History was made in St. Louis on Friday night as Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla became the 77th player in National Hockey League history to register 1,000 points in regular season play.
The milestone was achieved in typical Iginla fashion; with the Flames trailing 2-0 mid-way through a game the team needed to win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, the captain changed the course of the game. First, with just under five minutes remaining in the second period, he slipped a backhander past Jaroslav Halak to put the Flames on the board. Next, he set up Alex Tanguay’s 20th goal of the season (with an assist from the returning Daymond Langkow) to tie the game at 2-apiece. Finally, with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, Tanguay sprung Iginla on a partial breakaway on the right wing boards and, much like he has done numerous times in his career, Iginla powered a shot past a prone goaltender to put the Flames up.
The milestone bolsters Iginla’s already impressive hockey resume:
- 1995 and 1996 Memorial Cup Champion
- 1996 Western Hockey League most valuable player
- 1996 IIF World Junior Championship gold medal
- 1997 IIHF World Championship gold medal
- 2004 World Cup of Hockey gold medal
- 2002 Art Ross Trophy winner (NHL scoring leader)
- 2002 Lester B. Pearson winner (NHLPA most valuable player)
- 2004 and 2004 Maurice Richard winner (most goals in NHL)
- 2002 and 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist
- 10th player in NHL history to score 30 goals in 10 seasons
- 77th all-time in NHL regular season points (1,o00 and counting)
- 48th all-time in NHL regular season goals (480 and counting)
Iginla becomes the 33rd player ever to rack up 1,000 points with a single franchise.
The other 32: Gordie Howe (Det.), Steve Yzerman (Det.), Mario Lemieux (Pit.), Wayne Gretzky (Edm.), Ray Bourque (Bos.), Stan Mikita (Chi.), Bryan Trottier (NYI), John Bucyk (Bos.), Gilbert Perreault (Buf.), Marcel Dionne (LA), Alex Delvecchio (Det.), Guy Lafleur (Mon.), Jean Beliveau (Mon.), Bobby Clarke (Phi.), Luc Robitaille (LA), Bobby Hull (Chi.), Mike Bossy (NYI), Nicklas Lidstrom (Det.), Denis Savard (Chi.), Jaromir Jagr (Pit.), Bernie Federko (StL), Dave Taylor (LA), Denis Potvin (NYI), Peter Stastny (Que.), Henri Richard (Mon.), Jari Kurri (Edm.), Mark Messier (Edm.), Daniel Alfredsson (Ott.), Rod Gilbert (NYR), Joe Sakic (Que/Col) and Phi Esposito (Bos.)
Even more remarkable is the fact that Iginla doesn’t have a partner-in-crime that can easily be named in the above group. Most of the greats listed in the illustrious 32 had a trigger-man or another talented player to team up with against the opposing team’s defenders. Iginla’s worked with a group of players that included Valeri Bure, Cory Stillman, Marc Savard, Craig Conroy, Dean McAmmond, Martin Gelinas, Daymond Langkow, Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay. Talented players, no doubt, but none of them likely ticketed for the Hall of Fame.
Iginla has had a remarkable career thus far. At only 33 years of age, and with a career that has shown a remarkable resiliency to injury, he is a prime candidate to keep contributing to the Flames line-up for awhile to come. The next milestone to fall?
500 goals, which would make Iginla only the 17th man in NHL history to score that many goals for a single team.
