The Calgary Flames originated in Atlanta in 1972, and moved to Calgary in 1980, when they started play in the Stampede Corral, which is next door to their current home, the ScotiaBank Saddledome. In eight seasons as the Atlanta Flames, they had four captains and in their thirty-one years in Calgary, the Flames have had fourteen captains. The franchise that began in Atlanta began with Keith McCreary as captain from 1972-75. Pat Quinn, who would later go on to be head coach at a few stops in the NHL, followed in the captain's role, holding it from 1975 to 1977. Tom Lysiak was next, holding it from 1977-79. The captain in the final year in Atlanta was Jean Pronovost, whose best years were in Pittsburgh and was also in the twilight of his career. The first Calgary captain was Brad Marsh, who held the captain's role for the opening season. The next two seasons were captained by Phil Russell. In their inaugural year in the Saddledome up until their Stanley Cup year, the Flames have had three captains: Doug Risebrough (1983-87), Lanny McDonald (1983-89), and Jim Peplinski (1984-89). In that stretch, the Flames had both co-captains and tri-captains, with any combination of those three being the main guys. The 1989-90 season was captained by Brad McCrimmon, and the following year, the Flames went with a rotating system of captains. From 1991 until his trade in 1995, the Flames were captained by Joe Nieuwendyk, who was one of the more underrated scorers in his time. Taking his place as captain was Theo Fleury, who in his time as captain from 1995 to 1997, was as perfect of a fit as captain as the Flames would hope for. It didn't hurt that he was (and still is) a fan favorite of the Calgary faithful. Fleury relinquished the duties to Todd Simpson, who provided an equal amount of fire (no pun intended) and was willing to drop the gloves. The 1999-2000 season was led by Steve Smith, who was in the twilight of his career. From 2000-02, Dave Lowry was captain until the latter half of the 2001-02 season, when Bob Boughner and Craig Conroy co-captained the Flames. Conroy would be captain for the 2002-03 season, and would relinquish the role after the season to current captain Jarome Iginla, who is the face of the current Flames squad.
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