Which NHL team was originally the Atlanta Flames?

Which NHL team was originally the Atlanta Flames? The Calgary Flames are the relocated Atlanta Flames franchise.

The Atlanta Flames entered the NHL as an expansion team in 1972, sharing the league’s Southern expansion with the New York Islanders. They played at the Omni Coliseum and qualified for the playoffs six times in eight seasons, but never won a playoff series.

Financial losses, low attendance and difficulties securing strong local television support eventually forced owner Tom Cousins to sell the club. In 1980, Nelson Skalbania and a Calgary ownership group purchased the franchise and moved it to Alberta. The team retained the Flames name, changing its logo from a flaming “A” to a flaming “C.”

The Atlanta Thrashers were not the same franchise; they were an expansion team that began play in 1999. The Thrashers later relocated to Winnipeg in 2011 and became the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets. Calgary’s Flames franchise, by contrast, has continuous roots in Atlanta’s 1972 NHL team.