So that Jarome Iginla guy's pretty good huh?

[megatron]

Jarome has been the best player given his ice time in this tournament IMO.

Crosby and Staal looked great on HIS line. I hope the success continues and Babcock and can keep his ego in check long enough for them to dominate the rest of the games.

[Steve Bozek]

Originally Posted by H2SO4(aq)

Does Jarome's strong play in any way put pressure on Sutter to get him a real centerman? (If not this year then in the offseason I suppose..)

Remember the thread about Iginla being on the decline? Perhaps it is his linemates on the decline and not him..

He needs a centreman, but I think what we're seeing in the Olympics is how well he can score when the opposing team is not able to put their main defensive effort into stopping Iginla.

Maybe Wilson is right in calling the Flames a one-trick pony - the Olympic team, despite the media focus on Crosby, is not a one-trick pony.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Babcock seems to be saying Iginla has been dynamite in beat-up's of two inferior teams, so he's not going to get too excited about it until it happens when it matters.

There's no better time to see Big Game Iginla than tonight. If he doesn't like Babcock's indifference, now's the time to do something about it.

Cowperson

I guess that may be fair criticism, but then I think it should apply even moreso to Crosby and about 12 other forwards.

Babcock has really surprised me with his indifference to one of the guys wearing a letter on his jersey on a team that has nothing but guys that wear letters on their jersies in the NHL.

Not sure why this is happening other than maybe Babcock has seen Iginla from the other side of the rink many times and thought he was not very effective against his guys. Its just plain weird to me.

[GreenLantern]

Man that video gives me goose bumps, put it in its own thread it will go down in history I am telling ya!

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Babcock seems to be saying Iginla has been dynamite in beat-up's of two inferior teams, so he's not going to get too excited about it until it happens when it matters...

Perhaps, but it seems very strange to me that Babcock has been highly complimentary of a number of players throughout this tournament (Crosby, Nash, Staal, Toewes, etc.), and yet seems to be incapable of saying anything good about Iginla without some sort of qualifier. Iginla is presently Canada's leading goal scorer in this tournament and the highest goal-scoring Canadian in Olympic competition. Given how the entire team has performed, does it not seem strange that the coach cannot find it within himself to compliment his best goal scorer in the media?

[browna]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I noticed that as well. Jarome makes a perfect shot and it's all about Crosby going to the net. There was also the Thornton goal where all he talked about Keith purposely shooting wide like it was genius when he really only did it because the shooting lane was taken away and it's a play Bouwmeester and many defensemen do every night. I'm not a McGuire hater but I'm starting to find his continued overemphasis of minor stuff annoying to the point where I wish I could just mute him out completely.

Yeah, McGuire likes to pat himself on the back as he makes some generalized statement earlier in the game and then goes back to it over and over when it happens again.

He's going a bit overboard in this Olympics with it, in addition to, as you say, make a bigger deal of some things that happen in everyday NHL, as if its special to the games in the Olympics and the players in the Olympics.

As for the Crosby extra attention, that's not surprising. His love for that play is him trying to appear more analytical and thus more aware of just the goal scoring for the casual CTV audience. Problem is for that goal, there's no analysis...a good pass for sure, but that rocket shot was reason #1 for that goal, no matter if there was any Canadian player going to the net or not.

[FanIn80]

In spite of what Babcock thinks about him, had last night's game been the gold medal game, Jarome Iginla would have been named tournament MVP.

Not bad for a 4th line grinder averaging a handful of minutes each game.

[mykalberta]

5 goals against Norway and Germany.

Norway and Germany
Germany and Norway
Norway and Germany
Germany and Norway
Normany and Gerway

[Ark2]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

In spite of what Babcock thinks about him, had last night's game been the gold medal game, Jarome Iginla would have been named tournament MVP.

Not bad for a 4th line grinder averaging a handful of minutes each game.

Good point. If Canada wins the Gold, I think Jarome is only one or two more strong performances away from being named MVP. Babcock would be beside himself.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Ark2

Good point. If Canada wins the Gold, I think Jarome is only one or two more strong performances away from being named MVP. Babcock would be beside himself.

In the event that that were to happen, I could just envision the post-game response from the coach:

Mike Babcock: "Yeah, Jarome was good, but we had a lot of great performances tonight. I thought that *insert player's name who spent a lot of time in the corners but went pointless* had a real good game. That MVP really could have gone to another five or six guys; really, it's a team award.

[Jimdon]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

5 goals against Norway and Germany.

Norway and Germany
Germany and Norway
Norway and Germany
Germany and Norway
Normany and Gerway

Just to clarify, how many goals does the rest of the team have against Germany and Norway, must be way more the way Iggy gets disrespected, if the rest of the team is so great, I'm sure that there is someone who's scored more... right?

[JustAnotherGuy]

Originally Posted by Thor

Liked how at the end of the game, James Duthie said Jerome leads the way with 5 goals for team Canada but that was against Norway and Germany.

Why are people looking for reasons to downplay this guy, some of our own fans and now even after showing his awesomeness on the top line he still needs to be given an aster-ix for leading the team in goals?

I downplay him because if you watch him he is a floater. He bounces off of people instead of going through them like the old days. Hence 5 goals against the weaker teams and none against the more talented teams. I predict tonight. No goals and maybe a couple second assists.

[Ark2]

Originally Posted by JustAnotherGuy

I downplay him because if you watch him he is a floater. He bounces off of people instead of going through them like the old days. Hence 5 goals against the weaker teams and none against the more talented teams. I predict tonight. No goals and maybe a couple second assists.

Jarome spent most of his limited ice time playing on the 4th line during the games against the US and the Swiss. This is Jarome Iginla guys. Do people actually think that he doesn't show up against tough opponents?

[Timbo]

And yet again the bandwagon overflowith
I am A
Flames Fan
Team Canada Fan
Iginla Fan

But come on... Norway and Germany were akin to going to a preschool and picking a fight. After which all the self proclaimed pundits start claiming "look at the champ he's back he's back".

Big players step up in big games... PERIOD so guess what... tonights a big game against big boys not pre freakin schoolers.
Stay tuned

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Ark2

This is Jarome Iginla guys. Do people actually think that he doesn't show up against tough opponents?

Welcome to CP, home of the weekly "Trade Iggy" thread.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Jimdon

Just to clarify, how many goals does the rest of the team have against Germany and Norway, must be way more the way Iggy gets disrespected, if the rest of the team is so great, I'm sure that there is someone who's scored more... right?

Players show their worth in big games, not 8-2 games, vs SUI and USA he played average.

If he doesnt play mean, he isnt effective because he isnt the fastest guy on the ice, but he is likely the toughest and he needs to play that way. I think that is what Babcock is trying to do by downplaying him is to get him angry Iggy Hulk style. He should be powering through these Euro panzies not trying to finesse things.

[fredr123]

If Heatley wouldn't have been such a ###### and changed when the rest of his linemates got off, it could have been Iginla in front of the net with the chance to bang home a loose puck against the USA. Does Babcock's opinion of Iginla change then?

Ifs and buts, candies and nuts. I know.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Timbo

...But come on... Norway and Germany were akin to going to a preschool and picking a fight. After which all the self proclaimed pundits start claiming "look at the champ he's back he's back"...

• Sweden scored two goals against Germany courtesy of Ohlund and Eriksson
• Finland scored five against Germany (Pitkanen, Ruutu, Ruutu, Timonen x2)
• The US scored six against Norway (Kessel, Drury, Kane Malone and Rafalski x2)
• Slovakia scored 4 against Norway in playoff action (Zednik, Gaborik, Handzus, Satan)

Let's remember that prior to yesterday's game Iginla was shuffled through lines virtually every period and received very limited ice-time. I think everyone is keenly aware that the opposition was marginal, but everyone in this tournament is playing against the same teams, and Iginla is still the tournament leader in goals with 5 and in the top three for points.

Originally Posted by Timbo

Big players step up in big games... PERIOD so guess what... tonights a big game against big boys not pre freakin schoolers.
Stay tuned

It is not like Iginla is any stranger to "big games". Furthermore, I think that it is fair to say that for the majority of this tournament he has looked very good. I don't think the optimism and excitement surrounding his play this past week and last night is at all premature or inappropriate.

[sa226]

I don't really know what people think Iggy is.....but I don't think he has ever been a prototypical "Power forward" he is what 6ft 215lbs? in todays game that isn't exactly huge, heck thats not much bigger than Boyd.

To me he has been more of a Hybrid forward, I don't remember him flattening people or completely over powering anybody even in his prime.

My favorite memories of Iggy are when he would use a combination of strength and quickness to shake off seemingly 3 defenders and take it to the net, I think he has patented that half spin move off the half boards.

He doesn't have the reach of Nash or Thornton so he isn't quite as good at protecting the puck.

He has always had a knack as a puck hunter and finding open spots to receive a pass.

With Crosby and Stall much of the puck posession is taken care of on that line. Iggy just needs to win the battles that come to him and find the open spots and the rest will take care of itself.

Jarome is made for games like tonight, if he gets ample opportunity to do damage he will do it I don't care if its Russia or Mexico, Iggy has to get the opportunity to make an impact.

For this game I think the go to guys will have to be established early on, there is no time left to let Getzlaf and Perry figure things out or Thornton or Heatly dissapear. If the only two lines that are doing anyhting are the Crosby line and the Toews line, then you go to them.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by sa226

...For this game I think the go to guys will have to be established early on, there is no time left to let Getzlaf and Perry figure things out or Thornton or Heatly dissapear. If the only two lines that are doing anyhting are the Crosby line and the Toews line, then you go to them.

To be fair, I think the SJ line was better last night (hell, Thornton scored a GOAL!), and I'm wondering how much this had to do with the much more even distribution of ice-time. I agree about Getzlaf and Perry; Heatley was playing more shifts on the line with Getzlaf and Nash in the latter half of the Germany game, so I wonder if tonight we will see steady doses of

Staal - Crosby - Iginla
Morrow - Toews - Richards
Marleau - Thornton - Heatley or Nash - Getzlaf - Heatley

I wouldn't be surprised to see Heatley double-shifted, but I'm hoping that Perry sees a limited amount of icetime tonight. He has been pretty consistently useless.