and, whaddya know, it was another Michael (or, if the Topps Company is to be believed, Mikael):

Speaking of trades and Michael Nylander, he actually became a Flame in a 1994 deal along with James Patrick and Zarley Zalapski; going from Calgary to Hartford were Ted Drury, Paul Ranheim and Gary Suter. This trade was actually mentioned in a previous Flamestuff blog post. Interestingly, Suter was flipped to Chicago the very next day along with - get this - Cammalleri's last coach in Montreal, Randy Cunneyworth.

I know that the Cammalleri deal was made with the intention of "going for it." I'm skeptical about the chances of that, but at least it should prove to be an interesting run. The trade deadline is February 27...will Feaster be a buyer or a seller by then?

Kidd Stuff

2012-01-05T15:25:00.000-04:00

Happy New Year and all that! I don't feel like doing actual work right now, so I thought this might be a good time to work on a blog entry while I wait for Canada's Bronze Medal game in the World Junior Championships. The inspiration for this post actually came as I was settling in to watch the Canada-Russia WJC semi-final on Tuesday night; in TSN's pre-game show, host James Duthie was talking to a couple of former Canadian Junior players, one of whom was former Calgary Flame goaltender Trevor Kidd. Thanks to Upper Deck's inclusion of WJC players in the 1990-91 set - and in several more sets following that one - I have a couple cards showing Kidd playing in this tournament:

Trevor Kidd was drafted by the Flames in 1990, with a pick that the Flames acquired from the New Jersey Devils in a deal that included swapping first-round picks; the Flames picked Kidd with the Devils' 11th overall selection. The Devils also picked a goalie with the Flames' 20th overall pick...Martin Brodeur. In fact, Kidd was probably a better prospect than Brodeur, at least as far as Upper Deck was concerned; Kidd got a "Star Rookie" card in the 1991-92 set, while Brodeur's only came in the 1992-93 set.

...interesting Flames jersey that Kidd is wearing there... :)

One of my favourite hockey card blogs, Card Boarded, has a great feature called Goaltending Gallimaufry. In these articles, Paul shares some card photos showing goalies wearing equipment that doesn't match their team colours - in most cases, following a trade where the goalie hasn't had time to break in some new pads, or as a result of a recent call-up from juniors or the minors. Trevor Kidd's two cards from Upper Deck's 1992-93 set give a slightly different twist to this phenomenon. Take a look: his Flames card shows him wearing Team Canada mask, gloves and pads...

...while his Team Canada card from the 1992 World Championships shows him wearing Calgary Flames mask, gloves and pads. Yeah, it's a real "chicken and egg" dilemma...

Kidd would play for Calgary until August 1997, when he was involved in a trade for yet another goaltender, going to Carolina in exchange for this guy:

The text on the back of this Giguere card called him Calgary's "goaltender of the future." At the time, his "future" consisted of appearances in only seven more games for the Flames before being sent to Anaheim in June 2000 for a draft pick that was traded to Washington in return for another draft pick that the Flames used to select another goaltender: Levente Szuper!

Die Cast Flames

2011-12-11T13:09:00.000-04:00

Speaking of the number fourteen (see my previous article)...

I was looking through a box of some of my really old stuff the other day. There were some books, some toys, and lots of assorted little knick-knacks from my childhood in there. Now, my son would tell you that the best thing I found was a Lego Space Transporter set from 1979. However, as far as Flamestuff blog fodder goes, the best item was this die cast car:

This is a Corgi Juniors version of a Jaguar XJ-S. I've researched this toy, and my best guess is that this was part of a 1982 series of die cast cars with NHL team logos and a number. Of course, we all know that the most popular Flame to wear number 14 was Theoren Fleury, but Theo was just 14 years old in 1982 (and, very sadly, was about to begin living a nightmare). Actually, this car is a tribute to the other Flames star to wear that number: Kent Nilsson. I found a collector's web page with a few other cars from this series - including Leafs #21, Sabres #11 and (for some reason) Oilers #99 - clicking here will take you to it if you're interested.

Over the years, there have been various other die cast toys produced with the Flames logo. Several are currently available, as a quick peek at Fan Attic will show...

...but for an example of a newer vehicle, I'll just focus on a couple that can be found in my house. In 2008, Upper Deck offered to add a couple more vehicles to the collector's garage, offering a car and a truck and a large-size hockey card in a package. My son turned four in 2008, and while he wasn't yet into hockey, he was into cars. So, this was a nice stocking stuffer for both of us that year!

These are actually pretty nice vehicles...a Ford SVT Adrenalin, and a Ford Mustang GT. If you look really closely, you can see the chipped paint on the bumpers (especially on the Mustang). Obviously to a four-year-old, these are definitely toys first, collectibles second!

Finally, here is a look at the card, which is basically twice the size of a regular hockey card...

The back of the card has a smaller black-and-white version of the photo from the front, plus the following text:

The Flames moved to Calgary prior to the 1981 season, and the trek north proved to be a boon, as the franchise reached the post-season from '81-91. That stretch was highlighted by a Stanley Cup title in 1989, with the club knocking off the Canadiens in a six-game Finals series.

Yeah, '81-91...good times, good times. Even with the lack of recent success, however, it is still sometimes fun to be a Flames fan. Case in point: watching our captain rip the puck like he did last night in yet another win over the Oilers :)

Fourteen

2011-12-06T09:42:00.000-04:00

Today's "numbers" article is brought to you by the number 14. Unlike most of the other numbers worn by the players on the 1989 championship team, no other Flame has worn this since Theoren Fleury. Makes one wonder why it isn't officially retired, doesn't it? Here is one of Theo's last cards as an active Flame...

This is from a set of Upper Deck cards called the "1998/1999 Kraft Collection" that were printed on either cereal boxes or macaroni & cheese boxes (I can't remember which). Theo was traded to Colorado during the season this card was released in the deal that brought Wade Belak and a young Robyn Regehr to Calgary. Nobody would wear number 14 for the Flames again - until Theo himself wore it during his 2009 comeback attempt, which ended with him officially retiring as a Flame. Hang that number up in the 'Dome rafters already!

Before Theo, however, there was another elite player to wear this number. Well, sure, he was a fine player, but I'm not thinking specifically of...

Actually, I was thinking of the guy who still holds the team record for assists (82) and points (131) in a season, which he accomplished in the team's first season in Calgary. Here is a look at the "Magic Man" himself...

...with the magic moustache!

Kent Nilsson is still in 6th place in all-time Flames team scoring, with 562 points in only 425 games. However, he was also a minus 31 in his Flame career...a grand total of just 5 Flames have a worse rating! After Calgary, he played in Minnesota and Edmonton, then was off to Europe. He had a good time for Bolzano HC in Italy in the 1987-88 regular season, scoring 132 points in 35 games...good for almost a 4 point per game clip. Anyway, these are four of the five O-Pee-Chee cards showing Nilsson as a Flame; the other one, his rookie card, can be seen in Flamestuff's rookie post.

Speaking of rookie cards, here is Theo's; along with his 1991-92 Upper Deck card featuring an interesting "action pose:"

Besides Ecclestone, Nilsson and Fleury, apparently only four other players have worn this number for the Flames...here is a list of number 14 Flames from flames.nhl.com:

Chuck Arnason, Al McDonough, Tim Ecclestone, Gene Carr, Kent Nilsson, Brian Bradley, Theoren Fleury

The four "other" players whose cards I haven't shown you yet all had short stints in Flames colours. Bradley played 45 games for Calgary at the start of his pretty decent NHL career. The other three played for Atlanta...Arnason played 33 games, McDonough played 35, and Carr played 30. (I find it interesting that Arnason played for Pittsburgh after his stint in Atlanta, and McDonough and Carr came to Atlanta from Pittsburgh.) So, obviously, none of them stuck around in Flames uniforms for very long, and it's difficult enough finding pictures of them wearing the good ol' red & yellow...never mind a hockey card. This is the closest I could get from my collection:

"Now with Flames"
...thus making this also a "Before Becoming A Flame" article

My Hockey Card History

2011-12-02T18:20:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned over a month ago in this article, I have several posts sitting in the "press box" just waiting for their chance to see some "game action." And yes, by cracky, this article happens to be one of them...it was just waiting for a few scans. Today, I am going to chronicle my personal history as a hockey card collector. I suspect that many of you who are around my age and enjoy the hobby will have had similar experiences.

I was born in 1969. I started playing hockey around 1976 or 1977, which was also when I started collecting hockey cards; most of the "old" cards in my collection are from O-Pee-Chee's 1976-77 set.

Ah, 1970's hockey cards...gum stains and bad hair

Back then, I got most of my cards by buying packs and trading doubles with my friends. Another way to get cards was to play games like "flipsies" or "closies" for keeps. (You new-generation hockey card collectors might want to sit down for this description of "closies"...) "Closies" was a game where you and your opponent(s) would stand several feet from a wall - usually the brick wall at your school - and toss your hockey cards against it; whoever's card was closest to the wall got to keep all the cards. I wonder how many great vintage cards had their value decreased via this route? (If you passed out while reading that, you might want to skip the rest of this paragraph.) There was also the occasional "Scramble," where some kid would climb up to the top of the monkey bars, hold a stack of cards over his head and holler "SCRAMBLE!" He would then chuck his cards down on the gathering crowd and watch the feeding frenzy. Good times, good times...

I pretty much stopped collecting cards for the first time around 1983. I have less than 100 cards from the 1982-83 set, and maybe a pack or two from the 1983-84 set.

Do these cards represent the end of an era? Nah.

Then came the rebirth (or, depending on your perspective, the death knell) of the hobby in 1990. I was drawn back in to the hobby by the high quality of Upper Deck's product, but I also threw a few dollars at Pro Set (unfortunately), Score, and pretty much every other company that saturated the market at that time.

It really was a nice "welcome back to the hobby" with cards like these

This chapter in my collecting history lasted until about 1995, with most of my hobby money in that time eventually going towards Upper Deck boxes. Card stores and shows started popping up more frequently in the early 1990s; this was also a great way for me to fill those gaps in many of my O-Pee-Chee player collections - consisting of my favourite players of the time like Paul Reinhart, Ray Bourque, Cam Neely and Doug Gilmour. (I'm still pleased that I got a Cam Neely rookie card straight up for one of my Jari Kurri rookie cards at a card show.) When the industry started going off the rails in the mid-1990s with dozens of manufacturers and subsets, I left the hobby for the second time. There was also some other things that had been taking up more and more of my time...getting married, buying a house, having kids...

Then, for a fun little Christmas gift in 2006, my wife gave me a box of Upper Deck 2006-07 Series 1 packs. I guess I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed collecting those little cardboard pictures...

"Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in" - Michael Corleone.
Also, "every time I think I’m out, they pull me back in" - George Costanza.

...which brings this article up to the present-day. I've never been in it for the money, and that is how I collect hockey cards now. I have very rarely spent more than $10 on a single card and I stay away from the really expensive stuff. I enjoy Upper Deck's base sets and usually buy at least one box of Upper Deck packs for each series. Once in a while I will get some cards from ebay or place an order on an on-line store to fill any gaps in my Upper Deck base set collection of my favourite players from all NHL teams - not just the Flames.

I also enjoy reading several of the hockey card blogs out there in the www. By reading these blogs, I have learned that there are probably as many different ways to enjoy this hobby as there are people who do!

Rhino TTM

2011-11-17T20:44:00.000-04:00

Every time that a Paul Reinhart card has been in one of my blog articles (such as this one, or this, or even this), I have mentioned that he was my favourite player when I was a kid. Many years ago, it was common practice to write a letter to your favourite player - mailed c/o his team - and ask for an autograph. So, of course in 1982 I did just that.

The process I described above is actually alive and well today; some collectors refer to it as TTM (through the mail). As far as I can tell, the only difference between modern TTM autograph collecting and what I did thirty years ago is that currently you usually send a couple cards or other items to an athlete or celebrity to be signed, and include a SASE. However, for any number of reasons this might not always be a successful venture these days. Understandably, most athletes and celebrities don't want to go through the trouble of signing stacks of cards or photos, only to have somebody turn around and make a big profit from them on ebay. (Because of this, I've read that it is best to (1) ask to have the items personalized, and (2) not send duplicate items.) The athlete also might be under exclusive contract from some company, and not legally permitted to sign just anything placed in front of them.

Anyway, the previous paragraph is about "now," and this blog article is about "back then." I didn't send a SASE or any item to sign, I just fired off a letter in my best handwriting telling Mr. Reinhart that he is my favourite player, the Flames are my favourite team, yada yada. I probably even said that I was a defenseman myself. Lo and behold, this arrived for me one day:

Personalized message included!

Paul Reinhart was a pretty damn good hockey player, but he wasn't a big superstar player like, say, Paul Coffey. I wrote a similar letter to Coffey (well, maybe not with the "favourite player" and "favourite team" pitch) at around the same time to get his autograph, and got this:

While this was greatly appreciated, the photo and paper aren't nearly as nice as what I got from Reinhart, and the signature certainly appears more rushed. Also, no personalized message...Coffey probably had to sign stacks of these things whenever he could find the time between putting up Bobby Orr-type numbers and winning Stanley Cups (or changing teams...after Edmonton, dude played for Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Detroit, Hartford, Philadelphia, Chicago, Carolina and Boston). Back then, it was then probably some Oilers secretary's job to stuff all these signed pictures into envelopes and mail them out.

Even though Paul Reinhart wasn't the biggest star in the NHL, he was big enough to film an anti-drug public service announcement with one of young Coffey's teammates named Wayne Gretzky. They skated around with some crazy rock music playing, and they said something like, "if we were doing drugs...we probably wouldn't perform like this." It frustrates the heck out of me that I can't find this old video on the internet...does anybody else remember it?

Before I wrap up this article, I'd like to share a couple pages from the Calgary Flames' 1983-84 Year Book. Lanny McDonald with his 66 goal season was on the cover, but my man Rhino got the coveted grocery store advertisement on the back of the cover page!

...go easy on the Oreos & Coca-Cola, dude...

I'll also show you Reinhart's player page from this yearbook...as noted, he had just broken none other than Pekka Rautakallio's club records for defensemen:

Eleven

2011-11-11T14:04:00.001-04:00

First and foremost, today is Remembrance Day. From Veterans Affairs Canada:

Every year on November 11, Canadians pause in a silent moment of remembrance for the men and women who have served, and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict and peace.

However, this year's November 11 is quite unique, in that the date can be written as 11/11/11. Some people are taking this date quite seriously; I just read a story that in Las Vegas, there will be at least three times more weddings today than on a normal day. One chapel is hosting 150 weddings - a lot more than their usual "10 or 12." (I wonder why they didn't just say their usual "11 or so...") And, here at Flamestuff, it is a great opportunity to look at the Flames who have worn number 11. From a web page that purports to provide this information, here is a list of such players:

Bill Hogoboam, Leon Rochefort, Claude St. Sauveur, Bobby Simpson, Bob MacMillan, Bobby Lalonde, Al MacInnis, Steve Christoff, Colin Patterson, Gary Leeman, Chris Lindberg, Kelly Kisio, Pat Conacher, Eric Landry, Jeff Shantz, Stephane Yelle, Owen Nolan, Fredrik Sjostrom, Mikael Backlund

Several of these guys - notably the Bobbys Simpson & Lalonde (and Al MacInnis of course) - wore other numbers for most of their time in Flames colours. I'll show you some of their cards in future "numbers" articles called, respectively, Twenty-two, Seven, and Two. Also, I'm saving Nolan's card for an upcoming career retrospective - the first one to fall under all three BBAF, FF, and ATF categories. Still, this is quite a long list of players to don the ol' double-one, so let's have a look at some cards I found:

Fellow Maritimer Bob MacMillan put up some great numbers in Atlanta and Calgary, and received the Lady Byng Trophy in 1979. He has been busy since his NHL career ended...he served in the PEI Legislature from 2000-2003 and, according to his Wikipedia page, owns and operates a sports bar in Charlottetown. I must check that out the next time I'm on the Island! Oh, and he is also the father of Abbotsford Heat Left Winger Logan MacMillan.

Colin Patterson was a plus-44 in the 1988-89 season, which helped earn him the honour of being a finalist for the Selke Trophy. While he didn't win that particular trophy, he did get his hands on another big NHL award that season!

Gary Leeman. It's hard to believe it, but he was actually the "key player" that Calgary received in the Doug Gilmour trade. Yikes. Interesting that another #11 Flame (Sjostrom) was involved in what is now regarded as the second-worst trade in Flame history.

After a fine NHL career, Kisio retired as a Flame in 1995. Since 1998, he has enjoyed considerable success as GM of the Calgary Hitmen. Some Calgary Flame observers have even pegged him as the next GM.

I always like Yelle, and I thought he was an important part of Calgary's 2004 playoff run. He was a smart, hard-working gritty player.

Finally, the current number 11 will play his first game of the 2011-2012 regular season tonight. Also worth noting is that going into this game he has scored 11 career NHL goals. Here's hoping that game number 1 for number 11 on 11/11/11 adds up to some good luck for the Flames!

UPDATE, 11/11/12...well, the Flames did score one goal...

Thirty

2011-11-02T10:10:00.003-03:00

Welcome to the second post in my "numbers" series, featuring the second number retired by the Calgary Flames. My first "numbers" post was about the number nine and clicking here will take you straight to it.

According to this web page, the following players have worn jersey number 30 with the Flames franchise:

Dan Bouchard, Mike Vernon, Dwayne Roloson, Tyler Moss, Martin Brochu

I have a card showing Philippe Sauve wearing 30, so once again the accuracy of that web page that I use as a guide for these numbers posts is called into question. Also, I have already taken a complete look at Dan "Flakes" Bouchard's cards in this post, but I just want to share one of those cards with you again:

Ironically, "sauve" is French for "save"

Here are a few Mike Vernon O-Pee-Chee cards - and one very nicely-photographed Upper Deck card - all from my collection:

Future Hall of Famer?

Everybody remembers Vernon's glove save on Stan Smyl in game 7 in the 1989 opening-round playoff series, but my second-favourite Mike Vernon moment didn't even happen while he was with the Flames. In March 1997, while playing with Detroit in one of those epic late 1990's Red Wing - Avalanche battles, he beat up Patrick Roy; you can (and should!) watch the brawl here. The fun also featured Darren McCarty jumping the villain Claude Lemieux and current NHL judge Brendan Shanahan tackling Roy; the brouhaha actually started with Igor Larionov tussling with Peter Forsberg! Vernon went on to be the playoff MVP as the Wings won the Stanley Cup later that spring.

I don't own any cards of the other "number 30" guys in Flames colours, so I'll share some pictures of their cards available on in the internet:

Man, there are some weird-looking hockey cards out there...

Cool Flames logos on Rollie's blocker and pads! Like Bouchard and Vernon, Roloson went on to enjoy quite a bit of success after leaving Calgary; Brochu and Moss...ehhh, not so much. According to hockeyDB.com's statistics, Brochu actually never played for the Calgary Flames, but did play a season with the AHL's Saint John Flames; so, I guess that card's photo must have been taken in a pre-season game. And, while the number 30 was retired in Vernon's honour, he also wore number 29 during his second go-around with Calgary; Moss also apparently also wore another number (71?) during his few games in a Flaming C jersey, if that card is to be believed.

He didn't wear number 30, but I'd like to take my earlier mention of eventual Flame Darren McCarty as an opportunity to show you another example of interesting photography to be used on Upper Deck cards:

Random & (Oxy) Moronic

2011-10-24T08:21:00.000-03:00

In most people's lives, there are not-so-busy times, there are busy times, there are fairly busy times, and there are crazy busy times. I passed "crazy busy" a few weeks ago and I'm currently going at such a clip so as to not even see it in my rear-view mirror anymore. The main culprit of my busy-ness is work of course; I could work 24 hours a day if I wanted to from October to almost Christmas...that's just the way my job rolls. However, this time of year brings along a whole new slew of activities that my three kids are involved in, and every night requires at least a couple hours to provide taxi service (and, in the case of my son's hockey, coaching). Naturally, I would never trade any of the kid's activities for more time at work; the point of this minor rant is to explain my lack of blog articles lately. Ideally, I'd like to post something at least every week, maybe even two articles a week. I think that will probably happen in the new year, once things slow down a bit at work.

So, you have probably noticed that this is an unconventional Flamestuff article. I'll keep with that notion and share a few random thoughts that have been bouncing around inside my head:

The Flames are 2-4-1, 14th place in the West. Hoo boy, it's gonna be a looong season. I hope I can provide the occasional pleasant diversion for Flames fans this year.
Phil Kessel has 8 goals so far. Alex Ovechkin has 3. Wouldn't it be great if Kessel wins the Rocket Richard Trophy, and at the awards ceremony walks up to the stage to accept the trophy, pulls out his phone and snaps a picture of himself holding the trophy then e-mails it to Ovechkin?
I miss "Human Target," but "Person of Interest" is helping to fill that void.
I went to Boston two weeks ago for a Bruins game and a Patriots game; the NFL is so freakin' huge that it makes the NHL seem like a minor-league sport. Still, it was pretty awesome to see the Bruins and the Stanley Cup at Gillette Stadium.
Ryan Whitney might be my favourite Oiler of all-time, simply because of his tweets like: I can't imagine how turned on Rex Ryan got when he read Coach Tortorella's post game comments last night that "we sucked from head to toe"
The Raconteurs are terrific. I hope they release another album soon.

Anyway, even though I'm busy I sometimes still think about topics for Flamestuff articles. I actually have about 10 draft articles in the works...I just need to scan some cards or take some pictures, and after a bit of polishing-up they will be published. It's not all that difficult to come up with articles, especially ones featuring hockey cards; the "stuff" articles are also formed easily enough, because when I look around my house I don't have to try very hard to find something to show you from my little corner of the interweb. Case in point...

I originally labelled this post "not about stuff," and I will keep that label since the first chunk of this article was clearly not about Calgary Flames memorabilia at all. But my vintage key chain has rightfully earned this article the "et cetera" tag as well. So, dear Flamestuff reader(s), I hereby give you oxymoronic blog post labels...

ATF: Lombardi

2011-10-15T18:08:00.000-03:00

Now that Matthew Lombardi has returned to action with his 4th NHL team, here is a look at one of my favourite players to suit up for Calgary - After the Flames.

Lombardi was originally drafted in 2000 by the Edmonton Oilers. I guess they couldn't sign him, so he re-entered the draft in 2002 and was selected by Calgary in the 3rd round with, ironically, Toronto's pick - Toronto had traded the 90th overall pick (which would be Lombardi), along with a 5th rounder, to Calgary for Calgary's 3rd round pick, which was 74th overall. Toronto picked a goalie named Todd Ford. It's a bit confusing, but the bottom line is that I think I just found the only deal in Calgary's trading history with Toronto that the Flames clearly won!

Lombardi was traded to Phoenix along with Brandon Prust for Olli Jokinen in March 2009. I didn't like this trade then, and nothing Jokinen did in his first run with Calgary ever changed my mind. I remember thinking as soon as I heard about the trade was, oh no, who is going to kill penalties now? Lombardi has never had the greatest hands, but his speed was always very disruptive. OK, so his hands were working just fine on February 8, 2010 when he scored 5 points against the Oilers.

Lombardi moved to the Nashville Predators for the 2010-11 season, which for him lasted only two games - I guess that was just long enough to get his picture on the above Upper Deck card. A few months ago he was dealt to the Leafs, joining his old Flames teammate Dion Phaneuf. At that time, it was unsure if (when) Lombo would resume his career because of concussion issues, but he scored the winning goal in the Leafs season-opener and has been called their "feel-good" story of the year so far. I hope he stays healthy, and I am very happy to see Lombardi fly around the ice again...even if it happens to be while wearing a Leafs jersey. Best of luck tonight against the Flames...just not too much luck!

Nine

2011-09-21T17:36:00.000-03:00

This article boasts a couple of "firsts" for this blog. One "first" is that I've decided to go without the BBAF, FF, ATF, and "Now Starring" words in the titles for certain posts featuring hockey cards of specific players; I guess the onus will now be on me to come up with clever titles for my articles...like "Nine" for example. The labels will still be attached, so past and future articles fitting into those various categories will show up under the "Blog Topics" list. The second "first" is that this article debuts a new label and Flamestuff topic, "numbers."

For these "numbers" articles, I'm going to pull out some cards of players who wore the same jersey number for the Flames franchise in different eras. As a guide, I will use this handy-dandy webpage that alleges to show all the players to wear a particular number for the Flames. So, let's kick off this gong show with the first number retired by the team...number 9. Only seven players have worn this number for the Flames; from the above-noted page, they are:

Keith McCreary, Larry Romanchych, Bill Flett, Jean Pronovost, Don Lever, Denis Cyr, Lanny McDonald

So, off to my collection...pretty sure I have a "few" cards of that last guy...OK, here's what I found:

"Cowboy" Bill Flett = awesome

That Don Lever card is hideous - yes, it's one of those awful painted-over cards they used to do whenever they didn't have a picture of the player in his current jersey - but this is even worse. It looks like they used a black-and-white photo then coloured his helmet and sweater red. Lever's card from the set after this one shows him wearing number 12 for the Flames - tune in for that post later on, of course - and then he was traded to the Rockies in exchange for the last man to wear number 9 for the Flames.

I'll rely on internet pictures of a couple cards to fill in some gaps...

As for Romanchych, I have one of his cards but on it he is wearing number 21 (yeah, well, tune in for that post later on, too). Other cards I found on ebay show him wearing the numbers 5 and 23...which are numbers he is not listed as wearing on that previously-though-of-as-but-maybe-not-so-much handy-dandy webpage I mentioned earlier!

FF: Calder

2011-09-19T19:22:00.000-03:00

The back of the card is twice as big as the front?
That's Flamestuff magic, my friends.

While working on an article on some Jarome Iginla cards, I read the following on the back of the card showing him playing ping-pong, under the "Chippy Sez..." heading: "From 1975 to 1990, the Flames produced five Calder Trophy winners (Eric Vail, Willi Plett, Gary Suter, Joe Nieuwendyk and Sergei Makarov)." Ironically, or maybe not, this card was printed the year after Iginla himself finished second in Calder voting. Anyway, this bit of hockey trivia gave me the inspiration to write this article on the five Former Flames to win the Calder.

Vail and Plett were winners in the seventies...

Suter and Nieuwendyk in the eighties...

...and Makarov in 1990.

The above Plett, Nieuwendyk and Makarov cards are all rookie cards. (Thanks to the big 1990 hockey card boom, Makarov actually has about a dozen rookie cards; to be consistent with the other four winners' cards in this article, I'm just sharing his cards from the O-Pee-Chee set.) I'm not a big enough Eric Vail or Gary Suter fan to go after their rookie cards, even though I could pick them up on ebay for a few bucks each. This particular Vail card is more than awesome enough, anyway; I can't decide what is better...the hair or the yellow background! The Plett card is cool, too...not too many cards from that era show a player doing anything other than playing in a game or posing like Vail. Hockey card photography really only got interesting when Upper Deck came along in 1990.

...see what I mean?

Check out the impressive numbers these guys put up in their Calder years:

1974-75 Eric Vail: 72 GP, 39 G, 21 A, 60 Pts
1976-77 Willi Plett: 64 GP, 33 G, 23 A, 56 Pts (and 123 PIM)
1985-86 Gary Suter: 80 GP, 18 G, 50 A, 68 Pts
1987-88 Joe Nieuwendyk: 75 GP, 51 G, 41 A, 92 Pts
1989-90 Sergei Makarov: 80 GP, 24 G, 62 A, 86 Pts

Amazing; these guys averaged 33 goals and 72 points in their rookie seasons. OK, so Makarov was pretty much already a hockey legend before he played in the NHL; but, take him out of the mix and those numbers are still not too shabby. Makarov was a spry 31 years old when he won the award, which prompted the NHL to change the rules on Calder Trophy eligibility; you now have to be 26 or younger by September 15 of your rookie season to be eligible.

One more fun fact: since the 1967 NHL expansion, no team's rookies have won as many Calders as the Flames franchise. Boston, Chicago, and the New York Islanders have had four winners each. The NYI had a pretty good run with Potvin (1974), Trottier (1976) and Bossy (1978) all taking the hardware; no wonder this team was so strong in the early 1980s!

ATF: Gilmour & Nieuwendyk

2011-09-12T09:49:00.000-03:00

Soon, Doug Gilmour and Joe Nieuwendyk will be officially enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Personally, and I am sure many Flames fans would agree with this sentiment, I will always think of these guys as Calgary Flames. However, ATF ("After The Flames") these guys played for a lot of other teams, and it is fair to say that you would be hard-pressed to find a Toronto fan who doen't say that Gilmour certainly ranks up there as one of the most popular Maple Leafs of all-time. In fact, if you do a Google image search of him, you will hardly see him wearing anything other than the Toronto Maple Leaf jersey.

...see?

Doug Gilmour went on to suit up for the Leafs in January 1992 after what is still considered one the worst trades in Calgary Flame history - which, given the trading history of the Flames is really saying something. (Conversely, it is considered one of the best trades in Toronto Maple Leaf history.) He had a career year in 1992-93, setting a Leaf franchise record 127 points, winning the Selke Trophy, and was the runner-up for the Hart. He led the Leafs to the Conference Finals that season and gave Leafs Nation something they haven't stopped grumbling about since. Conspiracy? We Flames fans can certainly sympathize...

Gooooooooooaaaaaaaaaallllllllll

Anyway, back in the 1993 Conference Finals, with the Leafs up on the LA Kings three games to two, Gilmour smashed his face into Wayne Gretzky's stick in OT of Game Six and was getting stitched up in the dressing room when Gretzky scored the winning goal. The Leafs would lose Game Seven, and I think the seeds were sown for what would become the funniest hockey blog of all time. "Killer" would lead the Leafs to the Conference Finals again in 1994, and then he bounced around the NHL quite a bit starting in 1997...New Jersey, Chicago, Buffalo, Montreal, and very briefly, Toronto again.

The photo on that last Leafs card must have been taken during his first stint in T.O., because if you look closely at the helmet of the opposing centreman, you can see the "Mighty Ducks" decal. Gilmour's return to Toronto actually lasted only two shifts in a game against Calgary, and his career ended with a torn ACL following a very unfortunate collision with Dave Lowry.

Joe Nieuwendyk went on to win Stanley Cups in his first two stops after Calgary; first in Dallas (along with the Conn Smythe), followed by another one in New Jersey. Then came stops in Toronto and Florida, and no real danger of continuing his Cup-winning streak.

Of course, Nieuwendyk left Calgary in one of those rare trades that benefit both teams. After a contract holdout, the Flames sent him to Dallas. Calgary got a prospect named Jarome Iginla, the Stars got a guy who would lead them to a Stanley Cup. Iggy and Nieuwy would actually become teammates in 2002, bringing Olympic gold back to Canada after a 50 year drought.

Gilmour and Nieuwendyk are two great players who wound up in Toronto after playing for the Flames. Another one, Gary Roberts, could end up in the Hall as soon as next year. The current captain of the Leafs is a former Flame...and the Leafs also got the promising Keith Aulie in the same trade. The only players the Flames got back in that deal who are still with the team are two overpaid underachievers, one of whom quite likely could be buried in the minors this year. Aaargh. Oh, and don't forget, Matt Lombardi is a Leaf now, too. OK, sure, Lanny McDonald was a former Leaf, but would it be asking too much of the hockey gods to finally give the Flames another great player who once played in Toronto? No pressure, Stempniak...

A Peek at ebay 5

2011-09-10T08:41:00.000-03:00

I just typed "Calgary Flames" into an ebay search, and got over 15,000 items. I narrowed that search to "clothing, shoes & accessories" and I got around 6,150 results. (Obviously, depending on when you try this, results may vary.) My point is that it is not surprising to find that you can outfit yourself - head to toe - in Flames clothing by shopping on ebay. However, it is a little bit trickier to do this by buying the items from just one seller. I managed to find one seller who comes pretty close, but that is not the only reason I am posting this article - which might become apparent as soon as you look at this:

...not sure I'm entirely comfortable buying my underwear on ebay...

You might have noticed that you can also get a luggage tag from this guy. But what I can't help but point out is the decision to use a Wayne Primeau action shot to help illustrate these items. Primeau ended his very unremarkable run in Calgary when he broke his foot in December 2008. Maybe the seller is a fan of the number 19...I noticed that lots of his/her Vancouver Canuck items feature Markus Naslund. Actually, scratch that theory...here are some Flames items for sale by this seller with updated pictures...

...Dion Phaneuf and...Dustin Boyd? Sheesh.

About that earlier "head to toe" statement; looks like we now need to come up with Flames merch for your feet. Well, I found an ebay seller who specializes in socks:

Wait...$13 shipping? For socks?!?

Quite the selection. I actually have a pair of (much plainer) Flames socks...they're just regular old socks, the only graphic is the flaming C at the top. Finally, to complete your ensemble, I'll provide two options. The first option is, of course, from ebay...

Only $5 shipping for slippers. Clearly, sock buyers are being gouged.

Now, slippers are usually just for wearing around the house. If you want to venture out into public wearing all this nice stuff - and why the heck wouldn't you? - you will need some better footwear. Read this for your second footwear option; it's a story about a one-of-a-kind (literally) pair of Flames-themed footwear!

"Darkest Day"

2011-09-08T17:16:00.001-03:00

“It’s with heavy hearts that we mourn the tragic loss of another member of the Flames Family today and everyone who lost their lives in this morning’s plane crash in western Russia. Brad was a true representative of the Flames organization. His leadership, hard work, character and love for his family, teammates, his community and the game of hockey were evident in his daily life. Our thoughts and prayers are with Brad and his family and the families of all those who lost their loved ones in this terrible accident.” - Statement from the Calgary Flames.

"This is the darkest day in the history of our sport." - IIHF President René Fasel.

FF: Bouchard

2011-09-04T16:50:00.000-03:00

According to the website "Goalies Archive," there have been 35 goalies to play at least one game for the Calgary Flames. One of these 'tenders was also the main man for the Flames during their entire time in Atlanta...Daniel Hector Bouchard. He played only 14 games for Calgary in 1980-81, basically splitting time with Pat Riggin and then backing up Rejean Lemelin by December. Bouchard was traded to Quebec in January 1981, and enjoyed some success there; in fact, he holds most of the Nordiques' goaltending records.

His last card as an active Flame is from the 1980-81 set, which you can see in the very first Flamestuff article. So, let's take a look at these four Dan Bouchard Atlanta Flames cards from my collection, from the 1976-77 set through to the 1979-80 set:

Now, is it just me, or does the the top right card look very similar to the bottom left card? I'm guessing they were both taken during the same pre-game warmup. It is not unusual to see photos from the same roll of film be used in different card sets...right Lanny?

You young'uns are probably wondering..."what the ** is a roll of film?"

These two Lanny McDonald cards are from the 1985-86 and 1987-88 sets...yeah, two seasons apart. I can just hear the hockey card editor in 1987..."That picture is two years old! Ah hell, print it. Nobody will ever notice."

Thanks to the wonders of the internet (well, specifically ebay), I gathered pictures of Bouchards first three cards:

The card on the left is his rookie card. He looks like a scared little kid...which he probably was, considering he was going to be the goalie for an expansion team.

To learn a little more about this player, let's take a look at a few of the cartoons they used to put on the back of the cards. Here are the 'toons from his rookie card and also from the two cards at the top of this article:

Heck, everybody adore la pizza.

Dan Bouchard: a promising goaltender whose nickname is "Flakes" (or "Flocons," depending on who is talking to him I guess), and who enjoys eating pizza. (Aren't all goalies called flaky?)

Finally, you would never know it from any of the above cards, but Bouchard actually wore some pretty cool masks...

Calendars

2011-09-01T17:31:00.001-03:00

At around this time of year, calendars start appearing on store shelves for next year. Many boast that they are "16-month" calendars so that people will buy 'em and stick 'em up up their walls in September. Personally, I usually wait until January to get my calendars - for 50% of the original price (or even less). FYI, my favourite calendars do not include pictures of hockey players...I prefer calendars with pictures of cars that would fill my garage once the royalties for this blog start rollin' in...

However, for 2007 I had a Calgary Flames calendar. This falls into the category of "stuff somebody got for me," since I am not a fan of hockey calendars for two reasons. (Click here for an explanation of "stuff somebody got for me.") One reason I am not a big fan of hockey calendars is that by the time December of next year rolls around, a good chunk of the players featured on the calendar are no longer with the team. The second reason is that, even though I am a huge Calgary Flames fan, I am not always a fan of each and every player on the team (...paging Mr. Bertuzzi).

So, here is the picture on the back of the 2007 Calgary Flames calendar:

You can click on the picture for a better look if you want, but here are the 13 featured players:

Sept. to Dec. 2006: Daymond Langkow. This part of the calendar never saw the light of day, since as I've said before, my calendars are purchased after New Year's. A waste of a good player's picture.
January: Yay, it's Iggy!
February: Andrew Ference. Incredibly, the calendar makers put his picture on the very month he was traded away! February 10th, to be exact.
March: Roman Hamrlik. Never been a big fan of this guy, especially ever since the "gutless puke" hammerlicked Theo's spine in the 2002 Olympics.
April: Matthew Lombardi. What is it with ex-Flames who end up in Toronto, and vice-versa?
May: Reggie.
June: Kipper.
July: Tony Amonte. Played his last NHL game a couple of months before.
August: Dion Phaneuf. Hey, I went to a U2 concert with Dion (and 74,998 other people) this summer in Moncton!
September: Shean Donovan. Signed as free agent with Boston in July 2006. Makes you wonder who does quality control at the calendar factory...
October: Chuck Kobasew. Traded with Ference way back in February.
November: Jordan Leopold. Traded to Colorado in June 2006...yes, even before Donovan left town.
December: Rhett Warrener.

So, with the moving-out of Reggie and Langks this summer, out of 13 calendar boys only two are still on the team just five years later. And, with the knowledge that Trader Jay was shopping Kipper around at the draft, how long until that number is reduced even further?

FF: Captains (Pre-Iggy)

2011-08-29T19:08:00.000-03:00

Well, another day, another shocking Flames trade! See ya, Langks; good luck back in Phoenix (except when you play against the Flames). Guess I'll soon have to post a "Former Flame" article in your honour to go along with this "Before Becoming A Flame" post. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program: Pre-Iginla Calgary Flames Captains...

Brad Marsh was the captain of the Flames for the 1980-81 season, their first in Calgary. This was only his third season in the NHL, and he was 22 years old when he captained his first game. At that time, according to my research, only a few players - Ryan Walter (Capitals), Wilf Paiement (Rockies) and Dave Maloney (Rangers) - had become captains at an earlier age. "Marshy" was traded after that season, and was succeeded by Phil Russell as Flames captain. Russell was traded after a couple of seasons. Next, Lanny McDonald, Doug Risebrough and Jim Peplinski shared the "C" for a number of years until Brad McCrimmon wore it for the 1989-90 season...and then promptly got traded.

Marsh: "Now with Flyers." McCrimmon: "Now with Red Wings."
Russell's card should have "Soon to be with Devils" printed on it.

The 1990-91 season is where it got crazy, as the captaincy got passed around the room like a bottle of beer at a junior high school kid's party. There were probably more captains, but here are three cards from some 1991-92 sets in my collection showing these guys wearing the "C" (presumably in the previous season):

Soon to be with Leafs...Soon to be with Leafs...Eventually to be with Leafs.

OK, so maybe I'm not 100% certain that that is in fact a "C" on Nieuwendyk's jersey...I suppose it could be an "A." Regardless, Joe Nieuwendyk was the captain from 1991 to 1995, and then Theoren Fleury took over for a little while. According to a couple of these next cards, however, the "C" also got passed around a bit during the Nieuwendyk-Fleury era:

After Theo, the next Flames captains were a fairly underwhelming list of players (reflecting the fairly underwhelming teams of the 1997-2003 era): Todd Simpson, Steve Smith, Dave Lowry, Bob Boughner and Craig Conroy. However, in 2003, Conroy decided that the Flames had become Jarome Iginla's team, and gave up the captaincy to #12. Smart move, Craig...clearly, that young Iginla fella was captain material!

Now Starring: Iginla

2011-08-27T08:18:00.000-03:00

In the Flamestuff article before this, I posted a picture of a hockey card showing Jarome Iginla with a rather unusual hair style; it is such a great picture that I decided to display it as part of my blog's design. However, while looking through some other Iggy cards in my collection, I noticed that there have been a number of unique pictures on his cards...especially earlier in his career.

The picture of a player on any hockey card is usually of him in game action, of course. The first two cards I'll show you follow that pattern; the only difference is that they show Iggy wearing number 24. So, I guess in that sense, these pictures are unique:

Those two cards were released before the 1996-97 season, and on the back, both state that Jarome is a Calder Trophy favourite. He would lead rookies in scoring with 50 points, but ended up in second place in voting for the Calder - 129 voting points behind Bryan Berard. Too bad, but not as bad as finishing second to Jose Theodore for the 2001-02 Hart by zero voting points (actually, only three first-place votes).

Now, here are three cards that have nothing even close to hockey action photos; the first two are posed, and the third is - I guess you would call it - a "candid" off-ice photo. Still, at least there is something in these pictures to indicate that these are hockey cards:

According to a couple of on-line hockey cards checklists, there are about 1000 cards featuring Jarome. (Well, the Upper Deck company says they have produced about 2000 themselves; however, a massive chunk of these are "short-printed" variations of the same card...I am not a collector of those.) While I currently have a fair collection of Iginla cards - maybe about 75 - there are obviously a vast number of his cards that I have never even seen. Still, I can confidently state that this might just be the craziest Jarome Iginla hockey card in existence:

And, since we are now on the topic of hockey cards whose photos do not depict anything at all to do with hockey, I'd like to share another card featuring a photo of a Calgary Flame doing something completely unrelated to an NHL game. Well, it is actually the picture on the back of the card...

...but, at least the football is in Calgary Flames colours!

Webkinz

2011-08-24T16:46:00.000-03:00

If you are not under the age of 12, or do not have any kids who are, then you might not know what a "Webkinz" is. They are popular toy stuffed animals that have unique codes on their tags that allow the toy owners to access the "Webkinz World" website where you can play games and do all kinds of activities. In this Flamestuff article I will link the Calgary Flames to one of their stuffed animals - who, it should be noted, is entirely unaffiliated with the NHL. But first, if you want to learn more about Webkinz, then here is a link to their website; and, Wikipedia's article on Webkinz is here.

My six year old son is a huge fan of these things. They are not very expensive, so they are the type of toy that he gets quite often on special occasions like Christmas, birthdays, good report cards, vacations...Tuesdays. It is safe to say that his collection of Webkinz is staring to take over his bedroom; I asked him how many he has, and his answer was "I don't know...a lot." Generally of course, kids can never have enough of something (such as candy, toys, DVDs, etc.), so for one to even admit that he has "a lot" of anything is kind of a big deal. Anyway, here are a few animals that I pulled out of his collection for this article:

The labels on the tags are pretty basic; for example, in the above picture, we have from left to right: "Leopard," "Prairie Dog," "Warthog" and "Stegosaurus." So, naturally, my son gives all his Webkinz new names...for example, the Prairie Dog's name is "Peter" and the Warthog is named "Willy."

My wife keeps an eye on the Webkinz website for upcoming releases, and tells our son about the new stuff that is coming out. For Halloween last year, the "Webkinz Night Mare" hit the shelves in August. My son saw the picture of the Night Mare on their website and immediately decided that it would be the next addition to his collection. So, here is a picture of his toy:

...I know, right?

And of course, when I saw this little item, I declared that it was officially my favourite Webkinz. The designer of this particular stuffed animal was probably a Calgary Flames fan about ten years ago...the similarities to those "flaming horse" jerseys are quite remarkable. The horse, the colour scheme, the flame design...mere coincidence? Gosh, I dunno...

As an aside, I realize that I am probably in the minority when I say that I actually liked those "flaming horse" unis. Maybe it's a fan's bias, but I don't think any of the Flames uniforms over the years have been all that bad...compared to some other teams (*cough*Canucks). Well, anyway, you have to admit that the flaming horse jersey looked pretty cool on ol' #12...

Nice jersey...awesome 'do.

Earlier in this article, I told you that all Webkinz stuffed animals get new names when they become part of my son's collection. Well, I suggested "Iggy" for this one, but according to the local authority on giving Webkinz their names, "Iggy" is kind of a silly name for a horse. Luckily, my second suggestion was quite acceptable; therefore, this particular Webkinz's name is "Jarome." (Yes, I know that "Jarome" is a boy's name, and that a mare is a female horse...but what other name could we have possibly given to this toy?)

FF: Drury

2011-08-21T17:23:00.000-03:00

So, Chris Drury just retired. If you've ever watched or listened to a TV or radio broadcast of a hockey game that this guy played in, then you likely know that he was a Little League World Series Champion; in fact, in the championship game, he pitched a 5-hit complete game and chipped in with 2 RBIs. He continued with his winning ways once he focused on hockey, and it's an impressive list: the Hobey Baker Award, a Calder Trophy, a Stanley Cup (with Colorado) and 2 Olympic silver medals.

Oh, and he also played one season for the Flames.

Drury was traded from the Avalanche to the Flames in 2002 along with Stephane Yelle in exchange for Derek Morris, Dean McAmmond and Jeff Shantz. This article by Adrian Dater of the Denver Post described that trade as "foolish," "ill-advised" and "the worst trade Pierre Lacroix made in his otherwise sterling tenure as GM of the Avs." It's kinda weird to see this perspective in a trade involving the Calgary Flames...that is, an opinion that the Flames actually might have won a trade. Anyway, after 53 points in 80 games as a Flame, he was shipped to Buffalo in a 2003 deal that brought Rhett Warrener to Calgary.

Now, since this post is called "FF: Drury," I should also mention another Drury that played for the Flames...does anyone remember Chris' older brother Ted? Yeah, Ted's Flames career was even shorter than his younger brother, and he played for the Flames almost 10 years before Chris showed up. Ted played in just 34 games as a Flame in 1993-94 and racked up 12 points.

After being traded to Hartford along with Gary Suter (fact!), he played in 394 regular season and playoff games for 5 more NHL teams. He also played for a lot of teams in the minor leagues, and a few more in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (that's in Germany, of course). The DEL will come up again in this very article, so I hope you're paying attention!

The Drurys are one set of brothers who played for the Calgary Flames...albeit several years apart. And thanks to the Sutters, the Flames seem to have had brothers on the payroll forever. But, can you recall a set of brothers who played for the Calgary Flames at the same time? Hint: according to Wikipedia, they are also the only brothers to play in the NHL and to have been born in the Southern Hemisphere...

I think Robyn is leaning on half of another NHL brother act...

Now let's go back to the DEL for a minute. Richie holds a record in Ted's old stomping grounds for the most goals in a game by a defenseman: five, scored on October 31, 2007. Hey, that's more goals than Robyn has scored in the past three-plus seasons!...huh, no wonder they traded him...(kidding, I'm kidding!)

The Flame

2011-08-12T09:05:00.001-03:00

I've been crazy busy at work lately - which explains the infrequent Flamestuff articles for the last month or so - and I was looking for a basic topic for a post since I am overdue for some new material. I didn't want to write another card article this time or go through my vast collection of other stuff, so I decided to turn to other sources for inspiration. A quick peek at the (usually) reliable ebay didn't help, but the NHL's online shop gave me something to work with. OK, sure, so I'm a little late to the party, but do you remember this...?

I'm not going to criticize this whole Guardian Project thing, because I don't think the NHL had people like me in mind when they came up with this idea. I'm sure that there are some people who are enjoying this concept, it's just not my thing. Still, I will say that "The Flame" is not nearly as lame as many of the other Guardians (*cough*Canadien*cough*).

As for the merchandizing opportunities this project provides, they aren't selling much stuff...well, there is a ~~comic book~~ (sorry) graphic novel, pennants, posters, mini sticks, and some "wood signs" like this one:

'roids much?

There is nothing for sale featuring The Flame...yet. Maybe we can expect to see The Flame on packages of allergy medicine ("sooth those flaming eye blasts!") and BBQ briquettes ("Kingsford Lava Balls!") in the near future.

FF: Paul Reinhart (Volume 1)

2011-07-16T06:49:00.002-03:00

I now feel the need to always clarify which "Reinhart" I'm writing about, since young Maxwell appears to be hanging around the organization for the next little while. I wish the best of luck to the kid! I've mentioned before that Max's old man was my favourite Flame in the olden days, so you can expect to see a few more posts on one of the original Calgary Flames here - hence the "Volume 1" in the title. This time around I'll show you some non-conventional or, minor release, hockey cards from my collection that feature Rhino.

Well, before I get into the cards, here are a couple of O-Pee-Chee stickers from 1982 and 1983:

Great 'stache in the 1983 sticker...he probably started working on it right around when the 1982 sticker picture was taken. Also, take note of the "Molson" practice jersey; a number of O-Pee-Chee's cards from their 1983-84 set show the Flames wearing these sweaters. Free advertising for Molson, but I'm not sure that most collectors of hockey cards and stickers in 1983 would have been in their target audience. I only have three such cards in my collection...

...but O-Pee-Chee really missed out on a great opportunity that year to make hockey card history with Eddy Beers' rookie card:

Beers: Pardy Loob

This clearly would have been a much better card if they had used a front-on photo like one of the above cards - yeah, a guy whose name is "Beers," wearing a Molson hockey jersey, on merchandise marketed for kids. Nice little coincidences, although not in the same legendary category as a Bill Ripken 1989 baseball card - oh, you really should read this article if you don't know that story. Actually, baseball card lore is full of crazy stuff like this...you can check out this article for some truly bizarre baseball cards. In fact, there are all kinds of websites that dig up funny sports cards. Well, what can we expect from an industry that began as a way to promote products such as cigarettes? I'm not sure if the switch to that bubble gum they used to put in the packs was any kind of healthier alternative to smokes...but, I digress.

Aside from stickers, I have a few "small set" cardboard samples from various sources:

Top left: a 1983 NHLPA card. This release was not sanctioned by the NHL, and nowhere on the card does it even indicate what team he plays for...you have to guess by the colours around the neck of the shirt.
Top right: a card from a 1983-84 Vachon Foods release. According to an ebay seller, these cards are RARE; in fact, the seller is asking for almost 4 bucks for a Lanny McDonald card from this set. Now, if you're not Canadian, you might not know that Vachon is a company that makes sweet snacks like Ah Caramel!...man, you take one of those bad boys and wash it down with a big glass of milk, and you have yourself a treat.
Bottom left: a 1987-88 O-Pee-Chee "Mini" card. There are quite a few cards from this set on ebay, ranging in price from less than a dollar up to $150 for a graded at 9.5 Mario Lemieux card!
Bottom right: a 1982-83 mini card from Post Cereal. This card is much bigger than an Alpha-Bit...it's just slightly bigger than a Honey Comb. You can get your very own version of this card here for 20 cents. Hey, that's cab money for one particular NHL star!

So, let's see...in this article, I've talked about beer, cigarettes, rock-hard sticks of bubble gum, sugared cereal, and fattening snack cakes. A blog about hockey memorabilia has never been so bad for your health!

Hall of Fame T-Shirt

2011-07-14T21:27:00.000-03:00

With the recent addition of Joe Nieuwendyk to the Hall, and also to the list of former Flames honoured there, I was reminded of a T-shirt that is in the "old stuff" department of my vast Flames memorabilia collection. In fact, this T-shirt is from the same era as the sweatshirt that I wrote about in this post. This is now a Hall of Fame T-Shirt because - of course - all three players on it are in the Hall.

I'm betting that you generally know what a T-shirt looks like, so I'll just post a big picture of the shirt's graphic instead of the sleeves and other T-shirtness:

In addition to the freakish big heads and the jumping high-five between the 5'10" Mullen and the somehow-shorter 6'2" MacInnis, the shirt also includes "autographs" of the players. "Awesome," indeed. I guess this was before every single player signed their name with their number...hey, there's something else we can thank Wayne Gretzky for...

The copyright note on the shirt's graphic is dated 1988. So, yes, this shirt is older than Mikael Backlund. Here's a portion of a scanned photograph of me wearing this shirt over 20 years ago:

And, while researching this article, I tried the ol' shirt on. It still "fits" - if by "fits" you understand that it is significantly snugger than it used to be. Yeah, well, see, it's because now I sorta look like this...

No, really, I do.

I found that last picture by Google-searching "tight t-shirts." I also found out that as soon as you type "tight t-" into a Google search, "tight t-shirts on women" is the most popular option (this is just one way to see a LOT of pictures that are WAY better to look at than anything featured in this blog). Another thing I found out is that a young lady named Denise Milani appears to have become quite popular by wearing tight shirts. Well, actually, any shirt she wears would be tight...which also might help to explain her popularity...

BBAF: Reggie

2011-07-08T09:35:00.002-03:00

In the week following the trade of Robyn Regehr, I mentioned in this post that I would take some time before coming up with a "Reggie" Flamestuff article. The reason for this was because I was a bit conflicted - sure, I was sad to see the man leave the Flames and I certainly wasn't overwhelmed with the return, but then I wasn't too upset about seeing his salary go. The news that Kotalik was also on his way out of town just made things a bit better. Anyway, many of my other feelings about this trade have just been written by another blogger.

Mitch Smith at Matchsticks & Gasoline has written a great article on the trade (and the Babchuk re-signing as well) right here. It was very refreshing to read a different opinion than the usual "oh no the Flames are so stupid" cries that many of the other bloggers offer up. Like Mitch, I agree that the analysis of the Flames moves by the more established Flames bloggers is of the highest quality, but I find their eternal pessimism a little tiring. I know, I know, we Flames fans have good reason to be pessimistic, but at least Mitch can make a reasonable argument that absolutely everything might not be heading straight to the crapper. Speaking of which...

Thanks, ebay

Anyway, I resolved when I started this little blog about Flames memorabilia that I wouldn't dwell on the current affairs of the hockey team. I have stated that I want these blog articles to be always fun, sometimes nostalgic, and never depressing. So, hopefully this hockey card of Robyn Regehr - Before Becoming a Flame - will bring at least a little smirk to your face...

This is his rookie card, from Upper Deck's 1997-98 set. It was released before he was drafted 19th overall by the Avalanche in 1998 and sent to the Flames in 1999 in a deal that saw some guy named Theoren Fleury go the other way. It was also released before Reggie walked into a Barber Shop one day and said, "cut 'em all off, pal."

So, thanks for your many years of service to the Calgary Flames Robyn. Have fun throwing your weight around in a Sabre uniform! And, I think that I might actually enjoy watching you nail some of your old friends on November 4 (just watch out for that #12 - he usually steps his game up a notch when he gets hit. But you knew that already.)

Official Merch

2011-07-06T13:40:00.004-03:00

You don't have to be a marketing expert to understand the reason why licensed products are important to the owners of the intellectual property being sold (such as trademarked logos). From Wikipedia's article on merchandising:

For the owners of the intellectual property in question, merchandising is a very popular source of revenue, due to the low cost of letting a third party manufacture the merchandise, while the IP owners simply sit back and collect the merchandising fees.

This article also claims that the most common (and therefore, I conclude, lucrative) adult-oriented merchandising is related to professional sports. The NHL is obviously a professional sport, and merchandising accounts for millions and millions of dollars of profit. As the NHL itself reports in a recent article,

Led by dramatic increases in sponsorship and merchandise sales, landmark corporate investment in its big events and impressive digital growth, the NHL is on pace for its fifth consecutive year of record total revenue and is projected to bring more than $2.9 billion by the end of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The National Hockey League's website claims that it is "your official NHL online store with the largest selection of NHL licensed merchandise." This is OK when we are talking about jerseys and hats, but highlighting the more unusual items is where a Flamestuff blog article comes into play. To wit:

Not in Flamestuff's collection.

If you don't read the hockey blog Puck Daddy (and why wouldn't you?), then you might not be aware of this next item. The Puck Daddy article is here, which I certainly recommend that you read for its many great lines including "it looks like something you'd throw together using items from your rec room if you forgot a birthday gift for your best friend/hockey fan."

I wonder what would happen if you tried to put a "beverage" that isn't from one of the NHL's marketing partners into this thing? Remember the outcry the last time somebody poured an unauthorized product into an NHL item...?

Well, this guy remembers.

Aaand, switching gears slightly...obviously there are no beaches in Calgary, as the NHL doesn't offer one of these official NHL licensed items in a Calgary Flames version:

What a model...she's holding the exact same poses in each picture!

I find it interesting that Shop.nhl.com feels the need to specify these items as "Women's Team Bikinis." I guess the NHL will be offering men's team bikinis soon, so it's good that they have eliminated the possible confusion early on. Anyway, if you see a girl wearing a Calgary Flames bikini this summer you could probably assume that it is not officially licensed by the NHL. However, if you wipe your feet on one of these...

...you can rest assured that the NHL has received their cut from the sale of it.

Yikes. "Calgary Flames door mat"....four words I definitely don't want to see in the same sentence.

FF: Hall Of Famers

2011-06-30T22:49:00.002-03:00

The biggest Calgary Flame news of this past week was the Robyn Regehr trade, but I'm going to let that sink in a bit before I crank out a Reggie post. I did, however, take a peek at the Sabres 2011-12 schedule: Buffalo's fifth game of the season is in Montreal...hopefully they'll fix the stanchions there before Reggie comes to town! And, the Flames play in Buffalo early in the season (November 4)...well played, Mr. Schedule Maker! Anyway, the other (sort of) Calgary Flames news came with the announcement of this year's Hockey Hall of Fame class.

For the uninitiated, the "FF" articles in my Flamestuff blog feature hockey cards of players while they played for the Calgary Flames - i.e., "Former Flames". With former Flames Joe Nieuwendyk and Doug Gilmour becoming honoured members of the Hall this week, now would be a good time to look at all the FF's in the HHOF. So, there are now a total of seven former Flame players in the Hall, and five of them were on that great 1989 team. The other two are the answer to a decent trivia question at the end of this post. For now, here are the Fantastic Five, from O-Pee-Chee's 1989-90 set:

Coming soon: #14 and #10?

Hey, you ask, what the heck is Wamsley doing there? That card, my friends, was included because of the cameo appearance on it. Look over Wamsley's right shoulder...

Oh, hi Killer

Speaking of cameos, there is a good one (or two!) on Nieuwendyk's card. Joel Otto is the obvious one, and that miiight just be a Hakan Loob sighting behind Joe, don't you think...?

Gary Roberts is eligible next year, and I wonder if he will join sure bets Sakic and Shanny in next year's class? Another 1989 Flame that should be considered for the Hall is Theoren Fleury, but there doesn't seem to be much talk about inducting him. At the very least, the Flames should retire his number - that's a no-brainer. Ah, what great teams the late 1980s Flames were. Mitch Smith over at Matchsticks and Gasoline said it best in a recent post: "Damn, that team was awesome, stupid Gretzky Oilers, we probably would have had three Cups in that era instead of just one if it hadn't been for them." At least three.

So, now it's time for that trivia question: who are the other two former Calgary Flames in the Hall of Fame? Here's a clue: the Flames were the last NHL team for one guy, and they were the first NHL team for the other guy. OK then, here's a visual clue:

You probably didn't need those clues, but here's a fun fact that you might not have known about these guys and their Flames connection: they both played for a Flames' AHL team, and both of these teams were based in different New Brunswick cities. Whoa. Mind. Blown.

ATF: Ference

2011-06-16T08:24:00.003-03:00

Congratulations to the Boston Bruins, 2011 Stanley Cup Champions. Also, thanks for (1) beating the Canucks and (2) moving ahead of the Oilers in total Cup wins. That was wicked awesome!

I've mentioned before that the Bruins are my #2 team, so whenever the Flames are eliminated from Cup contention I have always hoped that the Bruins would win. Or, whoever is playing against Edmonton or Vancouver...or Montreal.

Taken moments before, in his best "Rocky" voice,
Ference shouted "IGGYYYYY"

It was great to see former Calgary Flame Andrew Ference take a twirl with the Cup, and his interview with Scott Oake was interesting, from a Flames fan's perspective. In case you missed it, the first thing he said was that he was thinking about the 2004 Flames team and wished he could have shared this experience with the likes of Iggy, Warrener, Reggie, and...Chuck Kobasew. Chuck Kobasew? Oh yeah, he was sent packin' for Beantown with Ference. Anyway, way to go Andy! You played great in the playoffs and you deserve this. Like Kesler said, you have become a legend...now you can party like one!

As for an "After The Flames" card, here is the only one I own right now showing Ference in a Bruins uniform. It is a personally autographed one from the 2007-08 Be A Player set:

...signed, "AF21"

Nice card. It isn't worth a pile of money, but I collect cards that have value to me, and not as a monetary investment. I got this on ebay a couple of years ago and I don't remember how much it cost. So, I took a look at ebay this morning and one seller is offering it for $3. Interestingly, the same seller is selling a Roberto Luongo card from the same set for $22. Another seller is selling a Chuck Kobasew card from this set for $3.63; yet another one offers a Tim Thomas card from this set for $35.92. Timmy is now my favourite goalie of all time, but I won't be shelling out the cash for this particular card. Still, I think it would be a much better investment than the Luongo one...

Anyway,while I was looking at ebay for Ference stuff, I found this:

If you can't make out the words, it is a "LUCIC FERENCE HORTON SAVARD AUTO BRUINS FIGHT PHOTO." Besides Ference, it features a star of a "Former Flame" Flamestuff article, Marc Savard. Here is a bigger picture so you can gander at this beauty:

Niiice.

FF: Savard

2011-06-12T14:01:00.000-03:00

Last month in this article, I featured a former Calgary Flame who is still competing for the Stanley Cup, Andrew Ference. The Bruins won three straight games after I posted that article, and I'm hoping to repeat that pattern with another former Flame and current Bruin. Well, the third win would be a 2011-12 pre-season game, I guess. Anyway, this time, I'm featuring the guy that the Flames traded away in their eternal quest for that big-bodied centreman. Yeah, that's 154 points in 221 Flame games traded for...Ruslan Zainullin.

January 22: his last game.

Of course, the other former Calgary Flame hoping for a big Bruins win on Monday (and then another one on Wednesday) is Marc Savard. The criteria for getting your name on the Cup as a player is to play 41 regular-season games (he played 25 this year), or one Cup Final game (well, that prolly ain't hap'nin, even if a blindfolded Savard on baseball cleats would vastly improve the B's power play. Thanks for nothing, Kaberle). However, if the Bruins can win two more games he might still get his name on the Cup, as the NHL will make exceptions for injured players. Too bad the NHL won't make exceptions for no-class divers and omit Burrows and Lapierre if the Canucks win.

And now to the task at hand. Here are four cards from Upper Deck, starting with the 1999-2000 set, that show Savard as a Calgary Flame:

Finally, from the department of Coincidences and Optimistic Symbolism:

Matt Cooke is a former Vancouver Canuck.
Marc Savard wore #9 when he played for the Atlanta Thrashers from 2002-2006; Evander Kane wears/wore #9 for the Thrashers.
March 7, 2010: Cooke blind-sides and concusses Savard.
April 10, 2010: Kane KOs Cooke, in the process becoming an honourary Bruin.

...get it?

A Peek at ebay: Part 4

2011-05-30T08:32:00.000-03:00

I thought it was time once again to see what was happening over at the second greatest collection of Flames memorabilia on the internet...ebay. This time, the thing that really caught my eye as potential blog fodder amongst the 11,000+ results from searching "calgary flames" was a label from a bottle of Budweiser...

Now I know I'm pretty bad when it comes to hoarding Flames memorabilia, but no way would I ever spend over two bucks (shipping included) for a beer bottle label! Come on, there is a significant difference between hanging on to what many people say is garbage, and paying money for that same garbage. (Maybe it's just me, but I also find it funny that in the item description the seller points out that "the label was carefully removed." As opposed to "absent-mindedly removed while working up a good buzz," I guess.) Also, this is from a Quebec beer bottle...if you click on the image, you might be able to see that - in accordance with Quebec law! - the main text is in French (Qualité...Indétronable), and that the French text is written above the English text.

So, just for kicks I thought I'd look for an English version, and came upon this beauty:

...with logo cap? Really?

...yes, really.

This is more like it, and it even comes complete with the flaming C cap! And, for that price - plus $10 shipping - you might think that the beer is also included; but alas, as you might have noticed, the item condition is "used." It is also described as "an empty Budweiser beer bottle." Oh well.

Now, to be totally honest, if Bud was my brand of choice I would probably already own this sweet bottle and cap combo. I can just hear myself saying "I'm not returning that bottle for 10 cents, it's got the Flames logo on it!" No way I'm that crazy, you say? Well, listen to this: my daughters have been competitive swimmers for many years, which means that we have bought plenty of sport drinks for swim meets. One time some years ago, Gatorade had bottles with NHL teams on the labels...

I kept one.

Saint John Flames

2011-05-23T11:51:00.000-03:00

On this Victoria Day weekend, a hockey team from Saint John, New Brunswick is playing in a prominent hockey championship tournament - the Memorial Cup. Ten years ago, another team from the same place was playing for the Calder Cup...this team was the American Hockey League affiliate of the Calgary Flames.

I grew up in the Saint John area, but speaking as a Flames fan my timing was terrible. The Calgary Flames moved their farm team to the Port City in 1993, which was many years after I had left home to attend university, and one year after I graduated and moved to my current home at the opposite side of the province. However, I did manage to see the occasional game whenever I went back to SJ to visit my family. One of the things I remember about that team was that they had a big dragon head that the players would skate out of at the start of the game. Gee, at least I think they did...I can't find a picture of that on the internet...

Well, at least I know where I was for the May long weekend in 2001. I attended game two of the Calder Cup final series, which Saint John won 4-3. Here is what I can remember from that game: our seats were close to the ice; the game was exciting and the place was loud; and Dennis Bonvie of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins was perhaps the worst skater I had ever seen at a level above competitive Bantam hockey. In his defense, maybe he was hurt (I know it was painful to watch); after all, he did manage to play in 92 NHL games for six teams. Too bad that's all I can recall, because that Flames team featured some notable players including playoff MVP Steve Begin, as well as NHLers Chris Clark, Steve Montador, Marty Murray, Blair Betts...Rico Fata. Oh, and Jim Playfair was behind the bench!

The Flames eventually won the series in game six at home (the 2-3-2 format was in play). Sadly, the Flames never played another playoff game in SJ and left town after the 2002-03 season. And all the memorabilia from this era in Flames history that I have (or, at least, that I can find right now) are a ticket stub from that game and a schedule for the 2001-02 season...

I'm sure you're tempted to call me a hoarder, but I'm not. Really.

One more thing: despite the fact that the Calgary Flames have two prospects playing for the Kootenay Ice, I'm still going to say...Go Sea Dogs!

FF: Conroy

2011-05-16T20:33:00.000-03:00

At the risk of alienating any readers of this blog who don't care for hockey cards and would rather read about, and look at pictures of, other forms of Flame memorabilia, I am boldly proceeding with today's feature - the second in a row with "cards" as one of the labels. After today's "big" Flames news, I guess it is just my way of being occasionally topical as far as the team is concerned.

Craig Conroy's term as the Calgary Flames' "Special Assistant to the General Manager" has been officially extended for four years. Now, while this job title sounds suspiciously similar to "Assistant to the Travelling Secretary," I am sure it is a much more important position than George Costanza's job with the Yankees was. At least it's not "Special Assistant to the Acting General Manager" anymore. I wonder if Conroy's job interview went anything like George's, however...

Mr. Feaster: Ah, Mr. King, sir. There's someone here I'd like you to meet. This is Mr. Conroy. He's one of the applicants.
Mr. King: Nice to meet you.
Craig: Well, I wish I could say the same, but I must say, with all due respect, I find it very hard to see the logic behind some of the moves you have made with this fine organization. In the past ten years you have caused myself, and the city of Calgary, a good deal of distress, as we have watched you take our beloved Flames and reduced them to a laughing stock, all for the glorification of your massive ego!
Mr. King: Hire this man!

Good stuff, that ol' Seinfeld show. Anyway, I'd like to feature a few cards showing Conroy from his first go-around with the Flames...

...awesome 'stache from the 2003-04 season!

These are Upper Deck cards from the 2001-02 to 2004-05 sets inclusive, so you may have noticed that the last one has Conroy as a member of the LA Kings. If these were relatively "modern" O-Pee-Chee cards, there would be a big "NOW WITH KINGS" note printed on that one; if they were older O-Pee-Chee cards, somebody would have painted a Kings uniform right on top of the Flames jersey. (You don't believe me? Read this blog post.) I chose to feature Conroy's cards in a "Former Flame" format, but I could also make a BBAF (Before Becoming A Flame) or an ATF (After The Flames) article featuring some of his other cards...not to mention sharing some cards from his second stint in Calgary. Hey, fodder for future posts!

Good luck in your old/new job, Mr. Conroy!

ATF: Paul Reinhart

2011-05-13T19:38:00.000-03:00

In my first Flamestuff article, I said that my favourite original Calgary Flame was Paul Reinhart. He put up some great numbers in his 517 games as a Flame, then continued to play well for two seasons in Vancouver. He led the Canucks in assists both those years, and points in his last season. With the success of the Vancouver Canucks so far this season (curse your playoff awesomeness, Kesler!), I though it would be appropriate to feature my absolute favourite Canuck of all-time in my first "After The Flames" feature...

All of these cards are from various 1990-91 sets, and feature Reinhart in his last NHL season. This was also the first year that companies other than O-Pee-Chee / Topps produced hockey cards...some of these new sets were fairly decent (Score), some were very good (Upper Deck), and some were really bad (Pro Set).

The photos on those cards are interesting, because they remind me of Calgary's best current all-around defenseman...

...and also these guys...

The guy on the left even wore Reinhart's #23!

aaaand just one more... :-P

A Minor Easter Miracle

2011-05-08T17:43:00.000-03:00

hit the post author walkinvisible left me a very kind comment on one of my recent blog posts where she invited me to take a look at one of her articles about ridiculous Flames merch. In it, she shared with us her copy of the kids' card game UNO...in a so-bad-it's-awesome Calgary Flames version. So, allow me to continue with the theme of kid-specific swag...

Easter was, of course, a couple of weeks ago. My wife bought a massive 2-pound bag of Cadbury Mini-Eggs, which are the crack cocaine of candy. I was grabbing a handful out of that bag once or twice a day - as were the other four people in my family - and it took about nine days for us to eat all the eggs. Wait, you say, what does this touching Easter tale have to do with Calgary Flames memorabilia? Nothing really, but I just want to say that I was both happy and sad when that damn bag was finally empty. Anyway, the following is a story with a direct link between Easter and kid-specific Flames stuff.

My youngest child started playing hockey last fall and his interest in the game has been growing. So, this year he wanted the Easter Bunny to bring him one of those NHL Super Eggs. For the uninitiated, an NHL Super Egg is a giant chocolate egg with a toy Zamboni inside; just imagine a Kinder-Surprise on steroids. The Zambonis, which you have to put together, come in the six (current) Canadian NHL teams. These odds - one in six - are actually a little scary, because I would have had a hard time explaining to him why the Oiler or Canuck Zamboni has never been seen since the first garbage collection day after Easter. But, as fate would have it, this is what he got and assembled all by himself:

...he put the stickers on, too!

He was excited when he saw that it was a Flames Zamboni because he knows that the Flames are "Dad's team." However, despite the fact that my son has had a poster of Jarome Iginla on his bedroom wall since he was born, and that until only very recently he wore a Flames cap whenever we went outside, right now the Flames are not his favourite team. You see, a while ago, I showed him all* the NHL team logos and asked him to pick his favourite. He was five years old at the time, so he naturally picked the coolest one - to a five-year-old boy anyway - the Sharks.

* "Oops, did I forget to show you the logo with the kinda-cool killer whale? Sorry, bud, but you already picked the one with the shark..."

A Peek at ebay: Part 3

2011-05-04T10:27:00.001-03:00

I was looking through ebay when I found a seller who lists a bunch of unusual-looking Flames hats and I noticed that a couple were listed "NFL" Calgary Flames. Of course, this is probably a typo, but I thought that searching for "nfl calgary flames" might be great way to find some crazy unlicensed stuff amongst the over 10,000 Calgary Flames items...

Well, the NFL Croc charms from Hong Kong might not be a typo...

Anyway, I took a closer look at that first item, because it looked a little fishy to me, and, honestly, I was questioning its authenticity. But there, in the item description are the words that make it all OK: "OFFICIALLY LICENSED APPAREL" (quotation marks mine), plus the following picture:

...note the NHL logo on the tag.

Allrightythen, so maybe this item and all the other strange-looking Flames hats for sale by this seller are on the up-and-up, but now I'm even more worried. I noticed recently in the FlamesNation.ca glossary that "sparklepants" is (was) a nickname for Todd Bertuzzi; I'm guessing that's because he wears (wore)...sparkly pants. I know that Bert is signed with the Wings for another year, but if the "sparkly Flames" on the front of that hat was to be considered as an alternate logo, could it mean that his return isn't too far off?

Former Flame: Ference

2011-05-01T10:54:00.009-03:00

You tell 'em, Andy!

There are a few former Flames still competing for the Stanley Cup right now...by the way, nice boarding penalty Friday night, Bertuzzi...but possibly the most notorious at the moment is Andrew Ference of the Boston Bruins. He recently plunked down $2500 for the honour of telling Montreal Canadiens fans how every single non-Habs fan feels about them. He also took some heat when his shoulder was viciously struck by the onrushing, blindside jaw of Jeff Halpern. And, he has certainly been more productive than that alleged power-play specialist the Bruins acquired from the Leafs late this season. Hey Boston, as we Flame fans know all too well, you can take the boy from the Leafs, but you can't take the Leafs from the boy.

I could also be featuring a couple of currently high-performing former Flames Martin St. Louis and Dwayne Roloson, but I don't own any cards of either of them wearing the Flaming C. So, the honour goes to a guy who I've been cheering for since he was (literally) pulled off the Flames bus in 2007. Here, then, are a couple hockey cards of Ference from his Flame days:

Apparently employing his signature move in both cards.

The Bruins have always been my second-favourite team; Ray Bourque was one of my favourite players when I was a kid. Apparently they also had another pretty good defenseman before Bourque. So, when Ference got traded I was sad to see him leave Calgary but happy he wound up in Boston.

If the Bruins keep on pumping in the goals against Philly - we don't need no stinkin' power play! - don't be surprised to see the Flyers try to make a deal for a highly-regarded goalie this off season. I wonder what, oh I don't know, someone like, say, Kipper would fetch from the Flyers...?

Someday I will feature another Flame I was saddened to see leave: Matthew Lombardi of the Predators. I don't know what was worse a couple of years ago, seeing him leave or seeing Jokinen arrive; it was a lose-lose scenario for a Flames fan, to be sure. Anyway, I hope Lombo gets well soon, but the fact that he has been out so long is really scary. It would certainly be great to see him help his team against Vancouver...I think it is safe to say that, other than international competition, nothing unites both Flame and Oiler fans like seeing the Canucks lose. BRUINS-PREDS FINAL!

New Look

2011-04-30T08:09:00.000-03:00

I realize that this blog is quite new, and that it may seem strange to be changing the look of it already. I also realize that using a picture from the 1989 Stanley Cup celebration - however great it may be - is not entirely appropriate for a blog exclusively about Calgary Flames memorabilia.

So, here is one last little look at Flamestuff...the way we were...

...good times...good times...

That reminds me, if you want to see a picture of a "naked" Lanny (i.e., no mustache), check out my post called Before Becoming A Flame: McDonald.

Oh, and BIG-TIME thanks to walkinvisible from hit the post for adding Flamestuff to the Links section of her blog. Also, thanks for the invite to the next Flames blogger meet-up. Unfortunately, according to Google maps, the shortest driving route from my place to the 'Dome is 4313 km. But once all the dough I'm going to make from this blog starts rollin' in, I'm there!

Geekdom, Up a Notch

2011-04-27T12:09:00.001-03:00

One of the oldest and best Calgary Flames blogs out there is called hit the post. I don't think I'd be insulting the authors over there if I were to say that their articles are written for Flames geeks, by Flames geeks...just like my own blog, Flamestuff. And, I don't mean "geeks" in a statistical sense...there are enough blogs out there that will fill up a comments section with arguments about Player X's zone starts and Corsi rating, and why he is a better cap fit for the Flames' third line than Player Y. No, I mean "geeks" in a "both the 'Fire On Ice: The Flames 10th Anniversary Edition' and 'Calgary Flames: the Fire Inside' (25th Anniversary) books are on my shelf" sense.

However, a recent entry over at hit the post has taken Flames geekdom to a new level. I won't try to describe it, because it has to be seen to be believed; just click *here* to read it. I'll wait for you to come back before continuing my article...

so, what is this guy's Corsi rating?

...welcome back! Now that's hardcore, right? One of my favourite parts is the Ronald McDonald reference, and I can certainly see where that came from...

Anyway, this blog post - and the associated Ronald McDonald mental image - triggered some old part of my brain that holds a memory of a sweatshirt that I used to wear back in the 80's. And, as you know if you've read this article, I (almost) never throw anything out...which is a good thing if you want to write a blog about old and new Flames memorabilia. So I went on a quest to find the sweatshirt, and it was located at the back of a closet on a shelf in a pile of other old sweatshirts that were probably stacked up when we bought this house about 15 years ago and were never touched...until now:

...just needs a bit more yellow, I guess...

Those three red stripes go across the back, too, so I guess ol' Ronald would look right at home sporting this vintage Starter item. And sure, just because it is well over 20 years old, there are a couple of stains on it and the colour from the red stripes had bled into the white a bit. Regardless, I think it might be the perfect accessory to KingJafi's awesome shoes, don't you?

A Peek at ebay: Part 2

2011-04-12T18:24:00.001-03:00

In my first post about unusual Calgary Flames items that can be found on ebay, I found a "Flaming G" (yes, that's "G" as in "Gary") sweater that the seller was passing off as a "Calgary Flames NHL Hockey Jersey." Clearly, ebay is full of un-licensed products, where the vast majority of sellers of such items do not acknowledge that fact. Today, however, I am featuring a couple of items where the seller includes a disclaimer:

This is not a licensed Calgary Flames or NHL product.
It is however, hand-crafted from licensed Calgary Flames fabric.
I am not affiliated with or sponsored by the Calgary Flames or the NHL.

So, armed with that little bit of information, I present to you...

...aaand...

Yep, those are Calgary Flames wedding garter sets. Click on the pictures for a better look if you don't believe me.

They're nice enough, I guess, but I just would like to know what "licensed Calgary Flames fabric" actually is. I don't remember ever seeing the Flames wearing frilly lace...well, maybe that's what they wore when they played the Coyotes this season. And, don't worry ladies, if you aren't a Flames fan, the seller assures you that "all NFL, MLB, NBA, and many NHL and NCAA teams available."

BBAF: Langkow

2011-04-02T11:55:00.001-03:00

The Heritage Classic was a nice event, and it was great to see the Flames kick the Habs around in such a hyped-up game. The unfortunate wretched start to the season will almost certainly cost Calgary a playoff spot, although the surprising post-Christmas run was exciting and fun to watch. However, last night might have been the most "feel-good" game of the year for the flaming C's for at least two reasons.

Firstly, legend-in-the-making Jarome Iginla carried his team to victory and scored his 1000th point in the process. Despite his ups-and-downs over the years that have some Flames fans calling for the team to trade him, we are - and have been - lucky to have this man on our team. He is ranked right up there with the great athletes of all time, both on and off the playing surface. Congratulations, Iggy, and I truly hope the rest of your hockey career brings you everything you ever dreamed of. (Hello, Stanley?)

Secondly, after a frightening injury last season, Daymond Langkow returned to the lineup and was also a big help in the win. We, as hockey fans, were just hoping that he would recover enough from his injury to lead a comfortable life; to see him play again in the NHL was icing on the cake. Kent Wilson at FlamesNation wrote a great "welcome-back" tribute article before last night's game; here, in the form of Flamestuff's feature Before Becoming A Flame is another tribute:

"Langks" bounced around a fair bit before playing for Calgary after the lockout. He was a big part of Team Canada's WJC gold in 1996 after being drafted fifth overall by the Lightning. He played 625 games for Tampa, Philly and Phoenix and racked up 354 points for those teams. Calgary acquired him in exchange for Denis Gauthier and Oleg Saprykin in August 2004.

I'll say it's been great to have this guy on our team, and it's really great to see that this man has recovered fully.

Toast...er

2011-03-31T06:29:00.000-03:00

When I started this blog, I resolved to not discuss the affairs of the current iteration of the Calgary Flames. There are plenty of great blogs out there doing just that. Also, I want these blog articles to be always fun, sometimes nostalgic, and never depressing.

However, given the result of last night's game against the Ducks, now might be the appropriate time to pull out a little item from the NHL's on-line shop (and, notably, not part of my collection of Flames memorabilia)...

BBAF: McDonald

2011-03-29T10:29:00.000-03:00

Before there even was a "Calgary Flames," I was a fan of Lanny McDonald. I wasn't actually a Leafs fan, but I did like to watch Lanny and Darryl Sittler on Saturday nights when I was a kid. So, when Punch Imlach traded Lanny (just to piss-off Sittler) to the Colorado Rockies in December 1979, I was very disappointed...when the heck was I ever going to see Colorado play? I still remember seeing a fan's sign at a Leafs game after the trade: "Punch is out to lunch but not at McDonald's." It's funny what sticks in your mind after so many years!

As we all know, Lanny didn't stay in Colorado very long, and in November 1981 he was sent packing again...this time, home to Alberta. I was an established Flames fan by then, so this was certainly great news to me. Now, we all know about his great success in Calgary, with 66 goals in 1982-83 being probably the most memorable achievement. And, what a way to wrap up a career: he scored his 500th goal and 1000th point in March 1989, and followed that up with a goal in the Stanley Cup clinching game.

So, pulled from my collection for this edition of Before Becoming a Flame are the following two O-Pee-Chee cards:

They are his rookie card from the 1974-75 set and the "now with Flames" card from the 1981-82 set. His rookie card picture looks a little strange...what's that thing between his nose and upper lip? Oh yeah, nothing. And, remember the little cartoons they used to put on the backs of the cards up until about 1980? Well, from a couple of them we can learn that Lanny's middle name is "King" and that his 1975 wedding "was a big social event."

Possibly the problem with Flames teams since 1989 is that there aren't enough "Mc- or Mac- Whatevers" on the team. That Cup-winning team had McDonald, McCrimmon, MacLellan, Macoun, and some hacker named MacInnis. OK, so a couple years ago we had a Mc back-up goalie and a Mc goon (McElhinney and McGrattan, respectively); not exactly in the same class as Hall of Famers McDonald and MacInnis.

A Peek at ebay: Part 1

2011-03-25T13:07:00.001-03:00

You might wonder, "how can this guy possibly have enough Flames memorabilia to write a blog that lasts longer than a few posts?" Well, my initial response to that is, "you might be on to something." While since I've started this blog I am re-discovering several little knick-knacks and other items around my house, there is certainly not an infinite supply. This is why I have also decided to: (1) feature hockey cards from my collection - so far, here and here; and (2) take the occasional peek at NHL.com's on-line shop. The other day, another source of material for Flamestuff came to me...ebay!

I just typed "calgary flames" into ebay's search, and got 11,136 items. Rest assured, I'll be sorting through all of these items looking for the more unusual ones being offered up...like, for example, this:

...shouldn't that say Galgary Flames?

I don't remember our beloved Calgary Flames ever wearing this jersey...that is one straaange-looking shirt. Maybe the flaming "G" represents "Gary," as in Roberts. You have to wonder what would have happened if "Scary Gary" just wanted the team to wear this...who was going to say no? Now, if you want to see all of the item information, or even Buy It Now, you can click right here; if you just want to see a larger version of the above picture, click on it.

I also wonder why the seller thinks this is a "Calgary Flames NHL Hockey" jersey? He is apparently located in the hockey hotbed of the US of A, not China or someplace like that, and has earned 99.5% positive feedback on 42,925 reviews. Weird. And, how about that hairy-looking thing at the lower right of the photo? Yikes.

BBAF: Iginla

2011-03-24T18:06:00.001-03:00

This is the first in what will be an ongoing feature of Flamestuff: "Before Becoming A Flame." I was going to call it "Before They Were Flames," but apparently BTWF also means "by the way f***er." I don't intend for this to be that kind of blog. These articles will feature hockey cards from my collection featuring prominent Calgary Flames...before they played for Calgary.

So, for the first entry, why not go with probably the greatest Flame of all-time: your captain, number 12, Jarome Iginla.

The card on the left is one of Iginla's Rookie Cards (he has three), from Upper Deck's 1994-95 SP series. This card was released before he was even drafted...11th overall by the Dallas Stars in 1995, as we all know. And, again as we all know, he was traded to Calgary on December 19, 1995 for Joe Nieuwendyk. All this and more is mentioned on the back of his SP card from the 1995-96 set ("He was the Dallas Stars' first round choice in 1995, but has since been traded to the Calgary Flames"), which is pictured on the right. Iggy first laced 'em up for the Flames in the 1996 playoffs, scoring a goal and an assist in two games. And the rest is, as they say...

BTWF, I sure hope Iggy gets to hoist the Stanley Cup someday. Of course, he should have done this in 2004 in Calgary after Game 6. Yes, we Flames fans are going to whine about that forever. However, with his career winding down and the Flames' future not so bright, as much as it pains me to say this - and I hope I'm wrong - I don't think he will ever win the Cup as a Flame. So Jarome, if you ever channel your inner Ray Bourque and go to a legitimate Cup contender, I for one Flame fan will be hoping your new team successfully completes Mission 16W.

Hoarders

2011-03-18T19:12:00.000-03:00

I've never actually seen an episode of the TV show "Hoarders," but I can pretty much guess what the show is about. These suspicions are confirmed with a quick look at their website, where they describe the show thusly: "...'Hoarders' is a fascinating look inside the lives of...people whose inability to part with their belongings is so out of control that they are on the verge of a personal crisis." Some articles of the Flamestuff blog might also fit this description, such as "fascinating"...well, OK, so probably not. And, any "personal crisis" that occurs from being a Flames fan is actually part of the entire experience of being a Flames fan; chances are, if you are reading this blog, you know what I'm talking about.

As for the "inability to part with their belongings" part, first let me tell you a little story. Back in University, I knew a guy who had a collection of toy camels. It all started many years before, when he needed a camel for some school project, and found out that toy camels are actually hard to find. So, forever after, whenever anyone who knew this guy saw a toy or souvenir camel, they got it for him. Eventually, dude had quite an impressive collection of camels. Being a Calgary Flames fan in Atlantic Canada - the land of almost exclusive Leafs & Habs memorabilia - is kind of the same thing; when people see a unique Flames item, they get it for me. Like, for example, this:

Yes, that is a box of "premium" facial tissues...you may commence joking about how this is a necessary item for any Flames fan...you know, with all the crying after all those losses and bad trades and awful contracts and no prospects, ha ha ha. I should mention here that the vast majority of the items from my collection that you will see in this blog were given to me by other people, sometimes as gag gifts. A box of tissues is just like those toasters that you can buy on the NHL's online shop...why would you buy a product that essentially reminds you that your team is toast? That reminds me, stay tuned for a future blog post where I'll show you the Flames golf balls and tees that my brother gave me.

Anyway, back to the "inability to part with their belongings" concept: I probably won't throw this box away after the tissues are all gone. The reasons why are probably the same reasons why I created this blog...I am a bit of a pack rat; I noticed one day that I have a lot of Flames stuff; and, finally, I thought it would be fun to share my collection with other Flames geeks.

I am not a true hoarder in the TV show sense of the word - honestly, I usually throw out tissue boxes when they are empty.

Erin Go Bragh

2011-03-17T14:17:00.002-03:00

I'm of half Irish and half Dutch heritage, but today, just like everyone else, I'm 100% Irish. So I thought I'd take a peek at the NHL's on-line shop to see what is offered to Flames fans at this time of year:

...not much, so I might conclude from this that there aren't very many people of Irish heritage in Calgary. For example, notable Irish-American cities like Boston and Chicago have 25 and 27 items listed respectively; I actually have a nice (free!) St. Patrick's Bruins cap from a visit to TD Garden a few years ago. There also must be a lot of Irish people in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Washington, because the NHL market offers 28 items for each of those teams. Makes sense, I suppose, as the Capitals boast perhaps the greatest Irish hockey player of all time; I'm talking about Alex O'Vechkin, of course. (Thank you, thank you very much, you're a great audience!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

* * * * *

UPDATE (March 18):

Of course, you know by now that the Flames did indeed have green warm-up jerseys. I give 'em a thumbs-up...

#12, O'Ginla

Hats!

2011-03-17T11:20:00.000-03:00

Around where I live, you know you're in a fancy restaurant if all the guys around you have taken their hats off. That is to say, many of us New Brunswickers usually wear hats. And, as long as the temperature is above zero, for the last couple of years one of these caps is usually covering my dome when I venture outside:

Of course, way back in the olden days, I also had some great lids...

Classic, vintage stuff. Yes, one of those hats, friends, is real corduroy. The other one is real...um...?

Anyway, to the right of this paragraph is a small section of a picture of a painter-style hat on my head, circa late 1980's. I'm sure I still have that thing somewhere, but sadly I can't find it right now. It's a darn good thing for the sake of this blog that I'm a pack rat, as you will see in future posts as I pull out more of my Flames gear.

I also have a Flames toque, of course. How could you not, if you are a Flames fan who lives in a climate where you can still find patches of unmelted snow in June?

As cool as all of these hats are, quite obviously none of them can make me look anywhere near as jaw-droppingly awesome as perhaps the most famous Calgary Flames fan of all time:

Hell yeah, that's MacGyver

Origins

2011-03-12T21:22:00.001-04:00

In the summer of 1980, the Atlanta Flames moved to Calgary. At the time, I was a young hockey player - and fan - looking for a team to cheer for. I wanted my favourite team to be based in Canada, but I didn't want to be a Toronto Maple Leafs fan (they were too bad) or a Montreal Canadiens fan (they were too good), so I decided to go with that new team out west. To this day, the Flames are the only NHL franchise that moved from the USA to Canada. Of course, the current NHL team in Atlanta might also be moving north...as well as the Phoenix Coyotes. But those aren't really stories for this blog.

So, for my first blog entry here is a look at some original Calgary Flames players, in the form of a few of the Flames hockey cards that O-Pee-Chee released for the 1980-81 season:

How cool was Willi Plett?

FYI, the other cards in the Flames team set were Guy Chouinard, Eric Vail, Bill Clement, Phil Russell and Don Lever. There are some notable rookie cards here:

Kent Nilsson, one of the most skilled players ever. The joke was that his nickname was "the Magic Man" for two reasons...one, for his incredible skills; and two, because he would disappear in the playoffs. Don't know if I completely agree with reason #2; anyway, I still liked him.
Paul Reinhart, who was my favourite player. By the way, my favourite non-Flame player was Lanny McDonald, and when he wound up in Calgary during the 1981-82 season I was ecstatic.
Brad Marsh. I put this card here in part because I wanted to demonstrate what O-Pee-Chee did with the Atlanta logo...also, I think he looks like Bruce Springsteen in this picture. If Bruce played hockey, that is.

Now, about that logo...the photos for the 1980-81 card set were, of course, taken during the 1979-80 season, while the team was in Atlanta. Luckily for O-Pee-Chee, the Flames didn't change their colour scheme at all. In fact, the only change was the logo on the chest. So, all the card company had to do was colour over the logo. I think when the cards were manufactured, they still didn't know what the Calgary logo was going to look like, or else they might have attempted to just draw it on the players...sort of like what they did for this guy's card one year:

NOT Pekka Rautakallio.