[Lanny_McDonald]

I waited a couple of days to post in this thread because it was such an emotional night, for many reasons. I actually was going to let it pass and not bother, until I saw this post.

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

I was at the game last night and it was fun to cheer Iggy at the beginning. Anybody who is fazed by people cheering for Iginla or Boston or anything other than Calgary are morons.

Someone got Sin Binned, to the glee of many, for a sharing a similar comment, but from the other perspective.

The main reason people were at the game yesterday was for Iginla not the Flames.

I must say, that is pretty sad.

The one thing that I can honestly say that has maintained my pride of being born and raised in Calgary was its sense of community and pride in putting that community above all. Calgarians rarely put any individual success above that of the group. When it came to celebrate the incredible success of the Calgary Winter Olympics, the spot light was not on the incredible work of Frank King, but was instead shone on the unprecedented work of the volunteers and citizens of the city itself. Rarely has Calgary elevated any of its individual players above the team they play for, for many of the same reasons. It's crass and it is so Edmonton. Our team's greatest success was not a result of an individual or a couple of great players, like the Oilers, but instead a collective of really good players with a lot of character. That team was representative of the values that made Calgary a special place to call home. I was not aware that those values had shifted so much.

I guess Iginla's career is representative of that shift. His greatest achievement, getting to the Stanley Cup, was a result of that same collective team effort. He was the star, but that success was because a bunch of faceless players all pulled together in the same direction, played through incredible adversity, and won game-after-game for each other and the fans of the city of Calgary. It wasn't long after that run that Iginla's game changed and he became more focused on one side of his game than the other. The fans also began to focus more on the one player, and keeping him happy, than the health of the overall team. Even when it came to the trade of Iginla, the team played second fiddle to the player. When a deal was struck with Boston, a team on Iginla's list, the deal was vetoed by the player and resulted in a lesser return for the player. If another player had done that they would be public enemy number one, especially if they ended up signing with the team they rebuked a few months earlier. The player was put before the team, and that was okay.

It is with great irony that Iginla returns to Calgary in a year when every team that visits replays the video of a flooded Saddledome and speaks with much admiration of the work and spirit the citizens of Calgary put in to recover from the devastation that faced the region. That community spirit and work of a collective is again alive and represented by our hockey team. There is no star player and the players work for each other. Success is only achieved when everyone plays together and performs as a unit. Yet when the Bruins, the best team in the eastern conference, come to town, that one individual is again elevated above all, even the hometown team.

I get the cheer-the-returning-hero thing. The ovation at the beginning of the game was incredible. It was what Iginla deserved for his service to the team and to the community. But once that game started that fans should have focused on the guys that represent their team and still choose to be here, playing for the flaming C. The fact that many in attendance elected to instead cheer for the Bruins down the stretch, and even boo their own players for making a hockey play in a one goal game, well that is just embarrassing and so not Calgary. I have to wonder what was going through the minds of those players, especially the young guys just finding their way into the league and the city, when they heard the fans turned on them? What affect will that have on them? I can tell you what affect it had during the game. The Bruins fed off of that emotion and it certainly didn't help the hometown team.

For years we have been looking for a team that plays hard and gives it their all. That team is here and it doesn't include the guy that so many cheered so lustily for on Tuesday night. For years we were told that there is no "I" in team, and anyone who didn't believe that could gtfo. Tuesday night we found out how important "team" is, and how many cared more for the "I" that was so ever present the last few seasons for the Flames. The were many fans that put one player, a visiting player, above their own team. That was so not the Calgary I know. I learned a lot Tuesday night about how the values of some fans from my hometown have changed. I also confirmed that there is no "I" in team, but there is two in Iginla, and for many in attendance that definitely comes before team. Good on you for the ovation at the beginning of the game. Shame on you for putting an enemy player above your own during the game.