The Moncton Golden Flames were a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

team based in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces. The city has earned the nickname "Hub City" because of ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, playing home games at the

Moncton Coliseum The Moncton Coliseum (french: Colisée de Moncton) is an event venue and former ice hockey arena in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Atlantic Canada's largest trade show facility, the Coliseum has over of exhibition space and a drawing power of 1.4 ...

. The team operated in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the lea ...

between

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

. The new franchise was purchased by a group of 6 local business men after the previous franchise known as the Moncton Alpines moved to Halifax to become the

Nova Scotia Oilers The Nova Scotia Oilers were a minor professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in Halifax, Nova Scotia from 1984 to 1988. The Oilers played their home games at the Halifax Metro Centre, and were the AHL affiliate of the Edmo ...

(The Alpines were a minor league affiliate of the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

). The Golden Flames were the minor league affiliate of the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey te ...

, and for their final two seasons, had an additional affiliation with the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making ...

. The team boasted a number of future NHL stars including

Brett Hull Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian–American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames, ...

Joel Otto Joel Stuart Otto (born October 29, 1961) is an American former professional ice hockey center in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers. An undrafted player, Otto signed with the Flames as a free agent i ...

, Mike Vernon,

Bill Ranford William Edward Ranford (born December 14, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and current goaltending coach for the Los Angeles Kings. He was selected in the third round of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, 52nd overall, by the B ...

, Bob Sweeney, Gary Roberts,

Lyndon Byers Lyndon Svi Byers (born February 29, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Byers played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for parts of ten seasons with the Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks, earning a reputation as one of the ...

, Dave Reid, Brian Bradley and others. In 1987, team marketing executive Larry Haley was awarded the Ken McKenzie Award for outstanding work.

History

The

New Brunswick Hawks The New Brunswick Hawks were a professional ice hockey team based in Moncton, New Brunswick. Home games were played at the Moncton Coliseum. They were a member of the American Hockey League (AHL) between 1978 and 1982. The Hawks operated as a mino ...

of the

(AHL) had been established in Moncton in 1978, and were jointly owned and operated by the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

and

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

as their

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

. In the summer of 1982, with Chicago having already pulled out of New Brunswick in favour of affiliating with the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in exi ...

on their own, the Maple Leafs announced that they would not operate the team in Moncton the following year after they couldn't come to terms with the city on a new arena lease, even though the team had the fifth-highest attendance in the league. At the same AHL Board of Governors meeting that the franchise's relocation to become the

St. Catharines Saints The St. Catharines Saints was a minor league ice hockey team in St. Catharines, Ontario. It played in the American Hockey League from 1982 to 1986 as the farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs. History The Moncton-based New Brunswick Hawks had bee ...

was approved, the Edmonton Oilers received approval to purchase a new AHL franchise to replace the departed Hawks in Moncton, leading to establishment of the Moncton Alpines as their affiliate that fall. The team played for two seasons until

, coached by

Doug Messier Douglas Herbert Messier (born September 5, 1936) is a Canadian former ice hockey player and coach. He played 487 games in the Western Hockey League, playing with the Seattle Totems, Edmonton Flyers, and Portland Buckaroos The Portland Buckar ...

both seasons. Following 1984, the team was bought by the

and renamed the Moncton Golden Flames. The franchise folded in 1987, and replaced by the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

' affiliate, the

Moncton Hawks The Moncton Hawks were a professional ice hockey team based in Moncton, New Brunswick. They played in the American Hockey League between 1987 and 1994, operating as a minor league affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets. Home games were played at the ...

Coaches

* 1984–85 –

Pierre Page Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

* 1985–86 –

Terry Crisp Terrance Arthur Crisp (born May 28, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey coach and player. Crisp played ten seasons in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers be ...

* 1986–87 – Terry Crisp

Training staff

* 1984–87 - Brian Patafie, Mike Baiani, David Lorette, Jamie Druet, Andrew Trites

Players

During the 1986–87 season, Brett Hull won the

Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award The Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award is given each year to the player in the American Hockey League determined to be the most outstanding rookie. The award is based on voting by the media and the players. It was named after Dudley "Red" Garrett ...

as the AHL's rookie of the year. Sixty-three

Moncton Golden Flames players Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces. The city has earned the nickname "Hub City" because of ...

including Hull, have gone on to play in the NHL. Five players from the Golden Flames also went on to win the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

with the 1988–89 Calgary Flames. They are, Joel Otto,

Dave Reierson David Reierson (born August 30, 1964) is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman. He played two games in the National Hockey League for the Calgary Flames during 1988–89 season. Reierson was drafted by the Flames in the 2nd round (29th p ...

, Gary Roberts,

Ken Sabourin Ken R. Sabourin (born April 28, 1966) is a Canadian former ice hockey player who played 74 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames and Washington Capitals between 1989 and 1992. The rest of his career, which lasted fro ...

and goaltender Mike Vernon.

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

AHL stats
{{Defunct AHL Ice hockey clubs established in 1984 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1987 Sport in Moncton Boston Bruins minor league affiliates Calgary Flames minor league affiliates Edmonton Oilers minor league affiliates