Jarome Iginla Jersey card

Considering Ben Bishop, Alexandre Burrows and Kevin Shattenkirk were traded prior to Deadline Day, in my opinion, the most coveted player today was Jarome Iginla. Teams that should have gone after him include the Montréal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators. The team that actually landed him was... the Los Angeles Kings.

Now, I'm aware others would say Radim Vrbata, Mark Streit and Thomas Vanek were more attractive and productive free agents to be, but none of these players were the best leader and captain of their generation, and though Iginla has slowed down with just 8 goals in 61 games this year on the worst team in the NHL, his 619 career goals still place him 16th in league history; there's no way he forgot how to shoot and/or where the net is. All he needs is a guy who can pass the puck well and is quick enough to cover for him a bit in the defensive zone - and L.A. has that in Anze Kopitar; Montréal has it in Tomas Plekanec, and Edmonton has it in both David Desharnais and Leon Draisaitl.

Here he is from his days captaining the Flames, on card #AF-JI from Upper Deck's 2006-07 SP Game-Used set and Authentic Fabrics sub-set:

It shows him wearing Calgary's red uniform but features a white game-worn jersey swatch.

Jarome Iginla Jersey Card

Jarome Iginla was playing in his 1500th NHL game earlier tonight, but the Colorado Avalanche turned in their worst performance ever and lost to my hometown Montréal Canadiens, 10-1.

People criticized Patrick Roy for jumping ship this summer when he left his head coaching position because he felt he didn't have a big enough say on roster decisions despite also being VP of Hockey Operations, and now we see why: Jared Bednar may have been the best coach in the AHL, the Avs are still stuck in last place in the standings.

Iginla would probably among the players Roy kept, but he surely would have sent hot-dogging Matt Duchene packing in an effort to consolidate team leadership and hopefully bolster the defense.

Now in his 20th season, Iginla has captained the Calgary Flames to within a goal of a Stanley Cup championship, was a Calder Trophy runner-up (to Bryan Berard), is a three-time First Team All-Star and one-time Second Team All-Star, a Rocket Richard Trophy (best goal scorer) and Lester B. Pearson (now Ted Lindsay) Award (most valuable player as chosen by his peers) winner, as well as a King Clancy winner for leadership and humanitarian contribution.

He has 614 goals and 665 assists so far, and is 21 points away from the 1300 mark. He is also a highly-decorated member of Team Canada, having won gold at the 1996 World Juniors, the 1997 World Championships, the 2004 World Cup as well as the 2002 and 2010 Olympics.

Because he played hard but never dirty, his name is the one that sticks out in my mind when people talk about "greatest leader", not Mark Messier's.

Here he is climbing up the Flames' leadership ranks, wearing the alternate captain's "A" on their former black "flaming horse" jersey, on card #107 from Pacific's 2003-04 Prism set and Authentic Game-Worn Jersey sub-set, with beautiful gold foil:

It features a matching (black) game-worn jersey swatch and is numbered 1026/1185.

Jarome Iginla Jersey Card

Earlier tonight, Colorado Avalanche right winger Jarome Iginla scored his 600th career NHL goal, becoming the 19th player in history to reach that mark; he is now one goal away from former Edmonton Oilers great Jari Kurri.

It came off a missed pass that went through Los Angeles Kings backup Jhonas Enroth, so it wasn't a typical power forward goal where he plows through the defense to will the puck past the goalie, nor from a signature Iginla accurate wrist shot or deke move - but it was effective, and it helped the Avs win 4-1 against one of the best teams in the league.

Semyon Varlamov (31 saves on 32 shots faced) and Tyson Barrie (2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points) also factored in the win. Considering the Avs have only been in Denver since 1995, it's impressive that two other Hall Of Famers scored their 600th while with the team: Kurri, and legendary captain and current GM Joe Sakic.

For the occasion, here's a card I got off Ebay over a month ago, showing Iggy wearing the Avs' white (away) uniform, with a matching game-worn jersey swatch:

It's card #FA-JI from Upper Deck's 2015-16 Artifacts set and Frozen Artifacts sub-set.

Jarome Iginla Jersey Card

Unbeknownst to most hockey fans, Jarome Iginla just played in his 1400th NHL game; he's now also 8 goals shy of 600, and 63 penalty minutes shy of 1000. Oh, and 6 game-winners away from the 100 mark.

His 5 points in 8 games so far this year aren't bad at all, especially at 38 years old, but watching Colorado Avalanche games, I get the impression that perhaps he's not all that comfortable playing with Matt Duchene; it only seems like they're half-clicking.

Still, the Avs need better defensemen to get the puck out of their own end and get the play moving to the other side; those star forwards can only work their magic when they have the puck, and apart from when two of Tyson Barrie, Erik Johnson and François Beauchemin are on the ice, that puck is staying deep in the Avs' defensive zone.

I was happy when Iginla signed with the Avs two summers ago, and while he's probably better off than with the Pittsburgh Penguins or Boston Bruins, Colorado isn't looking like a Stanley Cup contender these days.

Here he is from his days as captain of the Calgary Flames, from Upper Deck's 2005-06 Series 1 set (card #J-JI of the UD Game Jersey sub-set), showing him wearing the team's red jersey:

Ironically, all of my Iginla swatch cards don't have the matching jersey swatches/jersey in picture; this one's black, for instance.

Still, he's one of my favourite players, and a sure-shot first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Jarome Iginla Jersey Card

Well, not only did my former favourite captain Jarome Iginla sign with the Colorado Avalanche on July 1st, he also believes it's the team that will lead him to the Stanley Cup; after almost doing it with the Calgary Flames when he was their undisputed leader and then failing as a mercenary with both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins, I'm not sure what that means for the Avs exactly; I'm also not convinced he alone can make up for losing Paul Stastny, but we'll see three years from now. I truly hope so, both for him and the Avs organization, and for Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic as managers.

As I mentioned in May, his team wins are impressive and lack just one Cup, as he has just about everything else: two Memorial Cups with the Kamloops Blazers, and many gold medals with Team Canada, including at the World Juniors (1996, where he was also the tournament's MVP), World Championships (1997), World Cup (2004) and Olympics (2002 and 2010).

He would also have made the Olympic team in 2014 if I'd been in charge, as this would have been my line-up:

Rick Nash - Jonathan Toews (captain) - Jeff Carter
Jamie Benn - Sidney Crosby - Martin St. Louis
John Tavares - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Matt Duchene - Patrice Bergeron - Jarome Iginla (alternate)
(James Neal - Jason Spezza / Mike Richards as reserves)

Duncan Keith - Drew Doughty (alternate)
Marc-Édouard Vlasic - Shea Weber
Jay Bouwmeester - P.K. Subban
(Alex Pietrangelo - Brent Seabrook as reserves)

Roberto Luongo - Corey Crawford (Mike Smith as reserve)

(Too many centers? Sure. Also: no Leafs or Jets. And no Sharks attackers. No perennial chokers.)

But not just the consummate leader and team player, Iginla is also a 500-goal, 1200-point man with a ton of NHL hardware who already has a seat reserved as a first-ballot Hall Of Famer when he retires, and will likely see his number retired by the Flames the minute he does. He's already their career leader for goals, points and games played, and is second only to Al MacInnis in assists. Between 1998 and 2008, only Jaromir Jagr scored more goals than he did in the whole league.

I thought I had posted this card of his earlier, but it seems not; it's from Fleer's 2005-06 Fleer Ultra set by Upper Deck, and is #DMJ-JI of the Difference Makers sub-set, with an awesome 2-colour jersey swatch possibly from the sleeve of the Flames' white uniform, pictured on the front of the card:

He's sporting the captain's 'C', a sight I was so used to seeing that he looks weird without it on all of his new teams.

Jarome Iginla Autographed Card

I (finally, after failing at the 2009 and 2012 All-Star Games) met my former favourite captain Jarome Iginla after a game at the Bell Centre last month, as he had collected an assist in a 4-1 Boston Bruins win over the Montréal Canadiens. He was accepting compliments but the whole team seemed in a hurry to get out of town, and I thought I wouldn't get him to sign for me... but he did.

I told him how for so long, he and Joe Sakic represented the pinnacle of leadership for me (forgot about Saku Koivu, but I wasn't there to make a Buzzfeed list), and how though he's a Bruin now - Montréal's fiercest and biggest rivals - I wouldn't mind if they won another Stanley Cup if it meant his name was to be engraved on it, but that it'd be even better next year with another team (his answer ''let me guess, the Habs?''); then he proceeded to sign this 2001-02 Heritage card by Topps (#40 in the set) in blue sharpie:

It shows him wearing the Calgary Flames' turn-of-the-millennium black uniform with the fiery horse logo - and notice how he wasn't captain yet: it only happened in 2003. Don't let the scan fool you: the card is in great shape (I had a plastic box), but the penny sleeve I put in it afterwards may not have been new.

He has just completed his thirteenth 60-point season and twelfth 30-goal season. He has 560 goals (and counting), over 600 assists, and nearly 1200 points in some 1300 games, plus 32 goals and 63 points in 71 playoff games so far despite rarely playing alongside players of his caliber.

Individually, he has an Art Ross trophy (points leader), two Rocket Richard trophies (leading goal-scorer), a Lester B. Pearson award (now the Ted Linday award as MVP voted by the players), a King Clancy (leadership off the ice and humanitarian contribution) and Mark Messier trophy (best leader) to go with his Rookie Team (1997), First-Team (2002, 2008, 2009) and Second-Team (2004) All-Star nominations and six All-Star Game appearances.

As a team player, he has two Memorial Cups with the Kamloops Blazers, and many gold medals with Team Canada, including at the World Juniors (1996, where he was also the tournament's MVP), World Championships (1997), World Cup (2004) and Olympics (2002 and 2010).

The Hall Of Fame will definitely be calling.

Jarome Iginla Jersey Card

I just can't get enough Jarome Iginla jersey cards... or maybe I just own too many. Nevertheless, I felt it was appropriate to mention he got his first point as a member of the Boston Bruins this weekend by showing a pre-captainship card of him with the Calgary Flames:

It's from In The Game's 2002-03 Be A Player  In The Game-Used set (card #GUJ-5); BAP used that specific picture in many sets - I know I have it on their In The Game Action cards as well. This card, while the picture shows him wearing the Flames' black dragon-horse (away) jersey, contains a red swatch that is guaranteed to have been used in a game, but it's unclear which jersey it's from, as all of them (white, black and red) use red.

That being said, he looks great in black, which bodes well for this current season as a Bruin. The one-time Stanley Cup finalist, two-time Memorial Cup winner, two-time Olympic gold medalist, World Cup, World Juniors and World Championship champion, two-time Rocket Richard trophy winner and one-time Art Ross recipient hopes to have his name finally engraved on the most prized team sports trophy of the world before he retires. I wish he would have signed with my hometown Montréal Canadiens, as their odds are almost just as good as the Bruins', except it wouldn't have felt wrong to root for him come playoff time.

Jarome Iginla Autograph Card

A few days ago, fellow blogger The Irong Lung posted about Jarome Iginla in his series on the NHL's 1000-point men, where he's attempting to gather a hard-signed (i.e. no ''stickers'') autographed insert card for every player who has scored 1000 points and more.

That's one tough task I'd never attempt without first securing a Wayne Gretzky and a Mario Lemieux - two of the most sought-after players in league history and thus, two players who don't sign too many autographs. I have neither, but I do have this Iginla:

It's from Upper Deck's 2005-06 Ultimate Collection (card #US-JI, Ultimate Signatures sub-set) and features a really cool signature in thin blue sharpie. It's a cool, thick card that shows him wearing the captain's ''C'', which he's been wearing since the beginning of the 2003-04.

It's the first card I show of his in which he's wearing the Calgary Flames' red 2000s jersey (I have posted this one and this one in black, and this one and this one in white).

I'm pretty lucky in pulling some of his cards, especially he's one of my favourite all-time players (pretty much the top one since Joe Sakic retired).

He's entering the final year of his contract, and trade rumours will likely abound this year again, but I don't see the face of the franchise going anywhere, what with the Flames being the only team he's ever suited for (despite having been drafted by the Dallas Stars), and his having completed his 11th consecutive 30-goal season (talk about consistency!) Also, I'm sure his next contract will see him earning slightly less than his current $7M, which will enable the team to be more comfortable around the cap as he starts reaching into his twilight years.

I see him playing 5 more seasons, 3 more of which would be 30-goal years.

Coincidentally, he co-owns his junior team, the Kamloops Blazers, with yesterday's poster boy Shane Doan (along with Mark Recchi and Darryl Sydor).

Jarome Iginla Jersey Card

Yes, ladies and gentlemen: the fourth Jarome Iginla jersey card I've featured in a little over a year! There was an All-Star jersey, a red swatch, and a black swatch.

So I figured I was due for a white swatch. This is card #GA-JI from Upper Deck's 2003-04 Honor Roll set, the Grade A Jerseys sub-set. It features a piece of the Flames' white (home) jersey, despite showing him wearing the black ''flaming horse'' jersey. It is, however, guaranteed to have been used in an official game by Iggy himself. I've seen this card hover between $35-75, usually selling for above $50. He was the team's alternate captain at the time.

Last weekend, my favourite captain in the NHL (since Joe Sakic's retirement, of course) became just the 10th player in NHL history to score 30 or more goals in 10 consecutive seasons. That smells like the Hall Of Fame to me. Now, if only he could get his hands on a Stanley Cup...

Jarome Iginla Jersey Card

Here's a special Jarome Iginla jersey card - you'll notice the patch is blue; it's because it's from his 2003 All Star Game jersey (despite the picture on the card depicting him in his white Calgary Flames uniform).

Iginla might be the player I have the most jersey cards of - I mentioned one here and yet another one here, and I'm far from done. There have been so many trade rumours involving him this summer that I'm keeping my options open when it comes to making posts about him.

This card (#FF-JI) is from Upper Deck's 2003-04 Upper Deck series (there wasn't a Series 2 that year, hence this being a generic set, not a Series 1), the Franchise Fabrics sub-set. Ironic that the jersey isn't from said franchise, eh? I've seen this card sell over $50 because of the (rare) nature of the jersey used.

(Another) Jarome Iginla Jersey Card

Sure, I already talked about Jarome Iginla - in a jersey card no less - here, but after today's blockbuster trade, I had to mention someone from the Calgary Flames - and I couldn't find a Dion Phaneuf card (other than his usual rookies), nor have the Sutters returned the cards I sent by mail. So I went back to the fool-proof plan: The Captain.

Mind you, this 2001-02 Private Stock 'Authentic Game-Used Jersey' card from Pacific depicts Iginla when he was but a mere alternate captain (just like in the first card). The patch is red, and neither the home nor the away jerseys had much red in them, only near the waist and wrists, so it's from a relatively small piece of real estate. Pacific has taken a bit of a dive, but this is still worth at least $25 on the open market.

It takes a special man to lead by example the way Iginla does, maybe the type of man who marries his eighth-grade high school sweetheart. No matter how tough he can get on the ice, you expect him to be righteous at all times, and he has been so far. He's an example for kids, helps in the community, has won Olympic Gold... he just needs a Stanley Cup to make it all worthwhile. And should the Sutters find the right mix of players to do so, this could be his year.

At the beginning of the season, I ranked the Flames 4th in their Conference, but also Stanley Cup finalists - against the Philadelphia Flyers, whom I also placed fourth. It would make for a fantastic finale, and, really, honestly, I wouldn't know who to root for - Ray Emery, Daniel Brière, Simon Gagné, Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell on one side, Iginla, Miikka Kiprusoff, Jay Bouwmeester, Robyn Regehr and the Sutters on the other; just the most intense hockey to end the season with.

Jarome Iginla Jersey Card

Now that Joe Sakic has retired, Jarome Iginla is probably the best leader left in hockey. Once a promising young gun in a big-name trade that sent Joe Nieuwendyk to Dallas to win the Stanley Cup, Iginla evolved into a Hart Trophy winner that could, in any given year, score 50 goals. Unfortunately (for him), he never plays with good enough players to allow him to do that, but he's carried the Calgary Flames' offense on his broad shoulders for the better part of a decade now, which is still quite something.

This card from Upper Deck's Classic Portraits series of 2002-03 (#C-JI), bearing the sub-set mark of 'Classic Stitches' (because simply saying 'jersey card' or 'game-used jersey card' is probably copyrighted for a competing set... by the same manufacturer...) is still puzzling; first off, the piece of jersey is all black, like Calgary's then-road jersey, but the one in the picture is their home (white) one, which does have a black bar, but it seems a bit thin to be the patch from the card. Also, the set is called 'Classic Portraits'... but Upper Deck has only been making cards since the early 1990s, so revisiting the 50s' and 60s' layouts seems not only a lack of inspiration, but also a dick move to me. Especially since they now produce (own?) the brands that were made back then, i.e. Parkhurst and O-Pee-Chee...