The latest milestone for St. Albert's Jarome Iginla was the 500th goal of his hall-of-fame career.
The 15-year veteran of the Calgary Flames is the 42nd player in NHL history to reach the 500-goal plateau and one of only 15 players to accomplish the feat with the same team.
"It's something I will think more of when I'm done but it's neat for me to be able to do it all with Calgary," Iginla said after recording No. 500 on Jan. 7 in the Flames 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild at the Scotiabank Saddledome. "It feels better and more special to do it at home here."
Iginla ranks 41st on the NHL's all-time goal scoring list with 501 in 1,152 games and is third among active goal-scoring leaders.
The Flames captain is also the franchise leader in games played, goals and points (1,042), and is second in assists (541).
"You don't want to get caught thinking of too much of history," he said. "I want to play longer and hopefully score a lot more goals and be a part of a lot more wins."
Iginla's historic marker was a centring attempt towards the Minnesota net that deflected in off Mikko Koivu's skate and past goalie Niklas Backstrom at 8:33 of the third period.
"It was kind of a funny bounce and a funny goal but it's pretty cool."
Iginla's goal-scoring exploits started on April 23, 1996 in his second NHL playoff game after joining the Flames at the conclusion of his junior career with the Kamloops Blazers. From the high slot he ripped a shot past Chicago Blackhawks goalie Ed Belfour in Calgary.
Iginla's first official NHL regular season goal was scored during his first game, on Oct. 5, 1996 in Vancouver, against Canucks goalie Kirk McLean. His tap-in backhander inside the far, left post completed a two-on-one with Corey Millen.
Iginla's march to 500 was highlighted by two seasons of 50 or more goals and four seasons of 40-plus goals. He is also the 10th NHL player to score 30 or more goals in 10 consecutive seasons.
With 17 goals in 46 games this season, Iginla is on pace to extend his NHL-leading streak of 20-plus goal seasons by active players to 13.
"I've been very blessed in hockey to have some great moments and memories that will stick with me," he said.
St. Albert roots
Off the ice, Iginla was honoured last year as one of the 24 inaugural inductees to the City of St. Albert's Skating Wall of Fame at Performance Arena.
In 2010 the two-time Olympic gold medallist was saluted at a special ceremony at the Mission baseball diamond as part of the city's campaign to recognize local Olympians.
"To grow up playing minor hockey and minor baseball here, you never dreamed of having a day where people came out like this," Iginla told the Gazette that afternoon while signing autographs and posing for pictures for a long line of admirers.
"It's a pretty neat feeling and definitely a huge honour and humbling at the same time. There are so many people here, especially young hockey players. I've talked to a few of them and just listening to them definitely brings back memories of how much fun I had at their age playing hockey here in St. Albert. It makes me feel fortunate that I'm doing it now for a living."
Iginla, who was born 34 years ago on Canada Day, was active in St. Albert's minor hockey and baseball programs while attending Sir Alexander Mackenzie Elementary School, Lorne Akins Junior High School and Paul Kane High School.
"This really is my home. My wife [Kara] and I met in junior high here. St. Albert is a big, big part of our lives," said the former bantam AAA Sabre and midget AAA Raider.
"It's a great community with lots of opportunities and it's not like that everywhere. As you get older you definitely feel so fortunate for those opportunities. There was an outdoor rink in every neighbourhood and one that was always taken care of and flooded. All the different ball diamonds were also ready for us to play on too."
Jarome Iginla: St. Albert connection
• Attended elementary school at Sir Alexander Mackenzie, junior high at Lorne Akins and high school at Paul Kane.
• Played minor hockey and minor baseball in St. Albert.
• Named the all-star catcher at the 1992 bantam AAA nationals. Batted .400 with eight hits, one home run and four RBIs as the host St. Albert Cardinals finished 2-3.
• Led the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League in scoring with 34 goals and 87 points in 36 games as a second-year bantam with the 1992/93 St. Albert Eagle Raiders.
• Among the inaugural 24 inductees into the City of St. Albert's Skating Wall of Fame at Performance Arena.
Career highlights
• Won gold with Canada at the 2002 and 2010 Olympics.
• Assisted on Sidney Crosby's gold-medal clinching overtime goal at the 2010 Olympics.
• Played for Canada at the 2006 Olympics.
• Won gold with Canada at the 1997 IIHF World Championship as the youngest player on the team.
• Won gold with Canada at the 1996 IIHF World Junior Championship and was named the tournament's most outstanding forward and was the scoring champion with five goals and seven assists in six games.
• Won gold with the U18 national team in 1994.
• Won gold with Canada at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey tournament.
• Drafted by the Dallas Stars 11th overall in 1995.
• Acquired by the Calgary Flames in 1995 from Dallas in exchange for Joe Nieuwendyk.
• Playing in his 15th NHL season, all with the Flames.
• Captain of the Flames since the 2003/04 season.
• Is the Flames' franchise leader in games played (1,152), goals (501) and points (1,042) and is second in assists (541).
• Is the 42nd player in NHL history to reach the 500-goal plateau and one of only 15 players to do it with the same team.
• Most goals in a season: 52 in 2001/02.
• Most assists in a season: 55 in 2006/07.
• Most points in a season: 98 in 2007/08.
• On April 1, 2011, became the 77th player in NHL history to record 1,000 points with two goals and one assist in the 3-1 win against the Blues in St. Louis. His game winner was his 1,000th point.
• Winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer in 2002 and 2004 (shared with Rich Nash and Ilya Kovalchuk at 41 apiece).
• Winner of the 2002 Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's top point producer (96 in 82 games).
• Winner of the 2002 Lester B. Pearson Trophy as the NHL's most outstanding player, as voted on by the members of the NHLPA.
• Winner of the 2004 King Clancy Award, which goes to the NHL player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice.
• Winner of the 2009 Messier Leadership Award, which recognizes an individual as a superior leader within their sport and as a contributing member of society.
• Voted to the NHL's first all-star team in 2002, 2008 and 2009 and the second all-star team in 2004.
• Memorial Cup winner with the Kamloops Blazers in 1994 and 1995.
• WHL's player of the year in 1996 and made the first all-star team after registering 63 goals and 136 points in 63 games with Kamloops.
• WHL career totals are 102 goals, 134 assists and 236 points in 183 games in three years with Kamloops.
