Timeline of a brilliant career
July 8, 1995: Jarome Arthur-Leigh Tij Junior Elvis Iginla is selected 11th overall by the Dallas Stars in the first round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft in his hometown of Edmonton.
Dec. 20, 1995: The right-winger is traded by the Stars to the Calgary Flames, along with fellow winger Corey Millen, for the rights to centre Joe Nieuwendyk, who was then in a contract dispute with the Flames.
April 1996: Iginla makes his NHL debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a series between the Flames and the Chicago Blackhawks. He’s the first 18-year-old to play for the NHL club since Dan Quinn in 1983, and he assists in his first game on a goal by Theoren Fleury. He pots his first goal in his second game.
June 1997: The Flames forward finishes runner-up to first overall draftee Bryan Berard, a defenceman with the New York Islanders, in Calder Trophy voting to determine the league’s top rookie after leading all freshmen with 50 points. He is named to the NHL’s All-Rookie Team.
April 1999: Iginla wraps up his third full season by leading the Flames in goals with 28.
Oct. 1999: After missing three games as a holdout, Iginla inks a three-year, US$4.9-million pact, plus bonuses, with the Flames.
Feb. 24, 2002: The Alberta hockey star scores two goals in Canada’s gold-medal winning 5-2 game over the United States at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
April 2002: The Flames sniper cracks the 50-goal mark with 52 to go along with 96 points to earn both the Rocket Richard and Art Ross trophies as the league’s top goal-scorer and pointgetter respectively.
June 2002: Iginla is awarded the Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL’s most outstanding player as voted by his peers, although he loses out on the Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP despite tying in voting points with Montreal Canadiens goalie Jose Theodore. The Habs netminder wins the award based on getting more first-place votes than Iginla.
Oct. 2003: The now-eighth-year Iginla is named the 18th captain in Flames franchise history, as former captain Craig Conroy relinquishes the leadership role.
April 2004: After a 41-goal season to tie the league’s top-snipe count with the Atlanta Thrashers’ Ilya Kovalchuk and the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Rick Nash, Iginla snags his second ‘Rocket Richard’ Trophy. June 2004: Iginla captains the Flames to the Western Conference title, but Iggy & Co. fall agonizingly short of the Stanley Cup crown after losing in the seventh-and-deciding game of the championship series to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Sept. 14, 2004: Canada wins the World Cup of Hockey with a 3-2 victory over Finland with Iginla as one of Canada’s alternate captains.
Dec. 7, 2006: The NHL sniper collects his 300th career goal and 600th career point in a game against the Minnesota Wild.
Nov. 29, 2007: Iginla plays in his 804th career game, breaking a franchise record with his appearance against the Anaheim Ducks.
March 10, 2008: The Flames captain nets another franchise record, as he scores his 365th career NHL goal to pass Theoren Fleury’s mark.
April 2008: Iggy racks up another 50-goal season with 50 on the nose in a career-high 98-point campaign.
Dec. 19, 2008: Iginla records his 800th point with an assist in the first period vs. the Chicago Blackhawks.
March 1, 2009: Another of Fleury’s franchise records falls when Iginla racks up his 831st all-time point. The milestone mark in a loss to the Lightning also sees Iggy record his 400th career goal as part of a fivepoint night. Jan. 30, 2010: A four-point effort against the Oilers sees Iginla reach 900 career points.
Feb. 5, 2010: Game No. 1,000 of Iginla’s NHL career comes against the Florida Panthers.
Feb. 28, 2010: Iginla deftly taps a pass to Sidney Crosby for the goldmedal winning goal in overtime of the Olympic hockey final in Vancouver. Iggy, an alternate captain for Canada, finishes with a tournament-high five goals.
Jan. 11, 2011: On the day he is named to play in his sixth NHL All-Star Game, Iginla racks up career assist No. 500.
March 6, 2011: Iggy’s penalty-shot goal against the Nashville Predators gives him 30 goals in 10 consecutive seasons, making him only the 10th player in league history to complete that feat.
April 1, 2011: Iginla records his 1,000th NHL point in a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues by scoring the game-winning goal.
Jan. 7, 2012: The Flames sniper gets credit for a goal in a win vs. the Minnesota Wild to give him 500 in his illustrious career. He’s the 42nd player all-time in the NHL to hit that milestone-goal mark and only the 15th in history to do it with one team.
March 13, 2012: Iggy becomes the seventh player in NHL history to score 30 goals in 11 straight campaigns with
March 27, 2013: Iginla is traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for college prospects Kenny Agostino and Ben Hanowski and the Pens first-round selection in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
Dec. 10, 2013: Iggy, now with the Boston Bruins, makes his return to Calgary for the first time since the trade, receiving a video tribute and several standing ovations.
Feb. 4, 2014: The Bruins forward gets his 600th career assist in a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks
Jan. 4, 2016: After signing with the Colorado Avalanche in the off-season, Iginla becomes the league’s 19th player to reach 600 career goals in a 4-1 win over the L.A. Kings.
Dec. 10, 2016: Iginla suits up in his 1,500th NHL tilt in a 10-1 loss to the Canadiens to become the 16th player to reach that milestone.
March 1, 2017: In his 20th NHL season, Iginla is traded by the Avalanche to the Kings for a 2018 conditional fourth-round pick.
April 2017: Iginla wraps up a hallof-fame career of 1,554 games, 625 goals, 675 assists and 1,300 points by finishing the year with the Kings.
July 30, 2018: Jarome Arthur-Leigh Tij Junior Elvis Iginla retires from NHL with the Calgary Flames.