Most Canadian NHL teams are fairly miserable, as no Canadian team has won a Stanley Cup in over 30 years, and the Flames are no exception. Originally the Atlanta Flames, they moved to Calgary in 1980, where they would eventually win their first, and so far only Stanley Cup in 1989. They would at least play for it again in 2004, losing to Tampa Bay, but they haven’t been back since. They are also on a 3 season long playoff drought.
Their last Stanley Cup win was 1989 (+36)
They last played for it in 2004 (+21)
They haven’t made the playoffs since 2022 (+3)
Since 1989 they went from the Smythe Division to the Pacific Division, to the Northwest Division, to the Pacific Division again, with 1 season in the North Division in 2021 when Covid 19 precautions greatly impacted the sports world, and the NHL put all the Canadian teams together for ease of logistics. Across all those Divisional realignments, with 2 divisional rivals winning 3 Stanley Cups during all that. Those being the Edmonton Oilers once, and the Colorado Avalanche twice (the most recent Cup in 2022 doesn’t count for this as the Avalanche no longer play in the same division as the Flames anymore) (+3)
drought total=63
With only one win in 53 years, having started play in 1972, their expected win rate defaults to the “title drought x (1/number of teams in the league)” so it’s 36(1/32)=1.125
drought x win rate=70.875
Year over year for the Flames is positive, as 2025 was the first time since their previous playoff run in 2022 that they had a winning record 1-(.678-.494)=0.816
year over year x previous rate=57.834
Misery Index=57.834
Overall, could definitely be worse. Next we go back to the NBA as we look at the Golden State Warriors
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