Jarome Iginla addressed the Calgary media for the final time on Thursday morning and expressed his gratitude to the Calgary Flames organization and its fans.
Jarome Iginla press conference: Flames captain says goodbye after trade to Penguins
Jarome Iginla gave a farewell press conference to the Calgary media on Thursday afternoon. Here’s what he said.
Iginla stated that general manager Jay Feaster came to him about a month ago to gauge his interest in potentially being traded if the team was not in playoff contention near the trade deadline. Stating that he was not offended by the concept, Iginla and his agent Don Meehan worked closely with Feaster in order to identify potential teams of interest.
Once Iginla isolated a list of teams he would be willing to go to, Feaster went to work on finding a deal. According to Iginla, the goal of both sides was to find a mutually beneficial offer that allowed the player to go to a team of his choosing and the organization to receive a quality return.
Discussions picked up on Wednesday and Iginla realized that it was likely he would be traded that day. Iginla spoke to Meehan earlier in the day, who was in direct contact with Feaster. Meehan was the one who informed Iginla that three clubs were still submitting offers for his services. At that time, it was mutually decided that he would be scratched from Wednesday night's game against the Colorado Avalanche to avoid injury.
Iginla stated that he wanted to join the Penguins because of their continued success over the last few seasons, as well as the opportunity to play with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Obviously, winning the Stanley Cup is his primary goal and he believes he will have the best chance to do so in Pittsburgh. Iginla is unaware of when he will join the team as he still needs to go through the immigration process.
When looking back on his time in Calgary, Iginla stated that his most memorable moments came in his first game with the team and their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004. The only thing he wished he could change about his time with the franchise was that they never won the Stanley Cup.
Iginla expressed that he was relieved that he wouldn’t have to play against the Flames this season and hoped the return from this trade would help propel the team to future success.
When asked about potentially re-signing with the team as an unrestricted free agent this summer, Iginla said he would never say never.
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