Halloween 2023 is mere days away and one of the scariest things that can happen to the Calgary Flames is missing the playoffs this 2023–24 season. That would certainly be terrifying. There are also many other events that have haunted the team in recent times, like the first game against Matthew Phillips, seeing a historic point drop from Jonathan Huberdeau last year, or even just the troubling trend of starting a game with a goal against on the first shot.
Frightening Flames Halloween costumes
Here are some costumes that just might work as some of the scariest for the Flames. Let’s take a look and see what makes them truly scary, especially from the perspective of the Flames and their fan base. Some of these costumes will require a dedicated Flames fan to understand the portrayal, but the same dedicated Flames fan might just pass out from seeing far too many scary things to handle in a row.
The Ghost of Darryl Sutter
This one is easy. Sutter will continue to haunt the team financially over the next few seasons. Despite signing a contract extension to coach the team through the 2024–25 season, he was fired even before that contract began. Instead, he’s owed a fine sum of $8 million over the next two seasons to not even be in the building.
He was also responsible for the Flames’ historic team-wide collapse last year where literally everything went wrong. As far as ghosts and curses go, a Sutter costume is an easy pick. Carry around some papers that visibly show “Who is #49?” and the rest of the costume works itself out.
An electric scooter
No one really expects to be sent to the hospital when visiting a new city and taking eco-friendly forms of transportation. But that’s exactly what happened to Rasmus Andersson in Detroit, and he was taken out of action with a major injury after being hit by a vehicle while on a scooter. There’s zero chance that he doesn’t go weak in the knees at the sight of a scooter, and for that, it’s a scary costume for sure.
Bonus points if you have an Andersson jersey to go with your scooter.
A missed trade deadline call at 3:01 p.m.
The Flames have been known to be on the wrong end of missed trades due to late trade calls. A phone displaying 3:01 p.m MT. and a misprinted Jason Zucker jersey in Flames colours? That’s about as haunting as it gets. To make it an easy couple’s costume, a phone that shows multiple attempts to contact Flames ownership that all went unanswered to the tune of say 16 missed calls.
An unprotected first-round pick
Not everyone has a Noah Dobson jersey for Halloween—especially not Flames fans—but seeing one in real life will definitely be haunting. The Flames acquired Travis Hamonic and ended up seeing the New York Islanders picking 12th overall with Calgary’s own pick they failed to protect. The pick was Dobson, but as mentioned, there aren’t easy ways to dress up as a defender who put up an average of 50 points in the last two seasons.
Instead, consider dressing up as a podium for the 2018 NHL Draft.
Raised ticket prices
The Flames have some of the most affordable tickets in the entire league. An old building with a storied history doesn’t always come with a premium price tag, and this is true for the Flames. There’s the expectation that prices will probably increase with the new arena, but the hope is that the costs aren’t exuberantly high—or worse, prohibitively high to the point where most fans are suddenly priced out of going to games.
Empty wallets with ticket stubs showing $300+ for the worst seats in the house? Shivers.
Tkachuk’s injured hand
Matthew Tkachuk was not his best self during the 2021–22 NHL playoffs after he injured his hand fighting Michael Raffl in the first round. For those who still have their beloved Tkachuk jerseys, a wrapped hand to go with it makes for a strong last-minute option that brings back the horrors of the second round.
Players who don’t show up
Are you looking to get out of going to Halloween entirely? Tell everyone you know you’re going as either Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, Calle Jarnkrok, James Neal, Troy Brouwer, Sam Bennett, Mark Jankowski, Tim Erixon, or Greg Nemisz. In fact, tell everyone you’re making a mega costume that incorporates all of these players. When people realise that you’re not coming at all, they’ll put you on a pedestal for coming up with one of the most haunting Flames costumes of all time.
Scary times for Calgary
This list just scratches the surface of what can be considered scary for Calgary. The creativity of the Flames fan base knows no bounds and there’s sure to be plenty more costumes to haunt the town come Halloween.
Are you dressing up as something related to the Flames? Share your pics in the comments or @wincolumnCGY!
