In 1980, the city of Calgary entered the big leagues of ice hockey as they welcomed the former Atlanta Flames to represent them in the National Hockey League. A year after the Flames began to play in Calgary, the city was awarded the 1988 Winter Olympics – in part because shovels were already in the ground for what would eventually become the Saddledome, a sign that the Calgary bid group were willing to make things happen to land the games.
The 1988 Olympics were a huge success and venues occupied by the Flames played a big part in those games.