Flames Quarter-Century First and Second Teams 

The National Hockey League announced today the Flames Quarter-Century First and Second Teams as voted by Calgary local media members along with former players and executives. Voters were asked to select the Flames best players from January 1^st, 2000, through Dec. 31^st, 2024.

QUARTER-CENTURY FIRST TEAM

First Team Forwards

Johnny Gaudreau

Jarome Iginla

Matthew Tkachuk

First Team Defencemen

Mark Giordano

Robyn Regehr

First Team Goaltender

Miikka Kiprusoff

QUARTER-CENTURY SECOND TEAM

Second Team Forwards

Mikael Backlund

Craig Conroy

Sean Monahan

Second Team Defencemen

Rasmus Andersson

Dion Phaneuf

Second Team Goaltender

Jacob Markstrom

QUARTER-CENTURY FIRST TEAM BIOS

The Late Johnny Gaudreau was drafted by the Flames in the fourth round (10

4^th overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft. Gaudreau would make his NHL debut with the Flames on April 13^th, 2014 following a Hobey Baker Memorial Award winning season with Boston College, scoring in his first NHL game. The following season, Gaudreau would be named to the NHL All-Rookie Team and help the Flames snap a five-season playoff drought. Through Gaudreau’s nine-season Calgary Flames tenure, he would score 210 goals and 399 assists for 609 points in 602 games, won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy during the 2016-17 season as well as representing the Flames in six NHL All-Star Games (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022). In his final season in Calgary, the Salem, NJ native posted a career-best 115 points, finished with the league’s best plus/minus (+64) and was named to the NHL First All-Star Team.

Jarome Iginla remains the Flames all-time games-played leader (1,219) and tops the franchise in goals (525) and points (1,095). Between Jan. 1^st, 2000 through Dec. 31^st, 2024, Iginla posted a franchise-leading 943 points, became the Flames captain in 2003, helped lead the Flames to a Western Conference Championship and Game 7 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, posted two 50-goal campaigns in 2001-02 and 2007-08 while skating in 950 games in the Flaming C, along with an additional 52 playoff contests. The Edmonton, AB native was named to the NHL First All-Star Team three times (2002, 2008, 2009), represented the Flames at six NHL All-Star Games (2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2012), and won two Olympic Gold Medals with Team Canada (2002, 2010) as well as the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Iginla would see his number 12 retired by the Flames on March 2^nd, 2019 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame the following year in 2020, his first year of eligibility.

Matthew Tkachuk was selected by the Flames with the sixth overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft and made the club right out of training camp as an 18-year-old rookie. He would skate in his first NHL game on October 12^th, 2016 and score his first NHL goal less than a week later on October 18^th, against the Buffalo Sabres. The gritty forward would have a breakout season in 2018-19, posting a then-career best 77 points from 34 goals and 43 assists to help the Flames finish the regular season atop the Pacific Division standings. In 2021-22, Tkachuk had another career-year, posting 104 points from 42 goals and 62 helpers playing alongside fellow First Team forward Johnny Gaudreau, again helping the Flames finish first in the Pacific Division and was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team. Through his Flames tenure, Tkachuk’s 382 points rank sixth among all skaters between Jan. 1^st, 2000 through Dec. 31^st, 2024 and the Scottsdale, AZ native represented the Flames at the 2020 NHL All-Star Game.

Mark Giordano remains the second-longest tenured captain in Flames franchise history, wearing the ‘C’ for Calgary from 2013-14 until 2020-21. Giordano was an undrafted free agent coming out of junior and was signed by the Flames on July 6^th, 2004. He would make his NHL debut on January 30^th, 2006 in St. Louis and found himself as a main-stay on the Flames back-end beginning in 2008-09, playing in 58 games with 19 points. In the summer of 2015, Giordano signed a six-year contract extension with Calgary and would win the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2016 for outstanding charitable work and community service. In 2018-19, at 35 years of age, the Toronto, ON native posted a career-year with 17 goals and 57 assists for 74 points enroute to a Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenceman and was also named to the NHL First All-Star Team. The following season, Giordano would collect more hardware, this time being awarded the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award for his leadership qualities on and off the ice.

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Since Jan. 1^st, 2000, only four skaters have played more games in a Flames sweater than Robyn Regehr. A physically imposing defenceman, Regehr’s 844 hits are the third-most in franchise history, while averaging over 21-minutes per game during his time in Calgary. The former Colorado first-round pick would represent Canada at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, winning gold, and would again represent his country at the 2006 Olympic Games. The Recife, BRA native was also a leader for the Flames, wearing an ‘A’ for six seasons. Similar to Iginla, Regehr helped lead the Flames to a Western Conference Championship and to game 7 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

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Relatively unknown when the Flames acquired him in November of 2003, Miikka Kiprusoff quickly grew to become a household name in Calgary. Following his acquisition, Kiprusoff finished the 2003-04 season with a 24-10-4 record, a 1.70 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage to help the Flames break a seven-year playoff drought. Calgary would advance to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, with the Turku, FIN native in-between the pipes in all 26 games. Following the NHL’s labour stoppage, Kiprusoff followed up his stellar 2003-04 season by winning the Vezina Trophy, the William M. Jennings Trophy and was named to the NHL First All-Star Team in 2005-06 after posting a .923 save percentage and a 2.07 goals-against average while playing 74 games, with a record of 42-20-11. He retired as the franchise leader in wins (305), shutouts (41), goals against average (2.46), save percentage (.913) and games played by a goaltender (576). He is also the franchise leader in playoff shutouts (6) and sits second behind Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Vernon in games played and wins in the playoffs as well as holding the four single highest regular season win totals for the Flames with the highest being 45 in 2008-09. ‘Kipper’ saw his number 34 retired by the Flames on March 8^th, 2024.

QUARTER-CENTURY SECOND TEAM BIOS

The longest tenured active Calgary Flame, Mikael Backlund recently became one of just two players to skate in their first 1,000 NHL games with the Flames when he did so on November 30^th, 2024. The current Flames captain was drafted by Calgary in the first round (24^th overall) of the 2007 NHL draft and made his NHL debut on January 8^th, 2009. Up until December 31^st, 2024, Backlund competed in 1,027 games with the Flames, scoring 207 goals and 341 assists for 548 points. In 2016, Backlund would get the call to represent Sweden at the World Cup of Hockey. In the summer of 2023, Backlund won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for his leadership qualities on and off the ice.

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Craig Conroy was an integral part of the Calgary Flames 2003-04 roster that advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, centering a line which featured Calgary Flames Quarter-Century First Team forward Jarome Iginla. A leader, Conroy was the Flames captain for the 2002-03 season and wore an ‘A’ as assistant captain following his acquisition by Calgary in 2000-01 along with the 2001-02 season and through the 2003-04, 2006-07 and 2007-08 campaigns. Conroy would be selected to represent the United States at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and again at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Following his retirement in February of 2011, Conroy immediately joined the front office as a special assistant to the general manager until July of 2014 at which time he was named the club’s assistant general manager. A role he held for nine years before being named the 8^th General Manager in Flames Franchise history in May of 2023.

Tied with the most overtime goals in Flames franchise history (11), Sean Monahan was relied upon by the Flames in clutch moments for nine years in Calgary. Drafted sixth overall in 2013, Monahan scored six goals in his first eight games as an 18-year-old, going on to play 75 games in his 2013-14 rookie campaign finishing the year with 22 goals and 12 assists for 34 points. The following year, the Brampton, ON native posted his first of three 30+ goal campaigns with Calgary, centering a line with then-rookie Johnny Gaudreau helping guide the club to the second round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Monahan would spend the next seven seasons with Calgary and posted 212 goals and 250 assists for 462 points during his time with the Flames.

Since 2018-19, Rasmus Andersson has played 70 or more games for the Flames each season excluding 2020-21 where he played in all 56 games during a COVID shortened campaign. With 218 points from 42 goals and 176 assists, Andersson has become the highest-scoring Swedish-born defenceman in Flames franchise history. The 28-year-old rearguard has been part of the Flames leadership group for the past two seasons, serving as alternate captain. Andersson made his NHL debut on April 8^th, 2017 in San Jose and was drafted by the Flames in the second round (53^rd overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft. He was named to Team Sweden for the upcoming NHL Four Nations Faceoff, his first time representing his country at a professional best-on-best tournament.

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With the second most hits in Flames franchise history, Dion Phaneuf made his presence known on the Flames back-end for half a decade with 844 hits in 378 games in a Flames sweater. Not just a hard-hitting rearguard, Phaneuf showed offensive talent by breaking the franchise record for goals by a first-year defenseman with 20, totaling 49 points in his rookie campaign and finishing third in voting for the Calder Trophy. The Edmonton, AB native would spend the following four seasons with the Flames, totaling double-digit goal tallies in every campaign before being traded to Toronto. Phaneuf represented the Flames at the 2007 and 2008 All-Star games while also being named to the NHL First All-Star Team in 2006.

Jacob Markstrom joined the Flames as a free agent signing in October of 2020, and would backstop the Flames for four seasons from 2020-21 to 2023-24. Markstrom was instrumental in the Flames 2021-22 campaign where they finished first in the Pacific Division standings, playing 63 games with a record of 37-15-9 with a 2.22 goals-against average and .922 save-percentage along with a league-leading nine shutouts, finishing second in Vezina Trophy voting. Markstrom would also be named to the NHL Second All-Star Team for his 2021-22 season, with his 37-win campaign being tied for the sixth-highest win total in a single season by a goaltender in Flames franchise history.

Following the conclusion of the Club Quarter-Century Team announcements, the focus will turn to a League-wide fan vote from February 12^th-26^th.

The fan vote will determine the top 25 players of the past 25 years, regardless of position, that will comprise the NHL Quarter-Century Team presented by SAP. Voting will be conducted on both NHL.com and X, and fans will have 100 percent of the vote.