Former Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Hockey Hall of Fame announced on June 24th that former Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla has been named to the 2020 Hall of Fame Class.
Iginla is a household name among Flames fans regardless of age. Young fans grew up watching him and old fans were privileged enough to be along for the ride of that exciting era of hockey.
The Alberta-raised star played in 16 seasons for the Flames and was the captain of the squad for nine of those seasons. In 2012, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins and bounced around two other teams before ultimately ending his career as a Los Angeles King in 2017. He was one of those players that you spent the last few years of his career hoping he was fortunate enough to win a cup.
Welcome to the Hockey Hall of Fame, Jarome Iginla. #HHOF2020 | #HHOF pic.twitter.com/UFnySXXgm4
— Hockey Hall of Fame (@HockeyHallFame) June 24, 2020
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Jarome started his professional career in the WHL where he played 183 games for the Kamloops Blazers. He was drafted as an 18 year old by the Dallas Stars 11th overall in the 1995 entry draft.
Iginla was then traded to the Calgary Flames where he appeared in two playoff games that season before officially starting his first full season as a Flame six months later.
In over 1500 games in the NHL, Iginla recorded 625 goals and 675 assists for a total of 1,300 points. This six-time NHL All-Star received plenty of recognition from his team and league.
In the 2001-02 season, Iginla was awarded the Art Ross Trophy, Maurice Richard Trophy, and the Ted Lindsey Award. The next year, he won the Maurice Richard for the second time along with the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. His final NHL award was received for the 2008-09 season when he won the Mark Messier Leadership Award.
Even if you are not a Flames fan, you have very likely seen Iginla on the international stage. He earned two gold medals for Team Canada in the 2002 and 2010 Olympics and was apart of Canada’s victories in the 1996 World Juniors, 1997 World Championship, and 2004 World Cup. Most famously, he assisted on Sidney Crosby’s golden goal in overtime of the 2010 Olympic Gold Medal game that will go down in history as one of Canada’s proudest moments.
Last season, number 12 was officially retired in the Scotiabank Saddledome in honour of Jarome. He joins just two other players with numbers in the rafters including Lanny McDonald and Mike Vernon.
Jarome Iginla holds 13 Flames team records to this day including games played, goals, points, goals created, even strength goals, power play goals, game-winning goals, shots, adjusted goals, adjusted assists, adjusted points, adjusted goals created, total goals on-ice against, offensive point shares and point shares.
Iginla was an exceptional leader and teammate. The Calgary Flames are reiterating this on their social media by sharing videos of praise from his former teammates like TJ Brodie, Mark Giordano, Robyn Regehr, Matt Stajan, and many others.
Jerome was in his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame in 2020 and due to his impressive career, there was no surprise he received this honour so soon. Due to Covid-19 precautions, the date for the Hall of Fame ceremony is not confirmed yet but tentatively scheduled for November 16th in Toronto, Ontario.