Jarome Iginla
Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played over 1,500 games as a winger in the National Hockey League for the Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, and Los Angeles Kings between 1996 and 2017. He is widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation.
In junior, Iginla was a member of two Memorial Cup winning teams with the Kamloops Blazers and was named the Western Hockey League Player of the Year in 1996. He was selected 11th overall by the Dallas Stars in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft but was traded to Calgary before making his NHL debut. Nicknamed "Iggy", he led the NHL in goals and points in 2001–02, and won the Lester B. Pearson Award as its most outstanding player as voted by the players. In 2003–04, Iginla led the league in goals for the second time and captained the Flames to the Stanley Cup Finals, leading the playoffs in goals.
A six-time NHL All-Star, Iginla is the Flames' all-time leader in goals, points, and games played, and is second in assists to Al MacInnis. Iginla scored 50 goals in a season on two occasions and is one of seven players in NHL history to score 30 goals in 11 consecutive seasons. He is one of 20 players in NHL history to score over 600 goals and is one of 34 players to record 1,300 points in his career. He is a past winner of the Mark Messier Leadership Award and has been recognized by both the Flames and the league for his community work; while a member of the Flames, Iginla donated $2,000 to the children's charity Kidsport for every goal he scored. His number 12 was retired by the Flames in 2019.
Internationally, Iginla has represented Canada on numerous occasions. He was a member of championship teams at the 1996 World Junior and 1997 World Championships as well as the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. He is a three-time Olympian and two-time gold medal winner, including at the 2002 Winter Olympics where he helped lead Canada to its first Olympic hockey championship in 50 years. Iginla was selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020.
Early life
Iginla was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and raised in the adjoining city of St. Albert. His father, a lawyer, was originally from Nigeria and changed his first name from Adekunle to Elvis when he arrived in Canada. His surname means "big tree" in Yoruba, his father's native language. Iginla's mother, Susan Schuchard, is originally from Oregon, and has worked as a massage therapist and music teacher. Iginla was raised by his single mother, with support from his grandparents, after his parents divorced when he was two years old.In addition to hockey, Iginla played baseball as a young man and was the catcher on the Canadian national junior team. Before hockey, baseball was Iginla's favourite sport and his earliest sports memories were of attending amateur baseball tournaments in Western Canada. He played baseball until he was about 17 years old and later in life told Sports Illustrated that he had hoped to become a two-sport professional athlete like Bo Jackson.
Iginla credits his grandfather for his hockey career, as with his mother working and father attending law school, he would not have had the opportunity to play sports at a high level if not for his grandfather's support. Iginla grew up admiring other Black hockey players, including Edmonton Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr. Emulating Fuhr, Iginla played goaltender in his first two years of organized hockey before switching to the right wing. He played his entire minor hockey career in St. Albert, leading the Alberta Midget Hockey League in scoring as a 15-year-old with 87 points for the St. Albert Midget Raiders in 1992–93.
Playing career
Junior
Iginla played three years with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League. As a 16-year-old in 1993–94, he recorded six goals and 29 points in 48 regular season games before playing an additional 9 in the playoffs. The Blazers captured both the league title and the 1994 Memorial Cup, Canada's national junior championship. In reference to the Blazers' dominance of the league at the time, Iginla described the expectations of success as being similar to those placed on the Montreal Canadiens, the NHL's most successful franchise: "When you put on a Blazers jersey, it's like putting on the Canadiens'. You've got to perform."Iginla scored 33 goals and 71 points in 1994–95, his first full WHL season. The Blazers repeated as league champions, earning a trip to the 1995 Memorial Cup. Iginla scored five goals in the tournament to lead the Blazers to a second consecutive national championship. He received the George Parsons Trophy as the most sportsmanlike player of the tournament.
The Dallas Stars selected Iginla with their first pick, 11th overall, in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft; however, on December 20, 1995, they traded him to the Calgary Flames, along with Corey Millen, for the rights to forward Joe Nieuwendyk, who was then in a contract dispute with the Flames.
In his final season in Kamloops in 1995–96, Iginla finished fourth in the league scoring 136 points, including 63 goals in 63 games played, and was awarded the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the league's most outstanding player. The Blazers were upset in the Western Conference Final by the Spokane Chiefs, but Iginla still finished fourth in playoff scoring, recording 29 points in 16 games. His performance during the season earned him an invitation to play for Team Canada at the 1996 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Boston, where he led the tournament in scoring with 12 points and helped Canada to its fourth consecutive gold medal.
Professional (1996–2017)
Calgary Flames
Iginla made his NHL debut in the 1996 playoffs, as he was signed to a contract and flown to Calgary immediately after his junior season ended in Kamloops. He appeared in two games for the Flames in their series against the Chicago Blackhawks. In doing so, he became the first 18-year-old to play for the Flames since Dan Quinn in 1983. In his first NHL game, Iginla assisted on a Theoren Fleury goal to record his first point; he scored his first goal in his second game. He remained with the Flames, and played his first NHL season in 1996–97. He earned a spot on that year's NHL All-Rookie Team and finished as the runner-up to Bryan Berard in voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year after leading all first-year players in scoring with 50 points.By his third season, 1998–99, Iginla led the Flames in goals with 28. His success complicated negotiations for a new contract, as he and the Flames struggled to agree on a new deal following the season. Hoping to help resolve the contract impasse, Iginla agreed to attend training camp without a contract and purchased his insurance as the team would not have been responsible financially if he suffered an injury.
He remained without a contract at the start of the 1999–2000 season and missed the first three games as a holdout before signing a three-year deal worth US$4.9 million, plus bonuses. He finished the year with career highs in goals and points.
He then topped both marks in 2000–01 by recording 31 goals and 71 points.
After participating in Canada's Olympic summer camp before the season, Iginla again set new personal highs in 2001–02 when he registered 52 goals and 96 points. This season elevated Iginla to superstar status. He earned the Art Ross and Maurice Richard trophies as the NHL's leading point and goal scorer, respectively. It marked the first time since 1980 that the Art Ross was not won by either Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, or Jaromir Jagr. He was also awarded the Lester B. Pearson Award as the league's most valuable player as voted by his peers, and was a nominee for both the Hart Memorial Trophy and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The Hart Trophy voting proved to be controversial: Iginla tied Canadiens goaltender José Théodore in voting points, but received fewer first-place votes than Théodore. However, one voter rumoured to be from Quebec—Théodore and the Canadiens' home province—inexplicably left Iginla off his ballot. As a result of the controversy that followed, the Professional Hockey Writers Association changed the rules on how its members voted for the award to prevent a recurrence.
There were fears Iginla would again hold out after his contract expired following the season. They were unfounded, however, as he signed a two-year, $13 million deal before the season and was looked on to again lead the Flames offensively. Iginla fell back to 67 points in 2002–03 as injuries, including a lingering finger dislocation following a fight, diminished his play. His 35 goals were still enough to lead the Flames for the fourth time in five seasons. Despite his offensive contributions, the Flames missed the playoffs.
At the start of the 2003–04 season, Iginla was named the 18th captain in Flames franchise history, and 14th since the team moved to Calgary from Atlanta in 1980. His predecessor as captain, Craig Conroy, cited Iginla's experience and leadership for his decision to relinquish the captaincy. "He was a leader on that team and old enough to where he'd been there a long time. It was time for him. He took us to the Stanley Cup Finals that year so it worked out pretty well." Iginla was reported to be the first black captain in NHL history, though former Blackhawks captain Dirk Graham, who is of African descent, has also been said to hold that honour. Iginla responded to being named captain by capturing his second Rocket Richard Trophy, sharing the goal-scoring title with Ilya Kovalchuk and Rick Nash with 41 goals. The Flames qualified for the 2004 playoffs as the sixth seed in the West, the team's first playoff appearance in eight years. Iginla led all playoff scorers with 13 goals as he captained the Flames to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 15 years. The Flames were unable to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning, however, falling to the Eastern Conference champions in seven games after initially holding a 3–2 series lead. A dejected Iginla sat in the Flames locker room after game seven and was met by his father, who told his son that "I'm proud of you. All of Canada is proud of you."
While he was hailed as the best player in the world following his performance in the playoffs, Iginla spent the 2004–05 NHL lock-out focused on improving his game further. Following the lock-out, he was named as one of six player representatives on the newly created NHL competition committee, with a mandate to suggest recommendations for ways to improve the game. He held this position until early 2008.
On December 7, 2006, Iginla reached career milestones when he scored his 300th career goal and 600th career point against the Minnesota Wild. He was expected to play in the 2007 NHL All-Star Game in Dallas; however, he missed the game with a knee injury. The injury kept him out of 12 games in 2006–07. He nevertheless scored 94 points, including a career-high 55 assists.
The 2007–08 season saw Iginla post his second career 50-goal season, adding 48 assists for a career-high 98 points, good for third overall in the league. He was voted to the starting line-up of the 2008 NHL All-Star Game along with teammate Dion Phaneuf, and was named captain of the Western All-Star team. He broke the Flames' franchise record for games played when he played his 804th career game on November 29, 2007, against the Anaheim Ducks. He also broke Theoren Fleury's franchise record for goals when he scored his 365th on March 10, 2008, against the St. Louis Blues. Iginla was nominated as a Hart Trophy finalist for league most valuable player for the third time, though the award eventually was given to Washington Capitals winger Alexander Ovechkin. During the season, he signed a five-year contract extension with the Flames at $7 million per season.
Iginla continued his pursuit of Fleury's franchise record of 830 points in 2008–09. He recorded his 800th point with a first-period assist against the Chicago Blackhawks on December 19, 2008. He ended 2008 with a career-high five points in a New Year's Eve game against the Edmonton Oilers. He had 14 previous four-point games. In January, he was named to the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, his fifth such selection. Representing the Western Conference, Iginla scored his first career NHL All-Star Game goal in a 12–11 shootout loss. He passed Fleury as the Flames' all-time scoring leader on March 1, 2009, by recording five points, including his 400th career goal, in an 8–6 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He finished the season with 35 goals and 89 points, but a disappointing playoff performance that resulted in the Flames getting defeated in the first round by the Chicago Blackhawks in six games led to questions of whether he had been playing with an injury. Iginla quickly denied the rumour, admitted that he had not played with the level of consistency he expected and stated that he would spend the summer focused on improving his play in 2009–10. Iginla was named a Hart Trophy finalist for a second consecutive time and third time altogether, although it went to Ovechkin once more.
Iginla reached 900 career points in a two-goal, two-assist effort against the Edmonton Oilers on January 30, 2010. Six nights later, he played his 1,000th career game against the Florida Panthers. The Flames struggled in the 2009–10 campaign, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2003, missing the 2010 playoffs by five points. Iginla accepted responsibility for the team's failure, admitting that finishing around 70 points for the season was "not enough". The Flames' declining fortunes and Iginla's season led to increasing questions on whether he could be traded from the team with whom he has played his entire NHL career. Iginla, who would have to approve any trade the team attempts to make due to a no-movement clause in his contract, expressed that he did not wish to leave Calgary, but would accommodate a trade if the Flames wished to do so. Former Flames' general manager Craig Button argued against trading Iginla, blaming a lack of complementary players for both Iginla and Calgary's failures: "There's nothing easier in hockey than to be able to shut down one player. And the Calgary Flames, I would argue, have made it really easy for teams to shut down Jarome." The Flames publicly stated that they had no plans to trade him.
Iginla struggled offensively to begin the 2010–11 season, and with the Flames falling to the bottom of the standings, there was renewed speculation over his future in Calgary. Team management repeatedly reiterated that they were not interested in moving him to another team. Improving his game as the season wore on, Iginla reached another personal milestone, recording his 500th career assist on a goal by Jay Bouwmeester in a 6–5 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on January 11, 2011, the same day he was named to play in his sixth All-Star Game. He announced a week and a half later that he had declined to play in the All-Star Game as he wished to spend the time with his ailing grandmother. Iginla scored his 30th goal of the season on a penalty shot against Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators on March 6, and in doing so became the 10th player in NHL history to score at least 30 goals in ten consecutive seasons. A month later, he scored his 1,000th career point, notching the game-winning goal against Jaroslav Halák of the St. Louis Blues in a 3–2 win on April 1. He ended the season with 43 goals and assists for 86 points in all 82 games as the Flames as a team improved compared to the previous year as they narrowly missed the playoffs, only missing by three points in the standings. His 43 goals was the most on the team and third in the league overall only behind the 45 goals from Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the 50 goals from Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks. His 86 points were also sixth in the league only behind the 91 points by the Lightning's Stamkos, 94 points by Vancouver Canucks centre and captain Henrik Sedin, 98 points by the Ducks' Perry, 99 points by Tampa Bay Lightning winger Martin St. Louis and the league-leading 104 points by Vanocuver Canucks' winger Daniel Sedin, respectively.
Iginla scored his 500th goal on January 7, 2012, against Niklas Bäckström of the Minnesota Wild in a 3–1 victory. He was the 42nd player in league history to achieve the feat, and the 15th to do so with one organization. Midway through the 2011–12 season, Iginla was named an All-Star for the seventh time in his career, representing the Flames at the 2012 All-Star Game. Iginla scored his 30th goal of the 2011–12 season in a 3–2 win against goaltender Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks on March 13, 2012. He is the seventh player in league history to score 30 goals in 11 consecutive seasons.