Thanks for the Memories – A Decade in Review (I)

Now that the decade of the “naughts” has reached its zenith, I thought it would be a compelling chore to recap the last ten years in the history of the Calgary Flames franchise with some thought-provoking, memory-stirring lists. Today, we’ll look back at the Top Ten goals scored by members of the club from 1999-2000 to 2009-10.

10) Brett Sutter’s 1st NHL goal, December 23, 2008 (Calgary 4, Anaheim 3)
“It’s pretty special. I was out there for that first one, I thought that was pretty exciting but I didn’t really do a lot. Once that second one went in for me, I was real excited.” – Brent Sutter

More notable for the Sutter family certainly, but a unique moment in Flames history as well. Darryl’s son became the eighth member of the Sutter family to score a NHL goal when he connected for his 3rd period marker.

9) Robyn Regehr’s 1st NHL goal, November 10, 1999 vs. San Jose (Calgary 4, San Jose 3 OT)
“I was blessed in being young still and I was in the best shape that I’d ever been in before the accident. I came through the accident without any further injuries and I had a chance to rehabilitate and get back to where I am now.” – Robyn Regehr

Robyn Regehr completed one of sport’s most astounding comebacks when he scored his first NHL goal only three months after breaking both of his legs in a head-on car accident that killed both occupants of the vehicle that swerved into Regehr’s lane on July 4, 1999. His perseverance earned him a nomination for the Bill Masterton Trophy – the youngest player to ever be considered for the honor.

Dion Phaneuf’s 19th goal of the season, April 5, 2006 (Calgary 5, Phoenix 2)
“It’s definitely an honor to be mentioned in the same sentence as Gary Suter. But you can’t have individual success without the help of your teammates.” – Dion Phaneuf

Phaneuf sets team rookie record for goals by a defenseman with his 19th tally of the season to break Gary Suter’s previous mark established during the 1985-86 season. Phaneuf finished the campaign with 20 goals, earned a berth on the NHL’s All-Rookie team and was nominated for the Calder trophy as the league’s top freshman

7) Jarome Iginla’s playoff-securing goal, March 31, 2004 (Calgary 1, Phoenix 0)
“It has been a long time, let’s be honest. It feels awesome, we’ve worked very hard this season.” – Jarome Iginla

After a seven-year absence from the post-season, Iginla’s goal guaranteed the Flames a spot in the 2004 playoffs, a privilege the club certainly didn’t take for granted as they progressed through the second season to come within a single goal of a second Stanley Cup championship.

6) Eric Nystrom’s goal secures Kiprusoff’s 43rd win, March 28, 2009 (Calgary 3, Minnesota 2)
“It’s been the same way all season. You just have to take one game at a time and can’t look too far forward because every game is huge.” – Miikka Kiprusoff

Kipper the Keeper established a new team record for victories in a single season when he recorded his 43rd win in a one-goal decision over the Minnesota Wild. Nystrom’s fifth goal of the season at 16:39 of the second period was the eventual game-winning and record-setting goal.

5) Matthew Lombardi’s 1st career playoff goal, April 9, 2004 (Calgary 2, Vancouver 1)
“I looked down and there (the puck) was. I almost fell over.” – Matthew Lombardi

Lombardi’s first career playoff goal at 3:56 of the opening period stood up as the winning marker, giving the Flames their first post-season victory since May 15, 1995 when Calgary blanked San Jose 5-0 in game five of the divisional semi-finals.

4) Martin Gelinas’ series-clinching goal, May 19, 2004 (Calgary 3, San Jose 1)
“When we started the season, we knew we had a gritty team that worked hard, and our goal was to make the playoffs. To say that we were going to get the Stanley Cup, that’s hard to believe.” – Martin Gelinas

Renowned for his gut-gripping, heart-stopping overtime heroics, Gelinas decided things early in this seventh game classic, notching the eventual series-winning goal at 13:02 mark of the middle period on a laser-like wrist shot after Craig Conroy won a key draw in the Sharks zone. The victory propelled Calgary into the Finals for the first time since 1989 and assured the Canadian national anthem would be heard in a championship round for the first time since 1994.

3) Oleg Saprykin’s overtime goal, June 3, 2004 (Calgary 3, Tampa Bay 2 OT)
“I just put it in. It’s a great thing for everybody in the room. Everybody deserves it. It doesn’t matter who got the goal.” – Oleg Saprykin

Oleg Saprykin’s last goal as a member of the Calgary Flames was a memorable one. The Russian-born winger flipped a loose puck over the prone posterior of Tampa Bay netminder Nikolai Khabibulin at 14:40 of the first overtime period to put Calgary a single win away from the Stanley Cup title. Saprykin was one of three Flame players to score an overtime winner in the 2004 playoffs. For each of the trio – Steve Mantador, Marcus Nilson and Saprykin – their extra-session winner was the last post-season goal they would score for the club.

2) Jarome Iginla’s 365th career goal, March 10, 2008 (Calgary 7, St. Louis 3)
“I was definitely happy to get it at home and to get it in a win,” Iginla said. “I have a lot of good memories here, my first goal was here in the playoffs (in 1996). Time flies.” – Jarome Iginla

The classic captain became Calgary’s all-time leader in goals, surpassing Theo Fleury on the clubs list, when he scored his 41st goal of the season at the 18:27 mark of the opening period. The goal the 365th of Iggy’s career, all of which were scored while he was wearing the Flaming “C” on his chest.

1) Jarome Iginla’s 400th career goal, March 1, 2009 (Tampa Bay 8, Calgary 6)
“I was excited to get it at home. I wasn’t too picky about it being a real nice one.” – Jarome Iginla

It was a record-breaking night for the Flames captain. Iginla scored his 400th career goal in the third period and collected five points in total. When he assisted on Craig Conroy’s second period tally, he recorded his 831st career point, moving him to the top of the list in the history of the franchise, dropping Theo Fleury into second spot on the club record ledger.