Calgary Counterpoint: Why Jarome Iginla Has To Go

I've played with Jarome Iginla. 

Well (ahem), I've shared ice with him. We were both born in 1977 and both lived in hockey-is-life St. Albert, Alberta for parts of our childhood. As such, when hockey tryouts came around in early September, me and my goalie brethren would suit up and stand in line to get peppered by the best shooters our age group had to offer. Jarome (he was just Jarome, back then) was, of course, the guy you waited for; the guy you knew everyone was watching; the guy whose shot every goalie wanted to stop. I never lasted long before my annual relegation to house league (I was too short and that's the excuse I'm sticking with), but I have vivid memories of trying out against the best; trying out against Jarome. 

I moved to Calgary for high school and, in my senior year, watched in horror as my beloved Jets announced they were leaving Winnipeg. The nightmare ended when the Jets were eliminated from the playoffs the following year and promptly packed their bags for (single tear) Phoenix. Those same playoffs, however, saw the Calgary Flames introduce the world to an 18 year-old Jarome Iginla, called up for two games against the Chicago Blackhawks. I remember thinking that it was pretty cool to have seen someone grow into an NHLer and remember bragging about my minor-hockey brush with the Flames' new blue-chip prospect. But I was in mourning. My team was gone. Switching my allegiance to a Smythe Division rival wasn't about to happen, no matter who was on the team. 

I spent the better part of the next decade wandering the hockey wilderness; a fan without a team. The Olympics in '98 and '02 reminded me of my love for the game but I was still heart-broken. Meanwhile, the Flames were mired in their own struggles, on and off the ice. Bad trades (see: Leeman, Gary), a cap-free league, and a tech-boom inflated US Dollar had Calgary fans fearing a similar fate to the lost souls in Winnipeg and Quebec. Fortunately, the franchise weathered the storm. Fortunately, they had Jarome Iginla. I admired from afar as the prospect became, not only a star in the NHL, but a pillar in the community. He was named Captain at the beginning of the '03-'04 season and led the team to its first playoff appearance since he joined the team, eight years before. 

And then it happened.

They won. Not just a game or two. A series. For the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 1989, when Jarome and I were eleven years old. They upset the Vancouver Canucks in seven games, igniting a furious celebration in Calgary. Then, they did it again in the second round. But this time against the Detroit Red Wings (the bleeping Red Wings!). By the time they met the San Jose Sharks in the Conference Finals, the city of Calgary was starting to feel more like the city of New Orleans; every win setting off a Mardi Gras-like celebration. Again, I watched from afar. This time, however, it was geography that kept me away -- I was living in New York, the perfect town for a recovering hockey fan. But my hockey heart was thawing quickly, enamored by the blue-collar bunch of Flames marching to the Stanley Cup; Jarome leading the way. Despite eventually losing to the (single tear, opposite cheek) Tampa-Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Flames had me hooked. I was now an official fan and Jarome was my guy.

Six years might as well be six decades. Times are tough again in Calgary. Despite solid economic footing that has allowed the Flames to spend up to the cap consistently, a stubborn, dysfunctional executive branch has saddled the team with bad trades and questionable contracts. Jarome is, once again, expected to shoulder most of the on-ice burden. He is their offense, their grit, their leadership. Despite a slow start, he has recently found his legs and is on pace for a better point tally than the previous year. But he is 33 years old and surrounded by a team that has been, at best, uninspired for most of the season. His coach and GM, both members of the Sutter family, with whom he has spent most of his career, have done little to help. In fact, they seem to be doing everything they can to antagonize their biggest star. Darryl (the GM) has bet the farm on the resurgence of Olli Jokinen (16 points, currently), a player of questionable character whose best days are a distant memory. Brent (the coach) is so committed to his my-way-or-else mantra, he benched all of his forwards in favor of five defensemen on a power-play in a recent game against Vancouver. The perennially positive Jarome couldn't help but betray his dejection when he was somehow left to explain the move to the media after the game. Globe and Mail reporter Eric Duhatschek, who is based in Calgary, openly opined as to whether or not the Canucks game might have been a "tipping point" for a man who had sworn up and down that he would finish his career as a Flame.

Jarome's age and the Flames' woes has had the internet buzzing most of the year about rumored trade discussions between the Flames and the Los Angeles Kings, one of few teams that could handle Jarome's contract and, perhaps, the only team pursuing him. Hockey fans, including self-described non-partisans, have weighed in on the merits of a deal that would see Jarome leave the C of Red for the Hollywood lights. Specifically, a recent Bleacher Report article by Michael Stuart provided ten reasons why the Flames would be foolish to trade Jarome Iginla, invoking his loyalty to the team and his many accomplishments on and off the ice. Mr. Stuart's closing argument is what he calls the "Mike Modano Effect", which is essentially his own optical aversion to a familiar player in an unfamiliar environment. With all due respect, Mr. Stuart, I humbly disagree. 

In my rebuttal, I suppose I could match Mr. Stuart's ten reasons with ten of my own, if I tried hard enough. For fans of the NHL, I could argue that the marketability of a bi-racial superstar would be maximized in a city like Los Angeles. For fellow Flames fans, I need only point to the hated Edmonton Oilers who, despite currently sitting below us in the basement of the Western Conference, are having a lot more fun thanks to a surplus of high-flying rookies like Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi and Linus Omark. I could point to the six teams we'd have to leapfrog in order to make the playoffs or I could point to Brayden Schenn and the lottery pick the Flames would (likely) secure if they pulled the trigger on a deal with the Kings. But let me instead use Mr. Stuart's own arguments against him. Jarome Iginla does put up the numbers. He does say all the right things. He is the heart and soul of the organization and he is a role model. And those are exactly the reasons why he needs to go.

Don't like Mike Modano in red? Well, I'll tell you something. Watching Jarome stumble through post game interviews in a desperate attempt to defend a franchise he loves that has left him out to dry is a hell of a lot worse. The fall of the Flames is not his fault and he deserves better than to finish his career in the cellar. I want to see Jarome Iginla play for a franchise that's doing the right things and making the right moves. I want to see Jarome Iginla in the playoffs, leading a team that will follow him with a coach that doesn't get off on embarrassing him. I want to see Jarome Iginla have fun. 

Back in 1995, while watching a piece of my childhood die a slow lame-duck death, I was too busy burning Barry Shenkarow dolls in effigy to notice that the Flames fans around me were suffering their own crisis. After a protracted hold-out, Joe Nieuwendyk, Calgary's all-star captain (and best face-off man, ever), was shipped off to the Dallas Stars for Corey Millen and a prospect. It was reported that the Flames were after Dallas power-forward Todd Harvey, but had to settle for less. Understandably, Flames Nation was despondent. Watching the heart and soul of their team don a Dallas Stars jersey was a kick to the stomach and watching Corey Millen in a Flames jersey was a kick to the groin. It would only get worse when, four years later, Nieuwendyk would raise the Stanley Cup as a member of the Stars and take home the Conn Smythe Trophy for good measure. But by then, Flames fans were moving on, time having healed those old wounds. Also, the prospect they received along with Corey Millen in the Nieuwendyk trade was starting to pay big dividends. I'll let you guess who that prospect was.