Series

The Scrapbook

Franchise memory. Hall of Fame nights, anniversaries, and the quiet legends who never needed a fight card to matter.

12 dispatches

Inked comic illustration in ember tones: two laughing bearded men in 1980s suits, one in grey with his head thrown back, the other in tan holding up two banknotes toward him, both outlined in a glowing orange edge against a black background full of drifting sparks.

Oct 27, 2026 The ScrapbookBattle of Alberta

Nelson Skalbania's Two-Thousand-Dollar Night

Nelson Skalbania bought the Flames without, by his own count, a dollar of his own in the deal, then bet $2,000 on their first game against Edmonton and lost it. The first Battle of Alberta, October 22, 1980.

Riley Quinn

Inked comic illustration in ember tones: a high aerial view of an unfinished, open-topped arena bowl at a construction site, its bare concrete seating lit pale, an uneven molten-orange glow tracing its rim and outer wall, embers drifting over the dark yard, cranes and trailers, a racetrack and red-and-white striped tents beyond.

Oct 15, 2026 The ScrapbookLast Yee-Haw

Bev Ritchie's Building

On October 15, 1983 the Saddledome opened, months late and $16.5 million over, with a name a maintenance worker and his son came up with in front of a hockey game. The first page of The Saddledome's Last Yee-Haw.

Riley Quinn

Comic-book illustration in warm ink: an old moving truck seen from behind on a highway shoulder at dusk, its roll-up door open on a load of cardboard boxes, a rolled rug, a lamp, a chair and a hockey bag with two sticks. In the middle of the load a framed black-and-white photograph of two hockey players celebrating catches an ember-orange edge of light, with sparks drifting up out of the truck into a red halftone sky. A green highway sign on the right reads Birmingham 2 mi, Atlanta 147 mi.

Sep 18, 2026 The ScrapbookFlames

Paul Henderson's Escape from Canada

Sick of being a hero in Canada, the man who scored the goal of the century took a two-way deal with the Atlanta Flames on a trainer's salary and with a two-hour commute, just to keep his kids in an Alabama high school.

Riley Quinn

Inked comic illustration in warm ember tones: a darkened hockey arena with a full crowd in the stands. Three tall game-show doors stand in a row on the ice, numbered 1, 2 and 3, every one open, and a goat stands in each doorway facing the viewer, lit from behind by ember light with sparks rising out of the doorways and drifting across the ice.

Sep 15, 2026 The ScrapbookSaddledome

Ken King's Three-Thirds Big Deal

Nine years ago this week, Mayor Nenshi tried to make a deal: three doors to a new arena, each with $185 million behind it, supposedly. Ken King peeked behind all three, called every one a Zonk the team and its fans would end up paying for, and walked. The fight that built Scotia Place starts here.

Riley Quinn

Comic-book illustration of a dim dressing room stall. A goaltender's crest-free sweater hangs on a hanger, reading FUHR above the number 31, and beside it a goaltender sits on the bench in leg pads and a chest protector with no sweater on, elbows on knees and head lowered. Both are edge-lit in warm orange against the dark room, with embers drifting through the air and skates on the shelf above.

Sep 4, 2026 The ScrapbookFlames

Grant Fuhr's 23 Weird Games

Twenty-seven years ago today, Calgary signed up the goaltender who had spent a decade beating them. He arrived as the number one, had to waive a no-trade clause to get here, and gave the Flames one great night out of a hard year.

Riley Quinn

Printed-comic illustration of a stone staircase covered with tributes, drawn in heavy ink and halftone dots: several red sweaters bearing the number 13, each traced by a hot ember line, with bunches of flowers, hockey sticks propped against the steps, helmets and pucks around them. Embers drift up through the dark air above.

Aug 29, 2026 The ScrapbookFlames

Johnny Gaudreau's Unspoken Thirteen

Two years on, Calgary has not issued sweater 13 to anybody since he left, and the club has never said why. A short accounting of how this city said goodbye.

Riley Quinn

Printed-comic illustration of a hockey player seen from behind in a dark weight room, a hot ember line tracing his cap, shoulders and arms and embers drifting through the air around him. He wears a red sweater reading ROBERTS above the number 10 and stands over a loaded barbell inside a squat rack, the block wall and rack behind him drawn in heavy ink and halftone dots.

Aug 25, 2026 The ScrapbookFlames

Gary Roberts' 48 Hours

Twenty-nine years ago today, Calgary traded Gary Roberts to Carolina. What almost nobody remembers is that the deal came with a condition, and the man at the centre of it had two days to prove a room full of doctors wrong.

Riley Quinn

Comic-print illustration of an empty arena radio booth looking out over a dark, empty rink. A pair of broadcast headphones glowing ember red rests on an open spiral notebook beside a pair of reading glasses, two dark monitors frame the desk, and embers drift across the booth and the ice.

Aug 13, 2026 The ScrapbookFlames

Peter Maher's Yeah Baby Night

The voice of the Flames for 33 seasons died Thursday at 79. He called the only Stanley Cup this city has ever won, from a radio booth in the Montreal Forum, and no archive in the country kept a copy of it.

Riley Quinn

Aug 7, 2026 The ScrapbookFlames

Paul Baxter's Wrong Guy

The record says Paul Baxter fought Guy Carbonneau in the 1986 Cup Final, and that he won a ring on the Flames bench in 1989. He did neither. The story of a man the books keep putting in rooms he was standing next to.

Riley Quinn

Ember-on-ink illustration of Matthew Tkachuk (No. 19, red) and Blake Wheeler (No. 26, white) fighting on the ice at Rogers Place during the empty-arena Edmonton bubble, sparks flying against a dark arena backdrop.

Jul 31, 2026 The ScrapbookFlames

Matthew Tkachuk's Bubble Brawl

Six years ago this weekend, the Flames played a playoff game in an empty NHL arena inside the COVID bubble. A Tkachuk hit ended Mark Scheifele's night and started a public war of words with Jets coach Paul Maurice. The scrapbook page worth keeping is what the record actually shows.

Riley Quinn

Ember-on-ink illustration of Colin Patterson in a red and gold Calgary Flames No. 11 jersey, hoisting the Stanley Cup overhead.

Jul 18, 2026 The ScrapbookFlames

Colin Patterson's Tuition Clause

Hockey Alberta just put the undrafted grinder from the 1989 Cup line into its Hall of Fame, the same night as Paul Coffey. The page worth keeping starts with the contract that made the Flames pay for his degree.

Riley Quinn

Hand-inked comic split illustration of Don Maloney, smiling: on the left, the young player in a red hockey sweater raising his stick in a red glove; on the right, the executive in a dark suit and red tie, his outline catching a hot ember light with sparks drifting across a black background.

Jul 15, 2026 The ScrapbookFlames

Don Maloney's Miracle Camaro

New York just put Calgary's president of hockey ops in the state Hall of Fame. The scrapbook page starts with the night the lowest-scoring All-Star won a fire-engine red Camaro, got a ticket, and traded up. Forty-odd years later, he's still hunting the prize that got away.

Riley Quinn

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