Stanley and Iggy

There was a letter that appeared on ESPN.com this week, which was answered by SportsCenter anchor John Buccigross. The question concerned Jarome Iginla, and asked “…if the Flames don't win the Cup this year or any time soon and Jarome Iginla doesn't move on, where would he rate for you in terms of best player never to win a Cup?”

After reading this question, I started to do some thinking about the possibilities. Naturally, I’m always hoping the Flames are going to win the Cup, and my love for Iginla’s play knows no bounds; but what if he doesn’t win a cup? Buccigross listed several hall-of-fame players who never won a cup, including Marcel Dionne, Mike Gartner and Dino Ciccarelli and feels that should Iginla never win a cup, he would be a worthy member of this group; a group than includes three players who scored a combined 2,047 goals in the National Hockey League. While a Stanley Cup for Jarome would certainly be a feather in his cap, not winning one would not take away from his already successful hockey career. Iginla has won the Rocket Richard trophy twice and the Art Ross once, won the gold medal with Team Canada in 2002, the Memorial Cup with Kamloops in 1994 and 1995, and has been captain of an NHL team for over five seasons. Most hockey players would be happy to have such a resume. Iginla’s legacy is safe.

But after thinking about this question some more, I was struck with a scary thought. What if Iginla took a page out of Ray Bourque’s book, and decided that he would be unable to win a Stanley Cup in Calgary, and instead decided to head for ‘greener pastures?’ I hate to think of Iginla wearing a different jersey, but I wonder what my actual reaction would be to him requesting a trade for this reason. I remember seeing Bourque raise the Cup with Colorado in 2001, and how so many people said it was great to see him finally win it. My first reaction to Iginla moving on would be disappointment; disappointed that the Flames weren’t able to win a Cup with Iginla on the roster, and disappointment with him for, in a way, giving up on the team. But after that, I wonder if I could feel happy for him getting to win one, even if it was with, say, the Thrashers.

After reading this letter on ESPN.com, and contemplating different outcomes for Jarome and the Flames, I thought of Phil Mickelson before he had ever won a major championship. Always dogged by questions about if he would win and if he was the best player never to have won, the only way Mickelson was able to fix this problem was by winning, which he did with his first Masters in 2004. As soon as he put on his first green jacket, these questions stopped. So let’s see the Flames win the Cup this year, and I won’t need to ponder this letter any further. Let’s do it for Iggy!

You can find the abovementioned letter at:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/notebook?page=buccigross/091028mailbag


- TheRev