Well, I don’t have any particular “Iggy story” to share, but I will say this:
I am about one year and two months younger than Iggy. I have played amateur sports my entire life. Because we are so close in age, when Iginla became a Flame, I eventually came to decide that I would continue to play on my teams as long as Iggy played (thinking, in my youth, that I would live forever)...despite the obvious significant disparity in our competitive levels, our general age compatibility made sense to me, and gave me a potential “out” at some point: at very least, I should stop when Iggy stops, because we are about the same age. (It’s a fantastical belief, but one I’ve carried with me nonetheless.)
Because this has been my mindset, the magnitude of tomorrow’s event is really resonating with me tonight. I’m still grinding it out with my teams (I’ve been playing with my Men’s League soccer team for over twenty years—the only remaining original member), yet my idol, my benchmark, my generational contemporary is actually finished.
As we age, we do not necessarily believe that we are “getting older”. (I would argue that mentally, we stop “aging” somewhere in our late 20s/early 30s...physically, we grow older, but mentally, we do not.) I guess that for me, Iggy’s retirement is not only the official end of an era, not only the official heralding of a Calgary sports icon, but also a time of reflection for myself. It makes it exceedingly personal. He has been a hero on multiple levels for me, even though we’re almost the same age (that’s kinda weird...right...?).
Anyways. I’ve made a couple of nerdy Iginla posts to Instagram in his honour, because I respect all that he’s meant to me, our city and our country. For me, he is the first player from MY generation to affect me so deeply. I suppose now that it’s MY turn to be the “nostalgic old man”. (And I’m okay with it.)
This is all I got; a chance encounter / passing in the basement of the SAP center some years ago. In that moment I went back in time and became a 10 year old kid again.
the first time I heard his name (incorrectly as it turns out) was the day of his trade to Calgary
I was living in Winnipeg, and the 'legendary' Winnipeg radio sports figure Scott Taylor broke the trade..the Flames have traded Joe Nieuwendyk to Dallas for Corey Millen and Jaromir Iginlia ....who he went on to inform me was a Czech prospect who would likely never play in the NHL
this was pre any sort of useful internet so I more or less had to accept that information until shortly thereafter when he was named to team Canada and proceeded to run the show at that year's World Juniors
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Apologies if this has been posted, but found this video of Matt Stajan and John Mitchell showing some Iginla love. Starts at 2:45. Don't know how to embed so hopefully this link works.
Man....tough not get emotional when hearing Iggy yesterday and all these memories, experiences everyone is sharing.
As good as 2004 was, can only imagine having him even slightly past his prime with this group. But that's only focusing on "maybe"s. There's so many real time memories we can cherish...and we will...
My favorite player and I am proud to own his jersey. 2004 was the beginning of my transformation from casual to super fan and Iggy was such a beast in that run. There were a couple of years when he truly was no worse than a top 3 player in the league.
This season has felt blessed from day 1. It feels extra special that we celebrate our best player in franchise history while we enjoy an amazing regular season that has our team positioned to be a true Cup contender.
Winnipeg radio sports figure Scott Taylor broke the trade..the Flames have traded Joe Nieuwendyk to Dallas for Corey Millen and Jaromir Iginlia ....who he went on to inform me was a Czech prospect who would likely never play in the NHL
