Flames Best #6 Of All Time: Phil Housley

There have been a few players to wear #6 that were in contention for being the best ever in Flames history to wear that digit. Ric Nattress wore it from 1988-92 and was part of the ‘89 Stanley Cup Championship team, but his numbers don’t measure up when compared to who we chose. The other person in the mix was Dennis Wideman and he had a few good seasons in Calgary, but in the end none were better than Phil Housley with #6 on their back.

Housley, much like Brad McCrimmon, was already a well established NHL player with 11 years under his belt when he came to Calgary. Housley would spend parts of five seasons with the Flames, his longest stretch being 1998-2001. In his time wearing the Flaming C he would play in 328 games with Calgary, scoring 50 goals and collecting 188 assists. He would also make his final ASG appearance as a member of the Flames during the 2000 season.

In his first two seasons the Flames made the playoffs, but were eliminated early on. Those two years were the most success he would see in a Flames uniform and gave him two of his better statistical seasons with Calgary. During those years Housley would have 43 and 52 point seasons at the age of 30 & 31 years old. His final three years in Calgary were marked by teams that never made the playoffs, but he had very good personal numbers during those times. He would have back to back 50 point seasons in 1998-99 and 1999-2000, the last times he would have a point total higher than 39.

Phil Housley would finish off his Flames career in 2000-01 on a Flames team that would finish 4th in the Northwest Division with a record of 27-36-15-4 (73 points) and see Don Hay relived of his head coaching duties during the season.

After leaving Calgary, Housley would play two more seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs. Housley finished with 1,495 games played in his 21 year career, which currently has him 23rd all time, sandwiched between Mike Modano and Wayne Gretzky. Housley was inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 2015 and is currently an assistant coach with the Arizona Coyotes.

Other Players Having Worn #6 In Flames History

Bob Paradise (1973-74), Jean Lemieux (1975-76), Ken Houston (1976-82), Richie Dunn (1983), Keith Hanson (1984), Gino Cavallini (1985-86), Terry Johnson (1986), Brian Engblom (1987), Ric Nattress (1988-92), Greg Smyth (1992-93), Lee Norwood (1994), James Patrick (1994), Joel Bouchard (1997-98), Bob Boughner (2002-03), Jordan Leopold (2006), Brad Stuart (2007), Cory Sarich (2008-13), Dennis Wideman (2014-17), Dalton Prout (2019), Brandon Davidson (2020)

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