Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla

(Courtesy of the Official Calgary Flames Twitter Account) 

IginlaWatch was out in full effect tonight, and any speculation that there was about an impending trade of Jarome multiplied 40-fold when it was announced that he was a healthy scratch. At that moment it became painfully clear to hockey fans across the league, as well as all hockey teams and players that Iginla would not be a Flame within the next couple days. Half the hockey fans out there were hoping for a Cammalleri-esque trade where he gets pulled during the game and is done, while a quarter of hockey’s fan base was hoping it was just to prevent an injury so that he could be traded later, and the last quarter were just hoping that they were working on a trade but felt indifferent to the entire situation. I fell into that first half of the fan base, I was hoping Iggy would be playing tonight and would be yanked off the bench and put in a cab, a la Cammalleri. 

Recently, Iginla had submitted a list of teams that he was willing to be traded to; reportedly that list contained four teams who happened to be the last four Stanley Cup winners (Pittsburgh, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles) and that made it all the more clear that if Iginla was leaving the Flames he wanted a Cup.

Speculation was mounting about Iginla being traded to the Bruins for Alexander Khokhlachev and Matt Bartkowski, as they were both scratched in the AHL and NHL respectively. That really just added fuel to the fire. Then went it was announced that Iginla would not be dressing against the Avalanche that pretty much set the hockey fandom ablaze.  It got very confusing and complicated quickly as multiple reputable sources for information such as this started releasing contradicting updates.
During the Flames game, Aaron Ward – a current member of the TSN panel with some pretty solid connections within organizations – tweeted that Iginla to Boston was a done deal despite no official announcement having been made. Along with that, it was speculated that in return, the Flames would acquire Khokhlachev, Bartkowski and a conditional 1^st round draft pick (conditional on Iginla re-signing with Boston). That then pretty much became accepted as fact, despite no announcement having been made and Boston reporting that a deal was in deed not completed.

My thoughts on Iginla to Boston:
As someone who enjoys the Boston Bruins and the way that they play, I have watched quite a few of their games in recent seasons. As an Oilers fan, I have seen my fair share of Iginla’s play. That all being said, Iginla would have fit in with the Bruins organization without any problems and would have had success there. The Bruins definitely would have benefited from such an acquisition, even though they aren’t exactly lacking when it comes to skilled forwards. I honestly feel as though Jarome would be a quality addition to pretty much any team, both on the ice and in the dressing room.
What Calgary would have received in return is pretty pathetic compared to what they were giving up. Yes, Khokhlachev and Bartkowski are talented and promising, but they certainly aren’t an Iginla. And that conditional draft pick? Laughable. Calgary would have had to have been damn fricking sure that Iginla would at least sign another year in Boston, otherwise Feaster made an idiotic, laughable decision with that one.

Twitter Trends throughout the
drama unfolding

The Flames were facing off against the Colorado Avalanche while all these rumors were flying. Mike Johnson, from TSN, had said that players were leaning over the bench to ask him about Iggy trade developments. TSN kept showing fans in the stands with signs that were about Iggy, some were “Thank You”s, some were “Iginla has played here since I was born” but either way, you could feel the heartache of the fans. A handful of times the fans started an “Iggy” chant that should have been loud enough for Iginla to hear from his home – since he wisely opted to not be at the Saddledome at all during the night.
Following the Flames win, and the media scrums that always ensue, the media was told not to go home yet and that Jay Feaster would be coming out to make an announcement.

Feaster surfaced and began his speech to the media. Following a long winded speech about Iginla, it was announced that Jarome Iginla had been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. WOW. In return, the Flames acquired Ben Hanowski, Kenny Agostino and Pittsburgh’s 2013 1^st round draft pick. WOW. Feaster then went on to pretty much lecture the media about their false trade announcement and whatnot. I can’t stand Feaster personally, but watch the press conference if you get a chance, it was mildly entertaining, although that could just be because I was super hyped about the trade.

My thought on Iginla to Pittsburgh:

Who else is excited to see these two back together?!

Despite having had my heart set on Iginla going to Boston, Pittsburgh will also be a great fit for Jarome. Pittsburgh is absolutely loading their roster right now to make that Stanley Cup run so if that’s what he was after, then all the best to him because there certainly is a great chance of that panning out now! Pittsburgh is a fantastic team that also is not hurting when it comes to offense, and there certainly are enough skilled players for Iggy to find great chemistry with someone. And who can forget Jarome Iginla’s involvement in Sidney Crosby’s golden goal for Team Canada?! I honestly have the feeling that Iginla will thrive in Pittsburgh and that team is going to be terrifying in about a week after the Trade Deadline passes.
And the best part for Pittsburgh, they gained a solid veteran and gave up very little in return! What team doesn’t like a deal like that?
That being said, Calgary did not obtain a whole hell of a lot in return for their star, but I guess Feaster must see a silver lining somewhere in all of this. Hopefully that doesn’t bite Calgary in the ass too much and they can pull off some magic in the next week to replace Iginla, not that that is even close to being possible.

Jarome Iginla is one of the classiest players in the league, easily, and is a fantastic player. He is one of those guys that it is next to impossible to dislike, and seems to be immune to the boo-birds. Iginla is the epitome of what all hockey players should be like (are you listening Patrick Kane? Haha) and is deserving of all the respect he earns league wide.

I wish him all the best in Pittsburgh! And the Penguins better damn well enjoy having the rest of Canada jump on their bandwagon now!

If the night of the Iginla trade was any indication, this next week before the trade deadline is going to be absolutely insane! Here’s hoping for some more big moves!

(Sorry if there are any spelling, grammar or other errors. I wrote this at like midnight and have other stuff to do before bed, so I didn’t get to proofread it. Sorry!)