It’s April 11, 2004 and a rough and tumble Flames team is returning home, where they will play playoff hockey on Saddledome ice since their last postseason outing, seven years ago. Led by first year captain, Jarome Iginla, and soon to be Flames legend, Miikka Kiprusoff; the Flames were ready to step onto the ice after splitting the first two games in Vancouver.
Hoping to take a stranglehold of the first playoff series for the team since the 1995-96 season, and the first home win since the season prior, a deafening roar filled the C of Red as CBC opened their broadcast from the upper level of the Saddledome.
Photo Credit: Jeff Vinnick / Getty Images
In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the seats that many fans today consider the most fun, maybe due to the combination of their cheap costs and one’s heavy consumption of “Dome Foams,” the press level seats were unprofitable and had to be closed off to the public. With diminishing ticket sales, a lack of interest, and outside of a 52-goal season from Iginla in 2002, a string of, to put it best, terrible seasons, left the seats high above the Flaming C at centre ice closed to the public. Covered by tarps, and blocked off by trash cans, the upper level of the Pengrowth Saddledome looked more like a storage area than a place to watch hockey.
Falling off the highs created by the ’89 cup team, a mix of poor performance, mismanagement, terrible trades, and Craig McTavish, the Flames had as easy a time making the playoffs as Harvey the Hound did keeping his tongue. It was dark times for the franchise. This continued for almost a decade, and things looked grim for the team, its future in the city, and the devoted fanbase. That is, until a change was made by ownership, removing now TSN Draft Analyst Craig Button, for Viking, Alberta native, and at the time Head Coach Darryl Sutter to General Manager at the beginning of the 2003-04 season.
Along with a swap in management, former player and now Assistant General Manager Craig Conroy revoked his captain patch, giving future Hall of Famer, Jarome Iginla, the captaincy and the reigns. Iggy took the C and ran with it. Following hot on the heels of #12 was newly acquired goaltender out of Turku, Finland, Miikka Kiprusoff, and his outstanding 1.69 GAA performance. The pair lead the reignited Flames team to their best finish in years, and their first playoff appearance since a 4-game sweep by the Blackhawks in 1995-96.
Excitement around the Flames was the highest it had been for almost 15 years. A surprise team filled with grit and speed finished the regular season 3rd in the Northwest division, headed for a Round 1 matchup with rival Vancouver. Ticket sales filled up, forcing the team to re-open the Press level seats while fans poured over onto 17th Avenue, as the Red Mile was born, and with the words “You can put it in the win column, Playoffs, Yeah Baby!”, uttered by broadcasting great Peter Maher, high above the ice, the tarps were removed.
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