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Winnipeg has announced the construction of a statue to honour Dale Hawerchuk:

The statue, to be unveiled in August of 2022, will be designed by sculptor Erik Blome of Figurative Art Studio, who has immortalized a number of hockey icons in his past work, including the Legends Row sculptures for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Wayne Gretzky statue in Los Angeles, and the Chicago Blackhawks’ 75th-anniversary monument.

The statue is (or should be) the ultimate expression of honour from a sports team, above and beyond the retirement of a jersey number.

Currently, I believe there are fifteen, soon to be sixteen with the Jets joining, NHL teams with statues:

Credit to u/HandsLikeLuke for compiling this list on reddit

• Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Duck AKA "Wild Wing"
• Boston Bruins Bobby Orr
• Buffalo Sabres The French Connection (Gilbert Perreault, Rene Robert, and Rick Martin), Tim Horton
• Chicago Blackhawks Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, 75th Anniversary Statue
• Detroit Red Wings Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, Gordie Howe
• Edmonton Oilers Wayne Gretzky
• Los Angeles Kings Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, 50th Anniversary Monument (Jonathan Quick, Drew Doughty, Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor, Rob Blake, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown)
• Minnesota Wild Herb Brooks
• Montreal Canadiens Howie Morenz, Jean Beliveau, Guy Lafleur, Maurice Richard
• New Jersey Devils Martin Brodeur, "Iceman"
• Philadelphia Flyers Ed Snider, Bernie Parent & Bobby Clarke
• Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux
• St. Louis Blues Brett Hull, Bernie Federko, Al MacInnis
• Tampa Bay Lightning Phil Esposito, Dave Andreychuk
• Toronto Maple Leafs Legends Row - Johnny Bower, Ted Kennedy, Darryl Sittler, Borje Salming, Mats Sundin, Syl Apps, George Armstrong, Turk Broda, Tim Horton, Dave Keon, Charlie Conacher, Red Kelly, Wendel Clark, Frank Mahovlich
• Vancouver Canucks Roger Neilsen, Pat Quinn

Often we think of statues as being associated with winning and championships: the Jordan statue in Chicago, Monument Park at Yankee Stadium, Bobby Orr in Boston. However, a great many statues do not represent champions, or even players: Buffalo, Minnesota, and Vancouver have never won a Cup, Winnipeg will join this list, yet they have statues. "Wild Wing" has nothing to do with winning in Anaheim; similarly the St. Louis statues came years before their Cup; Gretzky and Robitaille never won in LA; and Herb Brooks, Phil Esposito, and Ed Snider weren't players; and, of course, Vancouver has its Monument to Surrender.

Which leads to the question: when the new arena is constructed, do the Flames have anyone who is deserving of a having a statue out front?

There are some immediately obvious contenders in the players who have had their numbers retired: McDonald, Vernon, and Iginla, with McDonald and Iginla probably being a bit more likely than Vernon for a statue.

Some players who should probably be mentioned but almost certainly aren't worthy: Kent Nilsson, Theoren Fleury, the "Forever a Flame" folks, our one-and-only genuine Forever Flame Jim Peplinski.

A couple of more recent candidates in Miikka Kiprusoff and Mark Giordano, though building a statue of a guy who's still playing for another team would be heartbreaking.

There are a couple of non-players worth consideration: Terry Crisp and Cliff Fletcher who brought the Cup to town, Jim "Bearcat" Murray (a personal favourite), Ken King, Norman Kwong (though the new McMahon Stadium might be a better location for him), some of the other original owners.

Then there is the question of how to immortalize the individual. Do you go with a specific moment such as Bobby Orr or Mario Lemieux? Iconic but not specific poses like the statues of the Canadiens legends? Celebratory poses such as Gretzky or Brodeur? Something a bit more surrealist like the statues of Lindsay, Delvecchio and Howe in Detroit?

Personally, I feel there are four clear options for who we could immortalize: McDonald, Vernon, Iginla, and/or Ken King.

If King is chosen, I wouldn't have many problems with it. As there aren't any iconic moments what I'd like to see the Flames go for with it is to push the artistic sculptural nature of the installation and get someone really, really amazing like a Lorenzo Quinn or Bruno Catalano to do the work.

If we were to go for a player (or players), I think there are three obvious choices for moments to immortalize.

Lanny McDonald with his fist and stick raised after scoring against the Habs in game 6

Mike Vernon in the moments after his overtime save against the Canucks in game 7.

Jarome Iginla, helmetless, in the moment he's unleashing his shot during "The Shift" in game 5

I think it would definitely be reasonable to put more than one statue out in front, though I worry that going with all three players somewhat sets the precedent that in Calgary, number retirement = a statue, and as much as I love him I'm not certain I want a statue of Mikael Backlund, though I'd be way in favour of retiring his number if he plays his whole career here.

What other people or moments from these players do y'all think would make for good options to put out front? Are there any statues you've seen at other stadiums or arenas which you think the Flames should use for inspiration? Do you think statues are super-cheesy and the Flames should stay classy?