By Jordan Long
Forward Jarome Iginla decided to hang up his skates. He will announce his retirement on July 30th from Calgary, Alberta the team he played most of his career with. According to ESPN, Iginla said, “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.”
Iginla spent 15 NHL seasons with the Flames. His career began in 1996 and lasted 31 games into 2013. His top season for the Flames was in the 2001-2002 season. He scored a career high 52 goals while adding 44 assists for an impressive 96 points.
During his time with Calgary, they made it to the postseason 6 times. 2004 was their best finish. They went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. It looked like the Flames were going to win the Cup. They held a 3-2 series lead over the Tampa Bay Lighting. Unfortunately they lost game 6, 3-2 in double overtime and game 7, 2-1. It was Iginla’s one and only appearance in the Final. In that playoff run he scored 13 goals while adding 9 assists for a total of 22 points.
Calgary was in the midst of an awful year in 2013. They ended with a record of 19-25-4 for a total of 42 points in a locked out shortened season. Calgary traded him to Pittsburgh hoping to help the Penguins to the Final. He scored 5 goals and 6 assists in 13 games for them. They reached the postseason but were eliminated in the 3rd round.
Iginla was a free agent and decided to sign with the Boston Bruins for one year for the 2013-2014 season. In that season Iginla lit the lamp 30 times while adding 31 assists. The Bruins ended up losing in the 2nd round to the Montreal Canadians in 7 games.
At the end of the season, the Bruins were hoping to re-sign Iginla. The problem was his salary was too high and it would have put them over the salary cap. Colorado was a young and up-incoming team. Iginla agreed to a 3 year, $16 million contract. This was in hopes of leading this team past the 1st-round in the playoffs.
It didn’t work out in Colorado. He scored 59 goals and 65 assists during his years in Colorado. Colorado wasn’t close to making the playoffs and decided to trade him to the Kings on March 1, 2017. This was in hopes of helping the Kings reach the postseason. They didn’t and missed out by 8 points.
Last season Iginla didn’t even play. He was waiting for a contract that never came. In 2017, he was a step slow and couldn’t play the game at a high level any more. Teams were not interested.
Iginla was one of the top players in his time in the NHL. He scored 625 goals and added 675 assists for a total of 1,300 points. His 625 goals ranks 15th on the NHL All-Time list.
Iginla was smart to leave the game. He will be remembered as one of the best forwards ever to play the game. The only honor left for him is to be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. His resume speaks for itself. Iginla had a Hall of Fame worthy career.
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