They didn't win the Stanley Cup but the Calgary Flames won the heart of Canadian hockey fans.
And on Wednesday they were named Team of the Year by The Canadian Press and Broadcast News.
The Flames comfortably beat out Team Canada's World Cup hockey club by 246 points to 164 in balloting of sports editors and broadcasters across the country.
Darryl Sutter's squad had 62 first-place votes compared to 34 for Wayne Gretzky's Team Canada. The Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts were third with 12 first-place votes and 109 points.
The men's world champion hockey team won the award last year. Canada won the IIHF men's title again in May 2004 in Prague but finished fifth in voting with 62 points. The Canadian and world champion curling rink of Colleen Jones was fourth with 65 points.
On Monday, cyclist Lori-Ann Muenzer was named Female Athlete of the Year while gymnast Kyle Shewfelt won Male Athlete of the Year on Tuesday.
That the Flames won the team award in a year when Canada captured both the World Cup and the world championship may be a surprise to some, but not to Sutter, Calgary's head coach and general manager.
''Quite honestly, I think that's based more on the fact we played a whole season,'' Sutter said in an interview. ''Those were great accomplishments by those groups (Team Canada) but it's nice to see a team recognized for a whole season.''
Flames superstar Jarome Iginla would have been a winner either way, having also played for the World Cup team in September. But he, too, understands why his Calgary side won out over Team Canada.
''I think it's a combination of things,'' Iginla said in an interview. ''The expectation for Team Canada is to go in and win the World Cup, while we weren't expected to do much in Calgary. And the way we did it, it was exciting hockey, there were overtime games, it was pretty cool.
''And when you think of it, it's been a long time since a Canadian team has been there and no one expected the first one back to be the Flames.''
The Flames were the first Canadian team to reach the Cup final since the 1993-94 Vancouver Canucks, and the first NHL team to win the Team of the Year Award since the 1989-90 Edmonton Oilers. The 1988-89 Stanley Cup champion Flames also won the CP-BN award.
But unlike the '89 powerhouse Flames, this Calgary team was not expected to make hay in the spring. But did they ever.
The Flames came one win short of the 16 needed to lift Lord Stanley's coveted prize, in the process beating Vancouver in the first round, heavily favoured Detroit in the second round, San Jose in the conference final and falling in seven games to the talented Tampa Bay Lightning in the Cup final.
''It obviously didn't end the way we wanted, but it was so much fun,'' Iginla recalls. ''And it was so close, all the way to Game 7.''
The Flames provided two months of memorable hockey, not only bringing pride to the city of Calgary but also filling their bandwagon with fans from across the country.
''The level of electricity in the building was just amazing, the Red Mile after the games, the traditions that were started, it was all amazing,'' said Iginla. ''And even the rest of Canada, and the way fans across the country reacted to us - even hearing that all the way up in Edmonton fans were cheering for us, I would have never dreamt that was possible.''
The Flames started the 2003-04 season simply hoping to make the playoffs for the first time after being out seven consecutive seasons. They made it by five points, placing sixth in the tough Western Conference with 94 points on the strength of a 42-30-7-3 record.
All of which probably doesn't happen unless Sutter acquires goalie Miikka Kiprusoff from San Jose on Nov. 16, in exchange for a second-round draft pick. It turned out to be the trade of the year, one which Sutter was forced into making because of injuries to his netminders Roman Turek and Jamie McLennan.
''Put it this way, we would not have had any chance of being a playoff team if we would not have done it, because of the injuries to Turek and McLennan,'' Sutter said.
Kiprusoff went 24-10-4 with Flames during the regular season and posted a mind-boggling 1.69 goals-against average.
Sutter made other moves as well, bringing in tough guy Chris Simon and versatile forward Marcus Nilson before the trade deadline, moves that paid off in spades during the playoffs. That's why Sutter deserves much credit for Calgary's Cinderella run.
The playoffs started with a memorable seven-game series with the rival Canucks. Martin Gelinas' goal 1:25 into overtime in Game 7 at Vancouver gave the upstart Flames a riveting first-round win.
Up next, the powerful Red Wings, President's Trophy winners.
Thanks to a gem from Kiprusoff, the Flames stole Game 1 at Joe Louis Arena after Nilson scored at 2:39 of overtime to give Calgary a 2-1 win.
''That series was all about winning Game 1. No question,'' Sutter recalls. ''We came right off Game 7 (in Vancouver) and flew all the way there. They were sitting there waiting for us. I have to assume they took us a little lightly.
''We got Game 1, and after that our young guys played really, really well for us.''
Iginla also believes the Game 1 victory in Detroit was a key moment in their playoff run.
''I remember thinking during the game: `Wow, these Wings are good. We're in trouble, but if we find a way to win this somehow, who knows...'
''And we did find a way to win it and that really got our confidence going, especially with the goaltending we were getting.''
The Flames disposed of the Wings in six games, setting up a conference final with the San Jose Sharks.
After winning the first two games in San Jose, Calgary was thinking sweep. Instead, the Sharks roared back to win both games in Calgary to tie it 2-2, and many began to think that perhaps the Flames had finally hit the wall.
But Calgary closed off the series with a 3-0 win at San Jose in Game 5 and a 3-1 win at home in Game 6, a game Sutter - not exactly the sentimental type - will never forget.
''The best part was winning the conference on home ice, no question,'' Sutter said. ''Because the city was so much a part of it, to win it here was to me really significant. It was sort of our way, somehow, to show them that they were part of the team, too.''
The excitement would only grow as the Flames took a 3-2 lead in the Stanley Cup final versus the Lightning, and had a chance to wrap it up at home in Game 6. It never happened. The Flames appeared to run out of gas and bodies, thanks to mounting injuries, and the Lightning came back to take Game 6, 3-2 in overtime, and Game 7 in Tampa by a 2-1 score.
''If we would have had one or two more healthy guys, we felt it would not even have gotten to Game 7,'' Sutter said. ''But guys were playing so banged up, they just gave it everything they had.''
Iginla won't soon forget the feeling in Tampa after Game 7.
''It was one of the toughest days in my life - period,'' Iginla said. ''We were sitting there in that dressing room and we could hear We Are The Champions in the arena.
''But that's part of sports. We now know the bottom feeling, hopefully one day we can experience the top.''