After scoreing his 30th goal of the year, Jarome Iginla has solidified his position not only as the most valuable player on the Bruins but also the entire NHL. But for Bruins fans, they did not always want or expect that things would turn out this way. If you do not remember, there was a bit of anger on the part of Bruins fans for Iginla at the beginning of this season because of what happened the year before.
Prior to the April 15st trading deadline, 35 year old right winger, Jarome Iginla let it be known that he wanted out of the Calgary Flames organization that had employed him for the entirety of his then 15 year old career. He wanted to go somewhere where, as his career drew to a close, he would have a chance to nab that elusive Stanley Cup ring. He told Calgary of 4 teams where he believed that would be a possibility including the Kings, Blackhawks, Penguins and Bruins. However as the deadline came even closer Chicago and LA fell out of contention for Iginla’s services and so all of the focus turned to the Eastern Conference's twin powerhouses - the Bruins and Penguins. On March 27th, it seemed that we had been given out answer and Iginla's destination had been set. He was held out of the Flames game with Colorado that night and rumors of a deal with the Bruins quickly turned from roomers to reality...so we thought.
However, at the last possible moment, these flightless birds swooped in and robbed Iginla from Boston at the least possible moment. After the fact, Iginla admitted that he chose the Penguins because he believed they had a better chance at winning the cup that year. Honestly though, can we blame him. On March 27th 2013, the Bruins had posted a win loss record of 5-4-1 in their last 10 games while the Penguins had just won their 13th straight game beating the Bruins twice in that period of time. But from there, things did not work out so well for Iginla. He scored just 5 goals and assisted on just 6 others in the final 13 games of the regular season and in the playoffs showed that he never really meshed with the finesse based offence of the Penguins. But for Jarome undoubtedly the hardest part of the Pittsburgh debacle was the final 4 games of it. The team he picked was swept in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Bruins team he rejected. Furthermore it was only fitting that it was Iginla who fired the final shot of that series right into the glove of Tuukka Rask as the buzzer sounded.
But as tough as it was to swallow, Iginla still wanted that Stanley Cup. Just after free agency opened, Iginla's agent - Don Meehan - sent the Bruins front office a "take me back plea" basically begging them to sign Iginla the second time around. He was done with Pittsburgh and so in mid-July, he signed a 1 year 6 million dollar contract with the Bruins.
But if you do not remember, Bruins fans were not so quick to forget what Iginla did just months before. They were mad that he passed them up and Iginla knew that. It would not be so easy for him to earn himself with these die hard hockey fans and so he knew that he would have to go above and beyond in Beantown.
On this day just about 1 year to the day after the first attempt at acquiring Iginla, the aged scoring star has proved he still has it. He has scored 30 goals this season, assisting on 30 others while completely elevating the game of those playing around him. Playing alongside David Krejci and Milan Lucic, the Bruins first line has scored 37 goals beyond the 30 scored by Iginla himself. As has been noted by many across the Bruins media community in the past few months in particular, Iginla's poise under pressure and his constant execution combined with his knowledge with the strategy that the game of hockey demands has brought a kind of constancy to the games of Milan Lucic and David Krejci that we have never seen before.
"It's been great having him here," Lucic said of Iginla. "You can see he's obviously come into his own here and starting to feel good about himself. We all know what he can do from what he's done in the past and he's definitely a confident guy that's always pushing for more. You see the little things in him that has made him so successful throughout his career and it's starting to show more and more as this season goes on."
Obviously, Lucic would want this stunning vet with him even after his contract ends this season. An extension is preferable.
"Obviously it's out of my control, but he's been a great fit for us on the ice, on our line and in the dressing room, so obviously that would be great,"
As for Claude Jullian who has now coached 3 future hall of famers in the past 4 seasons including March Recci and Jaromir Jager undoubtedly recognizes that Jarome Iginla may be better than all of them.
"He's exactly what he was advertised as," Julien said. "He's a good team player, a hard worker, and a competitive guy. I can see why he had a letter in Calgary because he has that leadership quality in him."
But with all the praise, Iginla recognizes that he is not the number one leader here in Boston and so he deflects much of this appreciation towards his teammates.
"They're right up there and I'm very fortunate to get to play with them," Iginla said when asked about how he would rank his current line mates compared to those in Calgary and Pittsburgh. "It's awesome to play with these guys. They're very competitive. They're very hungry. It's not just their skill level, which is very high, but it's their compete level, their drive and physicality."
As the season concludes, Jarome Iginla jumps into the playoffs looking for the one thing he has not been able to do in this illustrious NHL career. That is, winning a Stanley Cup.
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