By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
Jarome Iginla never won a Stanley Cup, but that wasn’t enough to keep him out of the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, as the former Bruin will headline the list of 2020 inductees announced Wednesday.
A 20-year NHL veteran between five organizations, Iginla ended his career as one of just 20 players to score at least 600 NHL goals, with his 625 tallies ranking as the 16th-most in league history. Iginla’s 1,300 career points, meanwhile, ranked 34th on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. Spending the majority of his career with the Flames (16 seasons to be exact), Iginla departed Calgary as the franchise’s all-time leader in goals (525), points (1,095), power-play goals (161), game-winning goals (83), and games played (1,219).
After rejecting a trade to Boston and instead forcing his way to Pittsburgh at the 2013 trade deadline, Iginla signed with the Bruins for the 2013-14 season, and totaled 30 goals and 61 points in 78 games for a B’s squad that won the 2014 Presidents’ Trophy but failed to advance beyond the second-round thanks to a seven-game series loss to the Canadiens.
Iginla proved to be a tremendous fit with David Krejci and Milan Lucic on Boston’s first line, too, but Iginla went after guaranteed dollars as a free agent, signing a three-year deal with the Avalanche. Iginla never made it to the postseason in his two full seasons as a member of the Avs, nor was he enough to push the Kings to the 2017 postseason as a deadline addition.
That was all she wrote for Iginla’s illustrious career, too, despite a Feb. 2018 comeback attempt of sorts that saw ‘Iggy, residing in the Boston area, practice with the P-Bruins.
As an individual, Iginla won two Rockets as the league’s top goal scorer, captured an Art Ross, Lester B. Pearson, and King Clancy in his career, and won two Gold medals at the Olympic level as a member of Team Canada.
In addition to Iginla, former Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa, the Oilers’ Kevin Lowe, Chicago defenseman (and Sharks general manager) Doug Wilson, veteran general manager Ken Holland, and three-time Olympic Gold medalist goaltender Kim St-Pierre will be inducted in this year’s class.
Notable players snubbed this year include Daniel Alfredsson, Alexander Mogilny, and Jeremy Roenick.