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Flames Draft History: The Rise of Trader Cliff (1980-85)

The Atlanta Flames relocated to Calgary prior to the 1980-81 season, transporting Cliff Fletcher's experiment from the American South to southern Alberta. The first few years of drafting after the move up north proved crucial to the Flames long-term success; several picks ended up huge parts of Calgary's run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1986 and their Cup win in 1989 (or were traded to acquire key pieces).

Of course, many of them were also unceremoniously discarded or traded for magic beans following Cliff Fletcher leaving the organization, but we'll get to that later.

Folks, here is perhaps the best period of drafting (and trading) in organizational history.