NHL notes: Iginla to retire with 625 goals

Former Calgary Flames star Jarome Iginla will announce his retirement from the NHL on Monday.

The news conference will be held in Calgary, where the native of St. Albert, Alta., played almost 16 seasons.

The 41-year-old Iginla did not play in the NHL last season. He suited up for the Los Angeles Kings for his final 19 NHL games in 2017.

The six-foot-one, 210-pound winger played 20 seasons in the NHL, registering 625 goals, 675 assists, 1,300 points and 1,040 penalty minutes in 1,554 games.

Iginla’s best years came in Calgary, where he played from 1996-2013.

He was a six-time all-star with the Flames and was the league’s top scorer in 2001-02. Iginla is the franchise leader in games played, goals, points, evenstrength goals (351), power-play goals (161) and game-winning goals (83).

The Flames acquired Iginla in a 1995 deal with the Dallas Stars, who selected him 11th overall in that year’s draft. THE BEST BLUENOSER: Sidney Crosby may not be bringing the Stanley Cup home to Nova Scotia again this year, but he will still take centre stage at a unique event celebrating the province’s greatest athletes.

Crosby will be the headline attendee at a gala dinner Thursday honouring Nova Scotia’s top 15 athletes of all time.

The Cole Harbour, N.S., native added to a long list of accolades this year when he was voted the province’s number one athlete in a list compiled by the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame, which is holding the dinner and fundraiser at the Halifax Convention Centre.

Bruce Rainnie, the hall of fame’s CEO, said the list was voted on by 36 Nova Scotia athletes, coaches and media representatives, as well as by members of the public.

“Thirty-five of 36 had him (Crosby) at number one, so it was near unanimous,” said Rainnie.

Other athletes scheduled to attend include curling legend Colleen Jones, hall-of-fame defenceman Al MacInnis, top gymnast Ellie Black, Paralympic gold medallist Jamie Bone, and Olympic kayaking medallist Mark de Jonge. A WILD DEAL: The Minnesota Wild have agreed to terms with restricted free agent Jason Zucker on a five-year, $27.5million contract.

The 26-year-old winger had 33 goals and 31 assists in 82 games last season while leading the team with seven game-winning goals. Zucker will carry a $5.5 million annual salary cap hit through the 2022-23 season.

The Wild signed defenceman Matt Dumba to a five-year, $30-million contract last week.