Theo Fleury at the Saddledome

Theo Fleury was 5'6" of fury, a 166th-overall draft pick who outscored most of the players taken ahead of him, and the Saddledome's loudest player from 1989 to 1999. The 1991 goal against Edmonton, where he slid the length of the ice on his stomach, is one of the building's permanent images.

The kid from Russell, Manitoba

Fleury grew up in Russell, Manitoba, played junior hockey for the Moose Jaw Warriors, and was passed over by every NHL team in the first six rounds of the 1987 draft. The Calgary Flames selected him 166th overall, in the eighth round. NHL teams routinely take players in the eighth round who never play a single NHL game. Fleury was 19 years old, 5'6", and not on anyone's radar as a future star.

He made the Flames out of training camp in 1988 to 1989. The team was already loaded; Fleury didn't take a regular shift until injuries opened space. By the playoffs, he was on the ice for the Cup-winning team. He was a rookie. He was 20. He won a Stanley Cup in his first NHL season and got his name on it.

The 1991 goal against Edmonton

The Flames played Edmonton in the first round of the 1991 playoffs. Game 6 was at the Saddledome, with Calgary trailing the series 3 to 2 and facing elimination. The game went to overtime tied 4 to 4. At 4:40 of overtime, Fleury picked up a loose puck at his own blue line, skated through the entire Edmonton team, and scored on Grant Fuhr.

The celebration is what people remember. Fleury threw his stick away, dropped to his knees, then went face-first onto the ice and slid most of the length of the rink on his stomach with his arms outstretched. The Saddledome erupted. The slide became one of the most reproduced celebration images in NHL history. Fleury has said since that he doesn't know exactly what came over him; he was 22 years old, in front of 19,000 screaming Calgarians, having just scored the most important goal of his career.

Edmonton won Game 7 in Edmonton two nights later. The Flames lost the series. But the Fleury slide outlived the series result by about thirty-five years.

The Saddledome career

Fleury played eleven seasons in Calgary, from 1988 to 1989 through the 1998 to 1999 trade deadline, when he was sent to Colorado in a deal that returned Robyn Regehr, Rene Corbet, and Wade Belak. He scored 364 goals as a Flame and 830 points, both still among the franchise's all-time leaders. He was a six-time NHL All-Star. He was the Flames' captain from 1995 to 1997.

His Saddledome career was, in retrospect, the second best of any player in the building's history, after Jarome Iginla. The two of them are often discussed together: Fleury, the smaller, faster, more emotional one; Iginla, the bigger, calmer, more grounded one. Both played their entire prime years at the Saddledome. Both will be remembered as the building's defining post-Lanny Flames.

What he played for

Fleury played angry. He played small. He played with chips on both shoulders. He fought players a foot taller than him. He drew penalties because opposing players couldn't help themselves. He was, throughout his Saddledome career, the most entertaining player in the building because you never knew what was about to happen.

His final season as a Flame was difficult. He was traded to Colorado at the deadline in 1999. He went on to play for Colorado, the New York Rangers, and Chicago before retiring in 2003. He has spoken publicly since about the toll that hockey, including specific events from his junior career, took on his mental health and his life. He has been one of the more outspoken voices on player safety, mental health, and abuse in hockey culture.

The Saddledome connection that endured

Fleury has remained close to Calgary. He returns for alumni events. He skates in charity games. His number 14 has not been retired by the Flames, but it's commonly discussed as a candidate. When the Saddledome comes down in 2027, the building's loudest player will not have his number in the rafters, but he'll still be one of the players Calgarians most associate with the place.

If you were at the Saddledome on April 30, 1991, the night Fleury slid down the ice, you had a fragment of Calgary sports history that nobody who wasn't there can quite have. The slide is in highlight reels. The room isn't.