No, not Hakan Loob.
Jarome Iginla. He is easily, the greatest Calgary Flame player of all time. He has scored 1000 points all as a flame, and played 1000 games as a Calgary Flame, he has Art Ross, The Richard, The Pearson, and so many more accomplishments.
The talk today in Calgary is that the team should be looking at trading him now, to maximize return, and to give Jarome a chance to win the Stanley Cup. I see the train of thought; I however can't see this helping the team win now, or down the road.
This entire conversation has been reignited by the local media (Peter Maher in particular) the timing of it could not be worse. Instead of the 1000 point achievement or the slim playoff chance being the focus on the return from the road. Iginla will be face with a 10 deep throng of media, asking “do you want a TRADE??” Hall of fame broadcasters are not supposed to do this. They are supposed to have more class and a much better sense of timing. I understand that this is a fair discussion; it is one that if it is to be had should be after the death of any playoff chances, not now.
Some will argue that this is the hockey circle of life (credit rob Kerr fan 960) and that this is how Jarome came to the team in the first place. Theo Fleury was moved in a deal that brought #28 here. However when you look at past deals involving superstar players, they nearly always end up extremely one-sided. History forgets that the Flames didn’t want Iginla, they wanted Todd Harvey, a better prospect at the time, can you imagine where the franchise would be today, had they got the player they wanted?
Joe Thornton was moved from Boston to San Jose. Joe has racked up points in San Jose, about to score his 1000th NHL point; Boston has nothing to show for the deal. Dany Heatly is filling the net with Joe in the shark tank, and Ottawa has only a single 2nd line player in return. Brad Richards moved onto Dallas from Tampa, for basically Mike Smith, a backup goalie. Name one player that Ryan Smyth was traded for. Another trade that the “Flames had to make” cost them at least 1 more Stanley Cup. The day they dealt Doug Gilmour to Toronto signaled the end of the Flames “dynasty” and the start of a revival in Toronto. The Flames would have been better off GIVING Dion to the Leafs for FREE. They would still have AULIE, and they would not have the brutal long term Stajan contract (IMO the deal that cost DSutter his job) or Hagman for another year. This move is crippling the team at this point.
Trading Jarome Iginla MAY help rebuild the Calgary Flames. Trading Jarome Iginla MAY help him win the Stanley Cup. Neither is guaranteed. Trading Jarome Iginla WILL tarnish what has been one of the greatest player city relationships in sport. Doing this could leave us with nothing, no rebuild, no lifelong face of our franchise.
Trading him is the easy way out. Moving out or burying the bad contracts, and adding younger and better talent is hard. In my opinion trading him means that you admit that are not intelligent, or creative enough to rebuild your team. If that is the case then why are you running a NHL team?
