The NHL announced the Calgary Flames Quarter-Century team on Jan. 11, featuring several memorable names in franchise history.
Today, we want to look back at Jarome Iginla’s tenure with the club and examine his credentials for being on the Flames’ first team.
Iginla was the Dallas Stars top pick (11th overall) in the 1995 Draft. He never skated with the club; he was traded to the Flames on Dec. 19, 1995, with Corey Millen for future Hall of Famer Joe Nieuwendyk.
The future Flames captain would debut in 1996-97 and finished second in Calder Trophy voting, earning NHL All-Rookie Team honors with 50 points in 82 games.
Moreover, Iginla would score 21 goals for the first time, but it would be just the first of many more (17).
During his first four seasons, 1996 to 2000, Iginla played 311 games, scoring 91 goals and 196 points. He also played in the playoffs once, in 1995-96.
Once the calendar flipped to the new millennium, Iginla became the face of the franchise, becoming their all-time leading scorer and helping the Flames within a game of winning the Stanley Cup in 2004.
In 2000-01, he became a 30-goal scorer for the first time, leading Calgary with 71 points. However, the best was yet to come.
Iginla would lead the NHL with 52 goals and 96 points in 82 games the following year. He cleaned up at the annual awards, winning the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, Art Ross, and Lester B. Pearson Award. Additionally, he led the league with 35 even-strength goals and was named an NHL All-Star on the 1st Team.
He continued his torrid goal-scoring pace in 2002-03, scoring 35, before netting 41 in 2003-04 to win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for the second time in three seasons. Iginla also won the King Clancy Trophy that year.
Over the next two seasons, he would score another 74 goals before reaching 50 for the second and final time in his career in 2007-08. One year later, with another 35 goals, Iginla would win the Mark Messier Leadership Award.
Even though he would score 43 goals in 2010-11 and another 32 in 2011-12, the Flames were no longer contenders in the Western Conference, and in one of the gut-wrenching moments in franchise history, they traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Mar. 28, 2013.
During Iginla’s 16 seasons with the Flames,…