Quad City Flames

Quad City Flames
City	Moline, Illinois
League	American Hockey League
Founded	1977
Operated	2007–2009
Home arena	iWireless Center
Colors	Red, black, gold, white
Affiliate	Calgary Flames
Franchise history
1977–1987	Maine Mariners
1987–1993	Utica Devils
1993–2003	Saint John Flames
2005–2007	Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights
2007–2009	Quad City Flames
2009–2014	Abbotsford Heat
2014–2015	Adirondack Flames
2015–2022	Stockton Heat
2022–Present	Calgary Wranglers

The Quad City Flames was an American professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 2007 to 2009. They were owned by QC Sports Ventures Inc., an ownership group based out of the Quad Cities. The Flames played at the iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois, serving as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames. The move to the Quad Cities was confirmed on May 24, 2007. As a result, the arena's previous hockey tenant, the Quad City Mallards of the United Hockey League ceased operations. ^[1]

The team left the Quad Cities after the 2008–09 season and relocated to Abbotsford, British Columbia to play as the Abbotsford Heat in the 2009–10 season.

History

The Flames AHL franchise relocated from Omaha, Nebraska, where the team spent two seasons as the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights. Following two disappointing seasons at the gate in which the Flames and the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben lost over $4 million, the Flames chose to relocate the franchise. ^[2] The new franchise joined former UHL rival, the Rockford IceHogs in moving up to the AHL. The Flames made their AHL regular-season debut in Moline on October 6, 2007, with a 5–1 victory over Rockford. ^[3]

The Flames were the third team to attempt to place an AHL team in the Quad Cities. Both the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers were unable to reach an agreement with the owners of the Mallards and of the arena. ^[4] While the NHL franchise had signed an affiliation agreement to the end of the 2011–12 season, the Flames and Quad City Sports Ventures agreed to end the agreement after just two seasons and the Flames placed their affiliate in Abbotsford, British Columbia for the 2009–10 AHL season. ^[5] Local ownership in Quad Cities estimated the team's losses for 2008–09 at $1.3 million. ^[6]

This market was previously served by:

• Quad City Mallards of the UHL (1995–2007)

The market was subsequently home to:

• Quad City Mallards of the IHL, CHL, and the ECHL (2009–18)

Affiliates

• Calgary Flames (2007–2009)

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Season	Games	Won	Lost	OTL	SOL	Points	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing
2007–08	80	38	32	3	7	86	203	214	6th, West Division
2008–09	80	36	31	6	7	85	212	216	5th, West Division

Playoffs

Season	1st round	2nd round	3rd round	Finals
2007–08	Out of playoffs.
2008–09	Out of playoffs.

Team records

Single season

Goals: 39 Kyle Greentree (2008–09)

Assists: 43 Grant Stevenson (2007–08)

Points: 76 Kyle Greentree (2008–09)

Penalty Minutes: 248 Brandon Prust (2007–08)

GAA: 2.23 Leland Irving (2008–09)

SV%: .912 Matt Keetley (2007–08), Leland Irving (2008–09)

Wins: 24 Leland Irving (2008–09)

Shutouts: 3 Curtis McElhinney (2007–08)

• Goaltending records need a minimum of 25 games played by the goaltender

Career

Career Goals: 43 Kris Chucko

Career Assists: 76 Carsen Germyn

Career Points: 108 Carsen Germyn

Career Penalty Minutes: 271 Matt Pelech

Career Goaltending Wins: 24 Leland Irving

Career Shutouts: 3 Curtis McElhinney Matt Keetley

Career Games: 154 Kris Chucko

References

1. DeVrieze, Craig (May 25, 2007). "Mallards migrate, Flames light in Q-C". The Quad-City Times . Retrieved October 18, 2021.
2. Patterson, Mike; Shatel, Tom (May 15, 2007). "AHL: Knights are leaving for the Quad Cities". Omaha World-Herald . Archived from the original on July 13, 2007. Retrieved July 13, 2007.
3. "River of Red Flows Over Rockford". Quad City Flames. October 6, 2007. Archived from the original on October 9, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
4. DeVrieze, Craig (May 24, 2007). "Quad-Cities step up to AHL". The Pantagraph . Archived from the original on December 25, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2008.
5. "Report: Flames plan to move AHL affiliate to Abbotsford". TSN . March 12, 2009. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
6. Hall, Vicki (March 12, 2009). "Calgary Flames' farm team to move from Quad Cities to Abbotsford, B.C." Calgary Herald . Archived from the original on March 15, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2009.