I remember watching Iginla on a breakaway vs Toronto , Belfour made the save. Iggy took a whack at the rebound another save. Leaf's defensemen caught up and tried to push iggy off. But Iginla shoved him took another two whacks at the loose puck and scored. Just powered his way around, happened fast but I've never seen anything like it. He was strong and skilled , fearless , relentless , humble , good hands and a great skater. Best power forward ever.
iggy was so resepcted and so versatile it was such a treat to watch him. It was a no brainer to put him in the Hall first ballot too. He was one of the very few guys who ruled both the 2000s and 2010s by an absolute storm and why those 2 decades were as fun as they were. I tried to emulate his game myself growing up like yapping and checking and wicked wrist shots and all.
Great question! Here's a long winded answer: First off, I'm a Flames fan. And Iggy debuted as a Flame when I was ~5 years old, and was traded when I was ~21. So I grew up idolizing him, and am obviously biased. But the definition of generational player I like best is, "an elite player in all aspects of the game, who possesses certain skills that are head and shoulders above other players considered elite ." So that definition obviously applies to guys like Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, Ovechkin, McDavid, etc. With Iggy, it's not so cut and dry. The only season he was considered the best player in the league was 2001-2002 (won the Pearson for MVP as voted on by his peers), and maybe during the playoffs in 2003-2004. But for me, if you look at his career as a whole, he was the best power forward in the league from 2000-2012. He scored 30+ goals 11-years in a row, and 20+ goals 13 years in a row. Plus, nobody scored more goals than Iggy from 2000-2010. He did all that while fighting the toughest guys in the league, carrying a mediocre-to-bad Flames team on his back, and with his best centers being Craig Conroy, Daymond Langkow and Olli Jokinen. Plus the Flames never had enough offensive depth to take the heat off Iggy (i.e., he always faced the other teams' best defensive players). So based on the above definition, I would argue he was heads and shoulders above any power forward of his era, and is easily a top 5 power forward of all-time. Making him a once in a generation power forward. IMO he's also just straight up a generational player based on his ability to consistently deliver in all aspects of the game for a prolonged period of time. But it's certainly not as clear cut as the guys mentioned above, and there are arguments for why he doesn't quite reach the status of generational player. But without a doubt, he's the greatest Flame of all time! Let me know what you think!
![[TH] FS vs BME - VCT Ascension Pacific - Lower Bracket Final](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wnygqsR2Fig/mqdefault.jpg)
I remember watching Iginla on a breakaway vs Toronto , Belfour made the save. Iggy took a whack at the rebound another save. Leaf's defensemen caught up and tried to push iggy off. But Iginla shoved him took another two whacks at the loose puck and scored. Just powered his way around, happened fast but I've never seen anything like it. He was strong and skilled , fearless , relentless , humble , good hands and a great skater. Best power forward ever.
As an Oilers fan, Iginla (and MacInnis) is my all time favorite Flame. He is also the second best ever Edmonton born player after only Messier.
iggy was so resepcted and so versatile it was such a treat to watch him. It was a no brainer to put him in the Hall first ballot too. He was one of the very few guys who ruled both the 2000s and 2010s by an absolute storm and why those 2 decades were as fun as they were. I tried to emulate his game myself growing up like yapping and checking and wicked wrist shots and all.
You’re spot on. That fight is iconic. I was a mite at the time and i still remember watching that game.
In your opinion, was Iginla a generational player?
This depends on your definition of a generational player. So please provide that.
Great question! Here's a long winded answer:
First off, I'm a Flames fan. And Iggy debuted as a Flame when I was ~5 years old, and was traded when I was ~21. So I grew up idolizing him, and am obviously biased.
But the definition of generational player I like best is, "an elite player in all aspects of the game, who possesses certain skills that are head and shoulders above other players considered elite ."
So that definition obviously applies to guys like Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, Ovechkin, McDavid, etc.
With Iggy, it's not so cut and dry. The only season he was considered the best player in the league was 2001-2002 (won the Pearson for MVP as voted on by his peers), and maybe during the playoffs in 2003-2004.
But for me, if you look at his career as a whole, he was the best power forward in the league from 2000-2012. He scored 30+ goals 11-years in a row, and 20+ goals 13 years in a row. Plus, nobody scored more goals than Iggy from 2000-2010.
He did all that while fighting the toughest guys in the league, carrying a mediocre-to-bad Flames team on his back, and with his best centers being Craig Conroy, Daymond Langkow and Olli Jokinen. Plus the Flames never had enough offensive depth to take the heat off Iggy (i.e., he always faced the other teams' best defensive players).
So based on the above definition, I would argue he was heads and shoulders above any power forward of his era, and is easily a top 5 power forward of all-time. Making him a once in a generation power forward.
IMO he's also just straight up a generational player based on his ability to consistently deliver in all aspects of the game for a prolonged period of time. But it's certainly not as clear cut as the guys mentioned above, and there are arguments for why he doesn't quite reach the status of generational player.
But without a doubt, he's the greatest Flame of all time!
Let me know what you think!