And The Winner Is….

Jarome Iginla is off to Pittsburgh to play with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. After a few days of speculation, the 35 year-old right winger has been traded from the Calgary Flames to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Pittsburgh’s first-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, the rights to unsigned draft pick Kenneth Agostino and unsigned draft pick Ben Hanowski. The trade comes after Iginla was reportedly traded to the Boston Bruins for Alexander Kukchlachev, Mark Bartkowski and a conditional first-round draft pick.

Once it was announced that Iginla was a healthy scratch two hours prior to the Flames game on Wednesday night against the Avalanche, it was clear the veteran was going to be dealt sometime in the near future. The Penguins have already got a head start on the trade deadline by making a splash with two significant moves this week. First they acquired Brenden Morrow and a third round pick from the Dallas Stars in exchange for prospect Joe Morrow and a 5th round pick in 2013. They then acquired Douglas Murray from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a second round pick in 2013 and a conditional second round pick in 2014. The conditional pick will be received by the Sharks if the Penguins win two rounds of the playoffs or if Murray re-signs for the 2013-14 NHL campaign.

Jarome Iginla will forever be a legend to the Calgary Flames organization. He has played all of his 1,219 regular season games and 54 playoff games to date for the Flames and has been the captain since 2003, the 18th captain in Calgary’s history. He is the Flames all-time leading scorer with 525 goals and 570 assists for 1,095 points. On March 1st, 2009 he passed Theo Fleury for the most points in franchise history. Despite a 5 point night, the Lightning spoiled Iginla’s record-setting night by winning 8-6.

Iginla in #12 words: Golden. Leader. Explosive. Will. Goal-scorer. Elite. Franchise. Gordie Howe Hat-trick. Class act. #Flames #Bruins #YYC

— Christopher Ralph (@ChrisRalphTHW) March 28, 2013

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It is clear that Iginla is going to be missed in Calgary. At 35 he is one of the veterans of the league, one without a Stanley Cup. The Flames were close in 2004, making it to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning prevailed as champions winning 2-1 in the final game at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa Bay. Despite the Lightning winning in 7 games the 2004 finals were subject to controversy. In game 6, the puck was centered in front of Nikolai Khabiboulin. It went off the skate of Martin Gelinas and appeared to be across the line. The play was never reviewed however and Jarome Iginla and the Flames never made it back to the finals.

Need I remind you what Crosby and Iginla did together in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver?

It appears that Jay Feaster has made yet another ill advised trade. Should he have waited longer for Iginla to potentially gain more trade value? Only time will tell if the right decision was made. Needless to say, if anyone deserves a Stanley Cup it is definitely Jarome Iginla.