It was on this day 10 years ago that the Calgary Flames traded franchise legend Jarome Iginla to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The deal came days before the NHL’s April 3rd trade deadline and ended Iginla’s historic, Hall of Fame 16-year career with the Flames. In return, the Flames got back a 2013 first-round pick used to select Morgan Klimchuk, Kenny Agostino and Ben Hanowski.
In total, the trio of players played just 27 games for the Calgary Flames with none of them ever actualizing as players of any stature. Klimchuk played just one NHL game in the 2017-18 season, and played parts of four seasons with the Stockton Heat.
Now 28, Klimchuk’s final year of pro hockey came in 2019-20 with the AHL’s Belleville Senators. This year he started working with the WHL’s Victoria Royals as an assistant coach.
Agostino had the most success of the three at the NHL level playing 86 games over four seasons with the Flames, St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored eight goals and 30 points. He’s spent the last two seasons with the KHL’s Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod scoring 24 goals and 51 points in 75 games.
Hamowski, meanwhile, played 16 games for the Flames scoring one goal and three points. They were his only games in the NHL and left North America to play in the German DEL league in 2015-16, where he played through until 2019-20. He had lots of success there scoring 81 goals and 160 points in 239 games.
Iginla, meanwhile, went on to have stints with the Penguins, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche and LA Kings.
Here’s some of what the Calgary Herald’s Scott Cruickshank wrote about the trade:
More jarring occasions await, of course.
The first time he’s seen skating in a Pittsburgh Penguins sweater.
The first time someone else wears the captain’s C for the Calgary Flames.
But for now, in terms of jolts, this will do hearing the former face of the franchise, while talking about the Flames, do a mid-sentence reverse.
“We have a good offensive — ”
He stopped. Chuckled. Regrouped.
“Well, the Flames have a good offensive (team),” said Jarome Iginla, holding court Thursday morning at the Scotiabank Saddledome. “They’re finding ways to score goals. They have some good creative guys.”
That’s what it is now — they, they, they.
Only once during the 30-min-ute session with the press did he slip up. Which is actually quite a performance considering his longtime association with the Flames more than 17 years, more than 6,300 days.
Earlier, however, Iginla had been bang on — as flat-out weird as it had been to listen to him discuss the local squad from the third-person perspective.
“They can still get in (the playoffs) this year,” said Iginla. “I hope they go on a great run. I wish them the best, the absolute best.”
In addition to keeping his pronouns straight the morning after being dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Iginla assured everyone — more than once — that this wasn’t a retirement speech.
In fact, he reiterated his desire to chase pucks till he’s 40.
“I hope to be productive and a good player for five more years and help a team win,” said Iginla, 35. “It also makes me realize how fast the other 16 (seasons) have gone. “You haven’t seen the last of me, one way or another, eh?”
Because that’s what this exercise is all about being revitalized. Not trotting into the sunset.
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