Originally Posted by ESPN Insider

Why bother? Craig Conroy wanted to know. The Flames were out of the playoffs for the seventh straight season. This final home game, on Fan Appreciation Night last April, meant nothing. And the team's only star, Jarome Iginla, sat in the locker room before warm-ups, unable to lift his right arm. Iginla had hurt his shoulder weeks before, in a game that still mattered. Now, as teammates robotically laced their skates around him, Conroy looked at his linemate, shook his head and said, "I don't know why you're playing."


A year has passed since then. Now the NHL lurches toward darkness, and an end-of-days frustration has seeped into rinks all over North America. See it in Rangers captain Mark Messier as he spears Penguins defenseman Martin Strbak in the crotch. See it in Caps owner Ted Leonsis as he throws a rowdy fan to the ground by his neck. See it in places like Pittsburgh and New York and Chicago -- places where hockey reigned a decade ago but now plays to empty seats and echoes.

See it in hockey's staunch defenders, as they cry out over their sport's stained image, dismal attendance numbers and falling TV ratings. See it in the league's promotions, as they gloss over the fact that many of the game's best -- Kovalchuk, Nash, Fedorov, Jagr -- missed the playoffs, while many of the game's ambassadors -- Forsberg, Yzerman, Lemieux -- may not play another period in the NHL after this June. See it in owners who turn out empty pockets, and in players who wonder if their wives would be willing to pick up the kids and move overseas for six months, a year, or longer.

Why bother? We all want to know. And no one in the NHL has a better answer than Jarome Iginla.

Ready for a feel-good hockey story? Ready for something that will get you believing again? Ready to forget all the bickering about the collective bargaining agreement? Then come away from all the so-called major markets. Away from the league suits in Manhattan and Toronto. Away from bitter columnists and jaded fans. Come to a place where hockey has lived and died and lives again. Come to Calgary. Come meet a captain who knows a thing or two about hockey renaissance.

But first, some hockey history. The NHL came to Calgary nearly 25 years ago from Atlanta, where the Flames nickname reflected the Civil War destruction wrought by General Sherman. Back then, hockey hadn't caught fire in the South as it had in Alberta. In 1980, Calgarians jammed the 7,000-seat Corral even though owners charged a then-lofty $25 (Canadian) for tickets. The IOC noticedand gave Calgary the 1988 Olympics. By decade's end, Calgary had a Stanley Cup, a state-of-the art building (the Saddledome) and the best, deepest team in hockey.

Then it all fell apart. The Flames drafted poorly (Jesper Mattsson over Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison?). The looney crapped out. Flames icons like Doug Gilmour, Mike Vernon and Al MacInnis asked for more money and ended up getting dealt for little in return. The new CBA in 1994 failed to effectively limit salaries, making it even more difficult for the budget-conscious Flames owners to hold onto their headliners. They decided to outfit the Saddledome with luxury boxes, pushing some season ticket-holders into worse seats. Fans seethed, then bailed. Average attendance plummeted for five straight years, from 19,036 in 1994-95 to 14,946 in 1999-2000. The last straw came in 1995, when captain Joe Nieuwendyk, the fans' favorite player, was shipped to Dallas for an unknown Kamloops junior. The day after the trade, a Calgary newspaper cried: "Jarome WHO?"

Jarome Who? If only every sports fan in the "major" markets knew the answer, maybe the NHL would be a better place. Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla is a revelation -- Chicken Soup for the Hockey Soul -- born in Alberta to a Nigerian father, Elvis, and an American mother, Susan Schuchard. His parents divorced when Jarome was 2, but the boy always had an optimistic nature. "He was never to whine, never to complain, never to ask for things," says Elvis, a lawyer in Edmonton. "He always had a sense of humor."

And a sense of purpose. Jarome shrugged when his childhood friends told him black players don't make the NHL, and again when a midget teammate dismissed him as "just a n --." When the deal went down, Iginla called it an honor to be traded for Nieuwendyk. He spent every ensuing summer telling his friends, "This is the year!" even though the Flames didn't finish better than 20th overall for the first seven years of his Flames career.

Jarome had a ready grin for every situation. He thought it was a joke when Wayne Gretzky offered him a spot on the 2002 Canadian Olympic team, even though he had scored 91 goals in his first four seasons. Iginla scored two goals and had an assist in the gold medal-winning match against Team USA, but Flames fans prefer to tell the story of what happened when Jarome ran into a group of Calgarians who had driven down to Salt Lake City for the Games. He asked where the group was staying, only to learn the fans were sleeping in their cars. Jarome smiled, made a call and put them all up in a hotel. "People say he's too good to be true," says Craig Button, former general manager of the Flames. "Well, it's true. He is that good."

So where is Iginla's Gatorade commercial? Where are the inner-city kids wearing Iginla jerseys? Where are the nationally televised Flames games? Why, after a gold medal and a 52-goal season, are hockey fans still searching the Quebec junior league for the next breakout hockey icon?

Two answers, both debatable. First, Calgary is a small Canadian market, so the Flames haven't been able to compete. No playoffs, no exposure, no added revenue, no crossover love for Jarome. While postseason heroes like Anaheim's J-S Giguere get to sit next to Jay Leno, Iginla plays only 82 games (50 in Canada) and for so long had been watching hockey's high season with the rest of us.

Second, the NHL hasn't sold individual stars as successfully as the NBA. Who is the face of the NBA? Plenty of options. But who is the face of the NHL? Anyone? And, as Carolina goalie Kevin Weekes bluntly puts it, "A lot of people aren't comfortable with nontraditional people playing our game."

Iginla insists he's rarely if ever been discriminated against. Nor has he ever played the race card. But why didn't he ever ask for a new team, more ice time, better teammates, his own cereal? (Named Iggy Pops, of course.) Why no anger when he lost the 2002 Hart Trophy after two writers inexplicably left him off their ballots? Why no outward frustration when every Alberta winter brought talk of a franchise move? Owners still threaten to pack it in if a new CBA doesn't level the playing field.

You call this star treatment? Iginla's waited out every trade deadline with held breath, even this season, when he was putting up Hart-quality numbers and the team finally was winning. "It's been tough at the end of every season," he says. "We're always in the eighth spot, trying not to fall out. I read the papers. It's tough reading they want to trade you. Some of it gets to you."

But that's the extent of Jarome's rant. When his last contract ended in 2002, after he won a gold medal and a Maurice Richard Trophy, he showed zero interest in leaving. "He wasn't, 'Gimme this, gimme that or else,'" says Button. "Never did I see a hint of anything other than Jarome wanting to be a part of the solution. Never."

Even Dad got upset. When Elvis called his son to complain about Jarome's lot, he always heard the same thing: "He tells me I should remember that he's very happy," says Dad, "that he's living his dream and that no matter what happens, he's already been very blessed."

Conroy just shakes his head. "A lot of players would say, 'I'm not happy here and I want to move on,'" he says. "But Jarome really believes."

Why bother? Not because Iginla is a pushover. He didn't become one of the NHL's best below-the-dots scorers by avoiding confrontation. "He plays power hockey," says Weekes. "A lot of players just aren't willing to play that style night in, night out." No, Jarome Iginla has waited and waded through seven years of playoff drought because he knows something most fans don't. Turns out there is hope for the Flames. Real hope.

All that small-market whining? It's somewhat overblown. The Wild made it to the conference finals last year with only one superstar, Marian Gaborik, and they play in St. Paul. The year before, the Hurricanes nearly tipped the Wings dynasty despite being transplants from a mall in Hartford. Sure, the Cup usually lands in a big city, but Iginla grew up in Edmonton. He knows the Oilers didn't need a metropolis to win five titles. And he knows a city like Boston, with all its Brahmin bucks, has won zilch in his lifetime. The small-market argument can be a smoke screen for cheap or foolish management, and Iginla doesn't see much of that in the Saddledome these days. "Vancouver had to put a cap on season ticket sales," he says. "That could be us here."

And soon. The Flames entered this postseason with only four skaters over age 30 (Jarome is 26). This season, coach/GM Darryl Sutter traded for 27-year-old goalie Miikka Kiprusoff and nixed offers for any member of the best young defense in the league. The Flames' goals-against is top-five for the first time since Iginla showed up. And despite a nagging groin injury that deflated his goal total (35) last year, Iginla's 41 goals this season (tied for the NHL lead) made him the only player besides Jaromir Jagr and Markus Naslund to average 35 lamplighters over the past six years. The Flames, with Kiprusoff at one end and Iginla at the other, have both trenches covered.

Now, think past the next few weeks. Calgary's population has boomed over the past decade to almost one million, nearing Detroit's. Fueled by the oil and gas industries, Calgary boasts more head corporate offices than any Canadian city besides Toronto. The Canadian dollar has rebounded, which means the Flames will turn a profit it they get past the first round of the playoffs. Where would you rather base an NHL team than in a wealthy, hockey-crazed city with a minor league team, two major junior teams, six college teams and four AAA midget teams?

Now look at the rest of the league. Who knows if fans in Tampa and Columbus will return to the rink after a stoppage? But the people of Calgary have never been more puck-nuts. Banners crying "Go Flames Go!" hang from convenience stores for the first time since the golden age of the '80s. Two recent road games sold on pay-per-view for $10.95. Try that in Phoenix. "The support around this city," says Iginla, "just blows away all other rinks." Flames president Ken King puts it another way: "This is bull about the small-market Canadian team. If hockey can't endure here, it can't endure anywhere."

Why bother? Because a new CBA could help make the Flames the toast of hockey once again. Under some sort of salary cap, all teams will have to protect one or two big-ticket players, find a solid goalie and shore up their defense with youthful (read: cheap) prospects. Calgary has a head start. "Our cap is already in place," Sutter says. "What we need is for everyone else to do it."

After three GMs, five coaches and close to a hundred ex-teammates, Iginla will be damned if he doesn't see it all the way through. That's why he eagerly became the league's first-ever black captain last fall. That's why he hasn't even thought of going abroad next year for any other reason than to travel with his high school sweetheart and new bride, Kara. Let the clouds gather in the sunny expansion cities, because the storm may be finally letting up for Iginla and his fans. "When you commit, it takes time," he says. "Hockey's gotta be here. It's still my dream to win here."

Why bother? Can the answer be more obvious? Walk into the Saddledome. Feel the rush of cool air. Now look up. See that section of seats at the top of the building? That's the upper loge. Been closed for years. The thousand-or-so chairs were folded up, and litter from seasons past sat untouched in the aisles. But when the playoffs returned to the Saddledome this spring, the cups and napkins were picked up. The seats were brushed off. And the number of fans in this building swelled past 19,000 for the first time since Calgary wondered aloud, "Jarome WHO?"

Then, on an Easter Sunday night, Jarome Iginla skated out to the loudest roar he or any of his teammates had ever heard. Suddenly, seven years of playoff famine was worth every loss, ache, rumor and fear. Now, after all the meaningless games in half-filled stadiums, this Alberta boy could look up into a sea of cowboy hats and flaming red jerseys and know that hockey has at last come home.

Originally Posted by bert2nazzy

Iginla is one of the classiest players in the NHL, and I have the utmost respect for him

Congratulations to you Jarome Iginla

Originally Posted by toddzilla44

Oh, B2N Jarome told me he says thank you to you too :P But actually my sister met him in Calgary