Welcome to Pittsburgh Jarome

As I write this Jarome Iginla is somewhere overhead en route to Pittsburgh after spending sixteen seasons in Calgary.  He was the captain of the Flames since the 2003-04 season, the first black captain ever named in the NHL.  As of this writing Iginla has 9 goals and 13 assists, nice numbers for sure, but not the kind to cause all of this fuss right?  I write that because many of my friends who are not die hard fans are asking me why is the city on fire as if they just got a King to join their organ I zation as the Canadian people like to say.  Well Jarome may not be a king exactly, but he is hockey royalty, and he may not be a young lion anymore, but he sure is the type of player that will make this team that much tougher to play against in the postseason due to his leaderhip, toughness and skill.  To put this into proper perspective let me recite some of the details of Iginla, a man who has played his entire career in the western conference and therefore not that well known to the more casual of fans here in the east.  Jarome Iginla is a 35 year old right wing who is six foot one inch tall and about 214 pounds.  He is a right handed shooter, something that will be a help to the Penguins' power play.  In the NHL, you are generally considered an offensive weapon if you score 20 goals, a sniper if you get 30, and once you hit 40 and above you walk on some rather rarified ground, especially if you can also hit hard, and fight when necessary.  Well, Jarome Iginla had 20 plus goals in ALL but ONE of his 15 seasons in the NHL, he had two years where he had more than 40 goals and 2 more where he actually had 50 goals or more!  If that were not impressive enough, last season Iginla became only the 7th player in the history of the NHL to score 30 or more goals in 11 straight seasons.  Think about that....only 7 have been consistently strong enough to accomplish that feat EVER.  Iginla has played in 1188 regular season games prior to this season despite his tough as nails style of play and in those games he has scored 516 goals, added 557 assists for a total of 1073 points and 809 penalty minutes.  In the playoffs he has added 28 goals and 21 assists in 54 games played, or nearly a point per game in the post season.  Iginla has also won Gold for Team Canada twice in the Olympics, and he connected with our captain to win the Gold against Team USA in the 2010 Olympics.

 

Add Gold in the 2004 World Cup, Gold in the 1996 World Junior Championships and Gold again in the 1997 Worlds.  Iginla has also won the Rocket Richard as top goal scorer in the NHL twice and the Art Ross trophy for most points once.   The Penguins now boast three former Art Ross Trophy winers in their lineup, the first time an NHL team can claim that since the 1945 Wings.  In addition to the winning and the scoring, Iginla is well known for his ferocious physcial style and his willingness to drop the gloves when necessary.  The 35 year old Iginla is not likely to be the top scoring winger on this team at his age, but he will for sure add tenacity, toughness, hitting and clutch scoring for a team who could use these attributes in the post season.  His style of play will create more room for his linemates as well, and they will take pause before taking liberties with either Malkin or Crosby, whomever Iginla flanks.  If the on ice resume is not enough, he is one of the most well regarded leaders off the ice in the lockerroom, and even more so as a key member of the community based on his charitable contributions and general demeanor.  In short, Iginla is a warrior you would go to battle with anytime, and he is a man you would be proud to know.  Another quality person added to the Penguins organization, and a man who for many reasons I would love to see skating around with that silver chalice over his head in late June.  Welcome to Pittsburgh Jarome Iginla, we are proud to call you a member of our hockey family.