This coming May is the 40th anniversary of the Atlanta Flames moving to Calgary. To commemorate this occasion, we’re counting down the Top 40 Calgary Flames in history.
While our list is exclusively players, there are a handful of off-ice individuals that merit recognition on this list. We begin with a name that fans might not remember: Al Coates.
Originally part of the Detroit Red Wings organization, Coates was lured away from the Wings when the Flames moved north in 1980. That began a very long stint with the club that saw him work a ton of different gigs:
- 1980-82: director of public relations
- 1982-89: assistant to the president
- 1989-91: director of hockey administration
- 1991-95: assistant (to the) general manager
- 1995-2000: general manager
Following Cliff Fletcher’s departure to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Coates was a big part of a hockey ops group that had to keep the club afloat as the Canadian dollar (and revenues) plunged in the early ’90s.