The 2013–14 Calgary Flames season was the 34th season in City of Calgary and 42nd for the Flames franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL). It was the first season of a rebuilding phase, and the first full year following the departure of long-time captain Jarome Iginla and goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. Mark Giordano replaced Iginla as team captain. The Flames also began the year in a new division as they returned to the Pacific Division following a league-wide realignment. Change continued into the playing season as new team president Brian Burke fired general manager Jay Feaster on December 12, 2013, and assumed the role himself on an interim basis.
Calgary's home arena, the Scotiabank Saddledome, suffered significant damage over the summer during widespread flooding that inundated the land around the arena. The facility was repaired in time for the playing season, a year in which the Flames were widely predicted to finish in last place in the Pacific Division. Calgary finished the year with a 35–40–7 record to finish sixth in the seven-team division and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. The team's top selection at the 2013 NHL entry draft, Sean Monahan, made the squad as an 18-year-old and finished second in team goal scoring with 22 goals. Michael Cammalleri led with 26 goals, while Jiri Hudler was the team leader in assists (37) and points (54). Karri Ramo was one of four goaltenders to appear for Calgary, and led the team with 17 wins.
Off-season
The Scotiabank Saddledome was one of many buildings impacted by the 2013 Alberta floods. The flooding of the Elbow and Bow Rivers swamped many areas of the city, including Stampede Park where the Saddledome is located. The event level of the arena was reported to be filled with water up to the 10th row of seating and the dressing rooms and control room for the video replay screen were under water. At a press conference held on June 22, 2013, team president Ken King stated that the arena had flooded up to the eighth row and that the event level of the facility was a "total loss." He added that the team's equipment and some memorabilia had also been destroyed, but expressed confidence that the facility would be repaired and ready in time for the October start to the season. Prospect Ben Hanowski was among the 100,000 people forced to evacuate by the floods. He described the situation as "almost terrifying," but praised the city's community spirit in the disaster: "I didn't know how I was going to get [out of downtown]. I didn't know if I could get a rental car out of the garage and through some water to get up here, and I had a person come up to me right away and ask if I had a place to go and if I had a way to get there and basically offered me a ride somewhere. I'd never met the person before. I think that example, right there, kind of speaks to what the city of Calgary is all about."
Crews worked around the clock to repair the facility; Saddledome director of building operations Robert Blanchard estimated that 650,000-man hours of work was performed on the facility and noted that they had compressed a six-month project into two. The facility was granted its occupancy permit and allowed to reopen in late August. The first hockey game following the building's reopening was a Flames pre-season contest on September 14.
The Flames restructured their hockey operations department at the start of September, as Brian Burke was brought into the organization in the newly created position of president of hockey operations. general manager Jay Feaster reported to Burke, while Ken King was elevated to president and CEO of Calgary Sports and Entertainment, the corporation that controls the Flames, Calgary Hitmen, Calgary Roughnecks, Calgary Stampeders and Abbotsford Heat. On the ice, Mark Giordano was named the 19th captain in Flames' franchise history, succeeding Jarome Iginla, who was traded during the previous season.
Regular season
October–November
Realignment resulted in the Flames shifting from the defunct Northwest Division to the Pacific Division. Calgary, along with former Northwest rivals the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks, joined the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes and San Jose Sharks in the expanded Pacific. Entering a rebuilding phase, the season began with low expectations for the Flames. The Hockey News predicted the team would finish last in the Division, a prediction shared by the Calgary media. The campaign began in Washington on October 3, a 5–4 shootout loss in which the team's top selection at the 2013 NHL entry draft, Sean Monahan, made his debut and scored his first point. Monahan scored his first career goal the following night against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Flames' first win of the season, a 4–3 triumph. The team continued to defy expectations throughout the first two weeks of the season, adding two wins and an overtime loss to stand at 3–0–2. It was the first time since the franchise arrived in Calgary that it was unbeaten in regulation time after five games.
A five-game western road trip in mid October brought the Flames back to .500 as they won only a single game against four losses, evening their record at 4–4–2. Jiri Hudler, who began the season by scoring at least one point in the first nine games of the season, had his streak ended by the Dallas Stars in a 5–1 loss on October 24. The game against the Stars was also Monahan's tenth of the season. He was eligible to return to junior without the season counting against his professional contract prior to playing his tenth game, but he earned a spot with the team for the full season by scoring six goals and adding three assists in his first nine NHL games.
Injuries to key players mounted into November as Giordano (broken ankle), Lee Stempniak (broken foot) and Curtis Glencross (MCL sprain) each suffered injuries that forced them out of the lineup for several weeks. The team continued to struggle on the ice throughout November, losing six consecutive games including a loss to the Edmonton Oilers that saw the team surrender four third period goals en route to a 4–2 loss that left Flames players "frustrated" at their inability to hold a two-goal lead. The losing streak came to an end on November 18 with a 5–4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Monahan scored the winner in his first career shootout attempt, and also scored the shootout winning goal two games later in a 4–3 win over the Florida Panthers.
The Flames' injury problems worsened in a November 27 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks (3–2; Chicago scored the winning goal in the final seconds of regulation time), as both Monahan and Dennis Wideman suffered broken bones in the contest. The Flames were left without their top two defencemen and two of their top six forwards. Captain Mark Giordano returned on December 4 after missing 18 games. During that time, the team earned only five wins.
December–January Jarome Iginla made his first return to Calgary on December 10, 2013, where the fans greeted him with a long standing ovation prior to the game as the Flames played a video tribute. Following the contest, a 2–1 Boston Bruins victory, Iginla was named the game's third star and took two laps around the rink to more cheers from the crowd.
On December 12, Brian Burke announced the decision to change the franchise's leadership structure. General Manager Jay Feaster and Assistant General Manager John Weisbrod were both dismissed, while Burke took over the general manager's duties on an interim basis while he conducted a search for a permanent replacement. The timing of the decision, in the middle of the season, surprised media and observers, but not the decision itself as it was widely believed that Feaster's tenure in Calgary was in doubt when Burke was hired. The same night, Curtis Glencross returned after missing 15 games, and TJ Galiardi after missing eight, as the Flames defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 2–1 in overtime.
The Flames remained plagued by injuries to key players, as Glencross suffered a second injury to his knee and defenceman Kris Russell also picked up a knee injury in a 4–3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 21. Two nights later, the Flames responded with what Cammalleri called "a fun win" by defeating the St. Louis Blues 4–3 in a shootout. Mark Giordano tied the contest at 3–3 with only 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation time. The team ended 2013 with three consecutive losses on home ice as Calgary was shut out 2–0 by both Edmonton and Vancouver before dropping a 4–1 decision on New Year's Eve to the Philadelphia Flyers. Sean Monahan's goal in the second period broke the team's streak of 159 minutes, 35 seconds without scoring a goal. The Flames' offensive struggles continued into the new year as they were shut out in four of six games at home. The team set a franchise record for longest streak on home ice without a goal, going 196 minutes and 59 seconds between the goal against Philadelphia and Mikael Backlund's marker on January 11, 2014, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 2–1 defeat at the hands of the Penguins was Calgary's sixth consecutive loss at home. Calgary ended up on the right side of a shutout two nights later as Karri Ramo recorded the first of his NHL career in a 2–0 road victory over Carolina. The team set a franchise record for futility on home ice with their seventh consecutive loss, 5–2 to Winnipeg, at the Saddledome on January 16.
Facing another struggling team in the Vancouver Canucks two nights later, the Flames became embroiled in a large melee off the opening faceoff. A line brawl broke out two seconds into the game as all ten skaters became engaged in fights. Four players from each team were given game misconducts in a contest that ended with 204 penalty minutes handed out. Vancouver Head Coach John Tortorella was visibly upset with Flames Head Coach Bob Hartley for the lineup he began the game with and tried to engage the Calgary bench in a shouting match after the brawl, then attempted to enter the Flames' dressing room during the first intermission. The game, played in Vancouver, ended in a 3–2 shootout loss for Calgary. Hartley was assessed a $25,000 fine by the League as the NHL held him responsible for the initial fights while Tortorella was given a 15-day suspension for his actions.
The Flames finally ended their home losing streak with their first win at the Saddledome in eight contests with a 3–2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes on January 22, 2014. Calgary won a second consecutive home game two nights later as the team overcame a four-goal effort by former Flame Eric Nystrom to defeat the Nashville Predators 5–4 in a shootout. Three additional wins followed as the Flames won every contest of a five-game homestand for the first time in 17 years. The final game of the homestand was costly however, as Karri Ramo suffered an MCL injury that kept him out of the lineup until after the NHL's break for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
February–April Two players represented their nations at the 2014 Olympics. Reto Berra joined with Anaheim's Jonas Hiller to form the goaltending duo for Switzerland. Berra appeared in one game, surrendering one goal in a loss. Ladislav Smid represented the Czech Republic, but countryman Jiri Hudler was left off the team despite being the third-leading scorer among Czech players in the NHL in a decision that was widely panned.