<p><em>This article is brought to you by bet365.</em></p>
<p>He hasn&#8217;t played a game since 2017, but Calgary Flames legend Jarome Iginla keeps racking up the honours.</p>
<p>Over at ESPN, they&#8217;ve recently concluded their rundown of the top 100 athletes – of any sport – of the 21st century. They also did a sub-list, breaking out the top 25 NHL players of the 21st century, and Iginla made the cut. <a href="https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/40568433/ranking-top-25-nhl-players-21st-century">He landed at 20th on their countdown</a>.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s how ESPN&#8217;s Kristen Shilton summarized #12&#8217;s credentials:</p>
<p><em>&#8220;It&#8217;s possible Iginla was the last of his kind. The former Calgary Flames captain was a genuine power forward boasting a rare combination of assets &#8212; he had elite skill and awesome strength, excellent vision and a scrapper&#8217;s mentality. Iginla could fight as well as he could finish. There aren&#8217;t many skaters in that mould and certainly almost no one did it all better than Iginla.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>Here&#8217;s how Iginla stacks up offensively since Jan. 1, 2000:</p>
<ul>
<li>He scored 556 goals, third-most in the NHL – only Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby have more.</li>
<li>He posted 1,148 points, seventh-most in the NHL – only Crosby, Ovechkin, Joe Thornton, Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane and Anze Kopitar have more.</li>
<li>Iginla was also third in even-strength goals and power play goals, and fourth in game-winning goals.</li>
</ul>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5UlYs6v4oOQ?si=U-pSVq76CktBw5Z1" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p>Iginla&#8217;s trophy case got pretty crowded from 2000 until the end of his playing days following the 2016-17 season:</p>
<ul>
<li>Two Rocket Richard Trophies (in 2001-02 and 2003-04) as the NHL&#8217;s goal-scoring leader</li>
<li>The Art Ross Trophy (in 2001-02) as the NHL&#8217;s points leader</li>
<li>The Ted Lindsay Award (in 2001-02) as the NHL&#8217;s most valuable player as voted by the players</li>
<li>The NHL Foundation Player Award (in 2003-04) and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy (in 2003-04) for his humanitarian contributions.</li>
<li>The Mark Messier Leadership Award (in 2008-09) for his on and off-ice leadership.</li>
<li>A three-time first team all-star (in 2001-02, 2007-08 and 2008-09) and a one-time second team all-star (in 2003-04).</li>
<li>A three-time finalist for the Hart Trophy (in 2001-02, 2003-04 and 2007-08) as the NHL player considered most valuable to his team.</li>
</ul>
<p>Even if you ignore Iginla&#8217;s key contributions to a pair of Olympic gold medal runs for Team Canada, as ESPN is focusing just on club team contributions, it&#8217;s really hard to poke holes in Iginla&#8217;s incredibly strong resume. There are just a dozen forwards listed ahead of Iginla by ESPN&#8217;s rankings, and it&#8217;s the list of perennial award (and Stanley Cup) winners that you would expect to see – in addition to Iginla&#8217;s contemporaries Crosby and Ovechkin, it&#8217;s the likes of Patrice Bergeron, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon.</p>
<p><em><strong>Where do you think Iginla should have landed on ESPN&#8217;s list? (And if he&#8217;s higher, who do you think should have been below him?) Let us know in the comments!</strong></em></p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="328" data-promotion-id="19111" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>


<em>This article is brought to you by bet365.</em>

He hasn't played a game since 2017, but Calgary Flames legend Jarome Iginla keeps racking up the honours.

Over at ESPN, they've recently concluded their rundown of the top 100 athletes – of any sport – of the 21st century. They also did a sub-list, breaking out the top 25 NHL players of the 21st century, and Iginla made the cut. <a href="https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/40568433/ranking-top-25-nhl-players-21st-century">He landed at 20th on their countdown</a>.

Here's how ESPN's Kristen Shilton summarized #12's credentials:

<em>"It's possible Iginla was the last of his kind. The former Calgary Flames captain was a genuine power forward boasting a rare combination of assets -- he had elite skill and awesome strength, excellent vision and a scrapper's mentality. Iginla could fight as well as he could finish. There aren't many skaters in that mould and certainly almost no one did it all better than Iginla."</em>

Here's how Iginla stacks up offensively since Jan. 1, 2000:
<ul>
 	<li>He scored 556 goals, third-most in the NHL – only Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby have more.</li>
 	<li>He posted 1,148 points, seventh-most in the NHL – only Crosby, Ovechkin, Joe Thornton, Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane and Anze Kopitar have more.</li>
 	<li>Iginla was also third in even-strength goals and power play goals, and fourth in game-winning goals.</li>
</ul>
<iframe title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5UlYs6v4oOQ?si=U-pSVq76CktBw5Z1" width="560"></iframe>

Iginla's trophy case got pretty crowded from 2000 until the end of his playing days following the 2016-17 season:
<ul>
 	<li>Two Rocket Richard Trophies (in 2001-02 and 2003-04) as the NHL's goal-scoring leader</li>
 	<li>The Art Ross Trophy (in 2001-02) as the NHL's points leader</li>
 	<li>The Ted Lindsay Award (in 2001-02) as the NHL's most valuable player as voted by the players</li>
 	<li>The NHL Foundation Player Award (in 2003-04) and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy (in 2003-04) for his humanitarian contributions.</li>
 	<li>The Mark Messier Leadership Award (in 2008-09) for his on and off-ice leadership.</li>
 	<li>A three-time first team all-star (in 2001-02, 2007-08 and 2008-09) and a one-time second team all-star (in 2003-04).</li>
 	<li>A three-time finalist for the Hart Trophy (in 2001-02, 2003-04 and 2007-08) as the NHL player considered most valuable to his team.</li>
</ul>
Even if you ignore Iginla's key contributions to a pair of Olympic gold medal runs for Team Canada, as ESPN is focusing just on club team contributions, it's really hard to poke holes in Iginla's incredibly strong resume. There are just a dozen forwards listed ahead of Iginla by ESPN's rankings, and it's the list of perennial award (and Stanley Cup) winners that you would expect to see – in addition to Iginla's contemporaries Crosby and Ovechkin, it's the likes of Patrice Bergeron, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon.

<em><strong>Where do you think Iginla should have landed on ESPN's list? (And if he's higher, who do you think should have been below him?) Let us know in the comments!</strong></em>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="328" data-promotion-id="19111" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>

Jarome Iginla lands at 20th on ESPN’s ‘top 25 NHL players of the 21st century’ list

Zayne Parekh skates in the neutral zone in the Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers game at the 2024 Young Stars Classic in Penticton, BC.

A look ahead at the Flames’ defence beyond the 2024-25 NHL season

Calgary Flames center Martin Pospisil (76) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Minnesota Wild in the second period at Xcel Energy Center.

Recent articles from Ryan Pike

Breaking News