Jarome Iginla joins Calgary Flames as special advisor to the general manager
By Ryan Pike
10 months agoThe greatest player in Calgary Flames franchise history is back in the fold. The Flames announced on Thursday afternoon that Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Jarome Iginla has joined the team as special advisor to the general manager.
Iginla, 45, will “provide support in all areas of hockey operations,” working underneath GM Craig Conroy in a part-time basis. He’ll remain in Kelowna as the coach of the RINK Hockey Academy for the coming season, at which point his time commitment probably changes.
In the press release Iginla shared a few thoughts on rejoining the organization:
“While the public focus of my contributions is on my playing career, I believe my hockey experiences since my retirement will also benefit the organization. Conny and I have 20-year-old pending work to complete, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Iginla played in the NHL between 1996 and 2017, emerging as perhaps the most prolific goal-scorer of his era. Between stints with the Flames, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings, he scored 625 goals and registered 1,300 points over 1,554 games. On a club and international level, he basically won everything that’s possible for a person to win aside from a Stanley Cup.
- WHL Champion (1993-94 & 1994-95)
- Memorial Cup Champion (1993-94 & 1994-95)
- World Juniors gold medallist (1995)
- World Championship gold medallist (1997)
- World Cup of Hockey gold medallist (2004)
- Olympic gold medallist (2002 & 2010)
- Art Ross Trophy winner (2001-02)
- Ted Lindsay Award winner (2001-02)
- Maurice Richard Trophy winner (2001-02 & 2003-04)
- King Clancy Memorial Trophy winner (2003-04)
- NHL Foundation Player Award winner (2003-04)
- Mark Messier Leadership Award winner (2008-09)
He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020.
Iginla owns basically every scoring record in Flames franchise history, is the club’s longest-tenured captain ever, and he played with Conroy and development coach Martin Gelinas during the 2004 Stanley Cup run. He was also teammates with Flames head coach Ryan Huska during their time in the Western Hockey League with the Kelowna Rockets.
Since retiring, Iginla’s been involved in coaching his kids – first in Boston and subsequently in Kelowna. Daughter Jade is attending Brown University and was a gold medalist with the Canadian national team at the women’s Under-18 World Championships. Son Tij was recently traded to the Kelowna Rockets after winning a WHL Championship with the Seattle Thunderbirds. (He captured a silver medal with Canada Red at the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge.) Son Joe was recently selected by the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL Bantam Draft, and he has a year left in bantam before he’s eligible to head to the WHL full-time.
Iginla has an extensive playing resume and has coached high-level youth hockey since retiring. He’s incredibly qualified, and this type of job allows him to get his feet wet in hockey operations before diving in head-long as early as the 2024-25 season.
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