Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
This is a fair comment.
Unless, of course, Tkachuk is a unicorn and Iginla was a dragon.
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Well, fire cannot kill a dragon, so there’s that…
But Iggy was a true unicorn.
A superstar player who spent 16 years in a small Canadian market.
Nearly unrivalled speed and power - people forget about his skating, but prime Iggy was FAST.
A+ one timer, slap shot, snap shot, wrist shot.
Scored garbage goals and scored from 40 feet out on the rush.
Elite passer and playmaker.
Frequently took games over on his own.
Big-time player - 2 goals in the 2002 gold medal game, set up Crosby in 2010, his 04 playoffs (all his playoffs, really - career 0.91 playoff PPG as a Flame), “the shift”,
Leadership - I was at a pre season game vs the Canucks in 2005 when Jarko Ruutu caught Byron Ritchie with his head down. Iginla had his helmet off and was undoing his elbow pads before the whistle was blown - unfortunately the linesmen prevented him from doing violence. Jarome Freakin Iginla was ready to go to war in a PRE SEASON GAME to protect a 4th liner. Can you imagine Matthew Tkachuk taking up for anyone like that? He never even did it for Gaudreau.
Not only could Iggy throw hands with the best of them, he knew exactly when to pick his spot to have the maximum emotional lift for his team. Or for himself.
To quote nobody’s favorite former Flame, Shane O’Brien: “Dude, that was like (Jarome) Iginla, when I was in Vancouver and we were playing Calgary like, (Ryan Kesler) and (Alex Burrows) were like first period, Iginla would be sleeping. First TV timeout I would be like, “Leave him alone. Don’t talk to him. Don’t chirp him. Don’t ####ing slash him because he’s not in the game right now.” And if you woke Iggy up, next thing you know he’s had two goals, one assist and beat the #### out of Willie Mitchell or something. You’re just like, “Oh man, we should have never chirped him.”
Always charming, always gracious, always gave the impression that he truly appreciated being our Captain and our Guy.
Unicorn 🦄.