Red Mile - 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs

2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs

2004 marked the first time the Flames qualified for the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs since 1996. The Red Mile's beginnings were relatively humble, and consisted of people driving down the Red Mile honking and waving flags, as people walked the streets cheering and clapping hands. Several thousand fans went to bars along 17th Avenue S.W. to watch the Flames on the road against the Vancouver Canucks in the first round, and also to watch the team play at the nearby Pengrowth Saddledome for home games. When the Flames eliminated the Canucks in the seventh and deciding game by Martin Gelinas' overtime goal, fans flooded the streets in a relatively spontaneous party celebrating the Flames first playoff series victory since the 1989 Stanley Cup final against the Montreal Canadiens. The fact that this was spontaneous is a phenomenon in itself; there had been no advertising or other form of publicizing of 17th Avenue as an after-game party strip prior to the playoff run.

As the Flames progressed through the subsequent playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning, the popularity of the Red Mile continued to grow, and along with it the party atmosphere. By the time of the seventh game of the Stanley Cup final against Tampa, the city was expecting over 100,000 people would flood the area if the Flames were to win the Cup. This, however, was not to be as the Lightning defeated the Flames in Game 7, 2-1.