Iginla says goodbye

Jarome Iginla, who won gold at the Olympics, worlds and World Juniors, has announced his retirement.

Jason La Rose

Jarome Iginla recorded 44 points in 47 games across seven international appearances with Team Canada, but it is the 44th – his 19th and final assist – that will long have a place in Canadian hockey lore.

The screams of “Iggy! Iggy!” came just seconds before Sidney Crosby took a pass from Iginla and slipped a shot five-hole on U.S. goaltender Ryan Miller, giving Canada a historic home-ice Olympic gold in Vancouver and adding the final piece to an impressive international trophy case for the St. Albert, Alta., native.

Iginla, who officially announced his retirement Monday, stood atop the podium almost everywhere he went with Team Canada – at the 1994 La Copa Mexico (summer under-18), 1996 IIHF World Junior Championship, 1997 IIHF World Championship, 2002 and 2010 Olympic Winter Games and 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

And the offensive skills that produced 625 goals and 1,300 points across 1,554 NHL games always seemed to translate nicely to the international game.

Iginla led Canada in scoring in Mexico in the summer of 1994, and finished atop the scoring race with 12 points in six games at the 1996 World Juniors, where he was named Top Forward and earned a spot on the tournament all-star team.

After a golden performance in his first and only IIHF worlds in 1997, he played a starring role in ending Canada’s 50-year Olympic drought in 2002, scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist in a 5-2 win over the U.S. in the gold medal game in Salt Lake City.

He added a World Cup to his collection in 2004 before finishing his international career with a pair of appearances on the biggest stage in sports; Iginla represented Canada at the Olympics in 2006 and 2010, capped by a tournament-leading five goals in Vancouver and, of course, his assist on the Golden Goal.

The 11th pick of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, Iginla retires as one of the most decorated players of his era.

A two-time Memorial Cup champion as a member of the Kamloops Blazers and WHL player of the year in 1995-96, he was a two-time winner of the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy (2001-02, 2003-04), three times earned a place on the NHL First All-Star Team (2001-02, 2007-08, 2008-09), and won the Lester B. Pearson Award and Art Ross Trophy in 2001-02, among countless other honours.

JAROME IGINLA