Jarome Iginla has announced he is officially retiring from the NHL. The Calgary Flames will hold a press conference to announce the retirement. The future Hall of Famer spent 16 seasons with the Flames and 20 seasons in the NHL.
“It’s been a fun adventure, for my family and I. Some great cities, great people. To be back in Alberta, though, will feel like home.”
Jarome Iginla reflects on his incredible career and what it means to him to announce his retirement in Calgary. https://t.co/QoRXYJTAUK
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) July 25, 2018
Jarome Iginla Retires
Iginla, an NHL veteran of 1,554 games last played in 2016-17. Iginla has 625 career goals and 675 assists for 1,300 career points since being drafted 11th overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Dallas Stars. In 1219 games with the Flames, Iginla scored 525 goals and 1095 points. Iginla twice won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophy, in 2002 and 2004, for leading the NHL in goals. In 2002 Iginla won the Art Ross and Lester B. Pearson awards while finishing tied for the Hart Trophy. Unfortunately, Iginla’s personal success did not translate into much team success as the Flames missed the playoffs in his first six seasons. In fact, in his career, Iginla only play in the playoffs in eight seasons.
Iginla did find a lot of success on the international stage, however. The Edmonton, Alberta native represented Canada on several occasions. He won a gold medal at the 1996 Wolrd Junior Hockey Championships, where he led (tied) the tournament in goals with five and points with 12. Iginla was named best forward of the tournament.
He won another gold medal with Canada at the 1997 World Hockey Championships. In 11 games, Iginla would score five points. Iginla represented Canada at three Olympic games, 2002, 2006 and 2010. Canada won gold in 2002 and 2010. Iginla scored two goals and added an assist in the 2002 gold medal game for Canada to help lead them to a 5-2 win over the USA. The gold medal was Canada’s first men’s ice hockey gold medal in 50 years.
Quest For A Cup
Iginla and Flames went on a great playoff run in 2003-04. The Flames unexpectedly advanced the Stanley Cup final. They battled hard but ended up losing the series in seven games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. In one of the most memorable Stanley Cup moments, Iginla and Vincent Lecavalier dropped the gloves in game three of the series. Iginla led all playoff goal scorers with 13 goals.
Iglina was traded from Calgary to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2012-13 trade deadline. While Iginla would always be synonymous with the Flames, Iginla wanted to take another run at a Stanley Cup. Unfortunately for Iginla and the Penguins, they would lose to Boston in the Eastern Conference final. After his trade to Pittsburgh, Iginla turned into a bit of a journeyman. He would a one-year free-agent contract with the Boston Bruins. Iginla seemed to find the fountain of youth with the Bruins. He settled on the top line and scored 30 goals. Again, however, his Cup dream was dashed in the second round of the playoffs, this time by the Montreal Canadiens. This would also be the last time Jarome Iginla would play in the postseason.
Iginla then signed a three-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche. Iginla had two productive season’s in Colorado scoring 29 and 22 goals. In his third season, age seemed to catch up with him. He saw a steep drop off in production, netting just 18 points before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings.
Iginla had offseason hip surgery but hoped to catch on with a team after he healed. Unfortunately, no teams would offer him a contract and Iginla sat out the entire year.
Lasting Impact
Jarome Iginla is a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer. He will be remembered as one of the dominant goal scorers of his era. Between 2000-01 to 2011-12 Iginla scored 50 or more goals twice, 40 or more four times and never scored less than 31 goals. Iginla is a true NHL legend and he will be missed.
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