Special Announcement Coming for March 2 Game vs. Wild UPDATE** Flames retire #12

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Yamer

6:30 PM Mountain Time.

And for those that don't want to wade through the thread, it is my understanding that Sportsnet West will be airing the entire ceremony for those that can't make it to the Dome.

Complete with video delay, audio echo, and studio analysis of Conner McDavid's impact on Jarome Iginla's career.

[CalgaryFan1988]

I will always remember Iginla's career for personal reasons, surrounding my late wife. Meeting her when Iginla was coming into his own and introducing her to hockey, she fell in love with the Flames and Iginla. We were together for 15 years, coincidentally Iginla was the face of the Flames for 14 of those 15 years.

I love this story about Iginla from his wiki page.

"Iginla is well known for his kind-hearted nature. Former Flames General manager Craig Button described Iginla as being grounded: "He doesn't carry himself with any attitude or arrogance. He's confident in his abilities. He's self-assured. He's genuine. He's a better person than he is a player, and we all know what kind of player he is."In 2002, while in Salt Lake City for the Winter Olympic Games, Iginla struck up a conversation with four Calgarians sitting next to his table, and found out they were sleeping in their car outside of the hotel. He excused himself from the conversation, and booked them accommodations at his own expense at the hotel his family was staying in."

[shotinthebacklund]

I am extremely lucky.



I have not made it to a game in 2 years.

I was offered Box Seats in ATB's box with food, drinks, and a parking pass! What a Stroke of luck!


Even better is that a buddy is driving in from bonneyville for this game and now we can meet up!



only problem is now I have to cry in public...



Thanks ATB

[jmerkel3d]

This will definitely be a moment to remember. Jersey retirements are a rare thing, especially with our Flames. I wonder who all is going to come for this...

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[Yamer]

I hope Kipper shows up. Haven't seen that guy in years.

The Last Recluse.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by Yamer

I hope Kipper shows up. Haven't seen that guy in years.

The Last Recluse.

Not sure why but I completely forgot about Kipper.


He was interviewed last season by the flames over the phone and Kipper mentioned that he'd be back in Calgary shortly. I bet he's there.

[Duffalufagus]

Can't wait for this. going to be a fantastic night!

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by Yamer

I hope Kipper shows up. Haven't seen that guy in years.

The Last Recluse.

Oh man, if Kipper showed up, he might get a louder ovation than Iggy.

I also recall his phone interview last year -- was hopeful his return would happen this year but perhaps it's been pushed to next year. The good news is now that #12 is going to the rafters, #34 shouldn't be too far behind.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Oh man, if Kipper showed up, he might get a louder ovation than Iggy.

I also recall his phone interview last year -- was hopeful his return would happen this year but perhaps it's been pushed to next year. The good news is now that #12 is going to the rafters, #34 shouldn't be too far behind.

Unfortunately, I think #34 will get the FAF treatment (yak).

Jarome Iginla is the greatest Flame of all time, but Miikka Kiprusoff is my favorite Flame of all time.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Yamer

Unfortunately, I think #34 will get the FAF treatment (yak).

Jarome Iginla is the greatest Flame of all time, but Miikka Kiprusoff is my favorite Flame of all time.

I don't think so. The obvious difference between 34 and the guys that got the FaF treatment, is that nobody has worn 34 since he left.

We've had 6 #2's after McInnis left.
11 #25's after Nieuwendyk.
Kipper was the last 34.
Fluery was the last 14 too, for that matter

[GioforPM]

[GioforPM]

Wonder if they will put up dancing Iggy?

[GioforPM]

[Love]

I'm going to get emotional

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I don't think so. The obvious difference between 34 and the guys that got the FaF treatment, is that nobody has worn 34 since he left.

We've had 6 #2's after McInnis left.
11 #25's after Nieuwendyk.
Kipper was the last 34.
Fluery was the last 14 too, for that matter

I hope you're right, but Kipper's greatest accomplishments didn't bring the team a championship like Vernon, and he didn't have the longevity and/or profile of Iginla and McDonald.

Popular, memorable, one of the most skilled at his position. Just seems like a classic case for FAF.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Yamer

I hope you're right, but Kipper's greatest accomplishments didn't bring the team a championship like Vernon, and he didn't have the longevity and/or profile of Iginla and McDonald.

Popular, memorable, one of the most skilled at his position. Just seems like a classic case for FAF.

I could be wrong. I sure hope not though

[rohara66]

Haven't the Flames confirmed in the past that the Forever a Flame thing is done. Either jersey to the rafters or nothing?

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by Yamer

I hope you're right, but Kipper's greatest accomplishments didn't bring the team a championship like Vernon, and he didn't have the longevity and/or profile of Iginla and McDonald.

Popular, memorable, one of the most skilled at his position. Just seems like a classic case for FAF.

I think you nailed it. TBH, it won't be popular opinion around here, but Kipper didn't play long enough to warrant a jersey retirement, or as you said have enough profile, and I hope they don't retire his jersey.

I think a jersey retirement should be a very rare occurrence, especially if a number of championships don't follow around a team. I'll get it if the Pens for example have 2 or 3 jersey's to retire once this generations of Penguins retires.........they accomplished a lot and had some longevity to their best players. An organization like the Flames shouldn't be retiring the Jersey's of the best 2 or 3 guys (I've even heard cases be made for Regehr on here) of a version of the team that didn't win a cup and had no sustained playoff success to boot.

Iginla was one of the best players in the league for a sustained period of time, was the best Flame to ever play the game to date, and he was the face of the franchise for over a decade. He's a special case despite the lack of overall team success.

I know the counter for many will be that they feel Kipper is the best goalie this Franchise has ever seen, and will point to Vernon as the reason Kipper should be up there too. I think it's debatable who the best Flames goalie was of all time between the two (if you take time they played into account), but the biggest difference between Vernon and Kipper is the fact one did help win the cup for the franchise, and the length of time Vernon was an elite goalie in the league compared to Kipper. That for me is why Vernon and not Kipper, although I do think retiring Vernon's jersey was still borderline (although I did enjoy it)!

[getbak]

Kiprusoff is 13th on the Flames overall all-time games played list (576), only one game behind Joe Nieuwendyk. He played 84 more games for the Flames than Lanny and 49 more than Vernon.

The only real argument against retiring #34 is that he didn't win the Cup.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by getbak

Kiprusoff is 13th on the Flames overall all-time games played list (576), only one game behind Joe Nieuwendyk. He played 84 more games for the Flames than Lanny and 49 more than Vernon.

The only real argument against retiring #34 is that he didn't win the Cup.

I take no joy in this, but:

We had a single Stanley Cup finals appearance and 1 division title. The tail end of his time in Calgary was a tumultuous one for the team. The bulk of Kiprusoff's tenure were with a Flames team that were good, but not great, and more often middling. They won a total of 3 playoff series when he was here. Sure, they would have been downright awful without Kipper bailing them out on a near nightly basis, but there were a lot of forgettable years in there.

There are some good reasons why #34 shouldn't be raised, and not just because he didn't win the Cup.