The Adirondack Flames were a professional

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

team 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 le ...

(AHL). The team was based in

Glens Falls, New York Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls re ...

, and played at the 4,794 seat Glens Falls Civic Center. They were the top 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 tea ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL), and made their debut in the 2014–15 AHL season after relocating from

Abbotsford, British Columbia Abbotsford is a city located in British Columbia, adjacent to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver and the Fraser River. With an estimated population of 153,524 people it is the largest municipality in the province outside metro ...

, where the team was known as the

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

. Former

Portland Pirates The Portland Pirates were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home arena was the Cross Insurance Arena in downtown Portland, Maine. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks fr ...

managing owner and CEO

Brian Petrovek Brian Petrovek (born March 24, 1955) is an American former ice hockey goaltender and hockey executive. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the 10th round (172nd overall) of the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft, and was also drafted by the Edmonton ...

served as the team's president. For the 2015–16 season, the Adirondack Flames moved to Stockton, California, and became the Stockton Heat.

History

After playing five seasons in

, as the Abbotsford Heat, the city of Abbotsford terminated its contract with the Heat on April 15, 2014, and on May 5, 2014, the

(AHL)'s board of governors announced its approval to relocate the team to Glens Falls for the 2014–15 season. The contract between the city of Glens Falls and the Calgary Flames ran for three seasons with an option to renew for two more seasons. The relocation of Calgary's AHL team ensured that AHL hockey continued uninterrupted in Glens Falls for the 2014–15 season, despite the departure of Glens Falls' previous AHL team, the Adirondack Phantoms, who relocated to Allentown, Pennsylvania, following

2013–14 AHL season The 2013–14 AHL season was the 78th season of the American Hockey League. The regular season began on October 4, 2013, and ended on April 19, 2014. The 2014 Calder Cup playoffs followed the conclusion of the regular season. The Calder Cup was w ...

to become the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The team's logo pays homage to the former NHL team the

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along wi ...

, which relocated to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

, Alberta, in 1980 to become the current

. The team earned a certain degree of notoriety when its mascot, "Scorch", was introduced. In what a number of Flames fans saw as poor taste, an introductory video showed Scorch, supposedly the last unextinguished flame from a fire that devastated Glens Falls in 1846, overpowering a firefighter and knocking him to the ground. The ensuing controversy prompted the Flames to discontinue Scorch shortly after he was introduced. On June 24, 2014, it was announced Ryan Huska, former head coach of the Kelowna Rockets of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ...

(WHL), would be the team's first head coach. On February 10, 2015, the Adirondack Flames routed the

Syracuse Crunch The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Syracuse, New York, at the Upstate Medical University Arena. They are the primary development affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tam ...

by a franchise-high score of 10–0. Sven Baertschi recorded his first professional

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

. Turner Elson added two goals, and Kenny Agostino (1G-2A),

Mark Cundari Mark Anthony Cundari (born April 23, 1990) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. As a junior, Cundari was a member of two Memorial Cup championship teams with the Windsor Spitfires before turning professional in 2010. An undraf ...

(1G-2A), Markus Granlund (1G-1A), Ben Hanowski (2A), Garnet Hathaway (3A), Brian McGrattan (2A) and Tyler Wotherspoon (2A) all posted multi-point efforts. In total, 13 Flames skaters posted at least one point. It was the first time since 2002 a score has reached double-digits in the AHL.

Relocation and replacement

On January 29, 2015, it was confirmed by the AHL via press conference that the Adirondack Flames would relocate from Glens Falls to Stockton, California, and become the Stockton Heat. In turn, the Calgary Flames acquired the Stockton Thunder of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). Th ...

and relocated that team to Glens Falls as the

Adirondack Thunder The Adirondack Thunder are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2015–16 season. The team is based in Glens Falls, New York, and affiliated with the NHL's New Jersey Devils. The Thunder play their home games at the ...

for the 2015–16 season.

Season result

Players

Head coach

* Ryan Huska (2014–15)

References

{{Defunct AHL Calgary Flames minor league affiliates Ice hockey teams in New York (state) Ice hockey clubs established in 2014 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2015 2014 establishments in New York (state) 2015 disestablishments in New York (state) Sports in Glens Falls, New York