Flames begin post- Iggy era with loss to Blue Jackets
CALGARY — With Jarome Iginla en route to his new life in Pittsburgh, play ground to a merciful halt in the first period of a 6- 4 Columbus Blue Jackets victory over the Calgary Flames.
During a television timeout, public address announcer Beesley directed the attention of the Saddledome faithful to the Jumbotron.
For one final time, Flames fans basked in Jarome Iginla’s brilliance. They watched a baby- faced Iginla, complete with square helmet, score his first NHL goal in the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs. They witnessed Iginla pummel Vincent Lecavalier with a flurry of fists in the 2004 Stanley Cup Final.
They watched the captain centre a pass to Curtis Glencross that banked off Niklas Backstrom’s pad and deflected off Marek Zidlicki’s skate before dribbling into the net for his 500th goal. And, one more time, they saw a snippet of the Iggy Dance, and ( historical) footage of the man himself waving from the bench. With that, the announced crowd of 19,289 stood in unison to honour the greatest Calgary Flame of them all. The 20 guys in red on the home bench stood and banged their sticks on the boards to salute a man some 35,000 feet in the air, immigration papers in hand.
“He’s meant so much to this organization, to this city, to his teammates,” said centre Matt Stajan. “I’m sure there will be an even better one when he does come back. I kind of went through this in Toronto when Mats Sundin left. It’s very similar.
“Iggy deserves every clap, every stick tap, every encore cheer that he’s going to get.”
If the first official outing of the post- Iginla era is any indication, Flames fans are in for a lengthy period of misery with the organization teetering on a rebuild.
A ghastly T. J. Brodie giveaway led to the first Columbus strike of the night for Mark Letestu ( a shortie.) Then karma stepped in and played her part as Calgary pugilist Brian McGrattan got credit for a goal that went off a flailing Tim Erixon.
From there, the Jackets exploded with a four- goal period. Vinny Prospal, Matt Calvert, Derick Brassard and Ryan Johansen did the damage. With the loss, the Flames see their home- winning streak end at eight games.