Report: Calgary Flames trade Jarome Iginla to Boston Bruins

In a shocking turn of events on a wild Thursday morning, the Calgary Flames announced that they've traded franchise icon Jarome Iginla to the Penguins for Pittsburgh's first-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft and the rights to unsigned draft choices Kenneth Agostino and Ben Hanowski.

Throughout much of Wednesday night, TSN's Aaron Ward and several other media outlets reported Iginla was being traded to Boston for a first-round pick and two minor leaguers. But the Flames announced the deal with Pittsburgh at 1:30 a.m. ET Thursday, not long after their 4-3 home victory against Colorado -- a game that Calgary played without Iginla, who was scratched about two hours before the opening faceoff.

"That info was not correct," Calgary GM Jay Feaster said of the reports.

Feaster said the Flames had three offers for Iginla, and that he worked with Iginla in making a decision on the player's final destination. Iginla, it seems, wanted to go to Pittsburgh and be reunited with Sidney Crosby. The two were teammates on the Team Canada entry that won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

"We, as an organization, are grateful for everything our captain has done. We've missed the [Stanley Cup Playoffs] the last three years, we are in very tight spot right now as far as qualifying for the playoffs and we have Jarome in the final year of his contract," Feaster said of the club's rationalizing for moving the face of the franchise.

Feaster also said it was a difficult decision to make, but it became a necessity when the general manager realized that he could not sign Iginla, an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, to an extension.

"This is not why I came to Calgary, to be the guy to trade Jarome Iginla," Feaster said. "It's an unfortunate and difficult part of this business. It was tough. I've only known Jarome for the three years I have been here, and Jarome has been very good to me. They are tough conversations to have."

It is the third major deal in the past 72 hours engineered by Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero, who has yet to move a player off his NHL roster in making his acquisitions.

On Monday, he obtained gritty veteran forward Brenden Morrow from the Dallas Stars for prospect Joe Morrow and a draft pick. Less than 24 hours later, he plucked veteran defenseman Douglas Murray from San Jose for two second-round picks. Now he has bagged Iginla, the prize of this year's trade market.

Iginla, 35, has nine goals and 22 points this season for the struggling Flames. He has played his entire NHL career in Calgary, scoring 525 goals with the Flames. He had played 441 consecutive games before the Flames scratched him Wednesday night, and had appeared in every game for Calgary since April 7, 2007.

He is a three-time First-Team All-Star, won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal-scorer in 2002 and 2004, and led the NHL in points in 2001-02. He has been the Flames' captain since the start of the 2003-04 season.

A first-round pick by the Dallas Stars (No. 11) at the 1995 NHL Draft, Iginla was dealt to the Flames in a deal that sent Joe Nieuwendyk to Dallas on Dec. 20, 1995. Iginla made his NHL debut with the Flames during the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs and had spent his entire career with Calgary.

Iginla has appeared in 1,219 regular-season games, scoring 525 goals and 570 assists. He also has 28 goals and 21 assists in 54 postseason contests. Iginla came close to winning a championship in 2004, when the Flames lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Calgary sits in second-to-last place in the Western Conference, although they are just six points behind the eighth-place San Jose Sharks. But the Flames must climb past six clubs with just 16 games remaining to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Agostino, 20, was a fifth-round pick by the Penguins in the 2010 NHL Draft. The junior forward has a career-high 15 goals and 37 points for Yale this season. Hanowski, a 22-year-old right wing, was a third-round pick in the 2009 Draft. He is a senior at St. Cloud State, where he has scored 62 goals and 111 points in four years. Both players are taking part in the NCAA Tournament this weekend.

"Our pro scouts feel very strongly about these players," Flames general manager Jay Feaster said after the trade was announced. "They fit our criteria for hockey sense. and they have good skill level."

"Thanos" said
The Toronto Sports Network can go eat a bag of dicks. Even in years where the Flames are doing good they treat us with total contempt. So screw them to hell when their crap reporting turns and bites them on the ass.

Good luck to Iggy and Pittsburgh in this Cup run. He was one of the all-time great players and a class act on all levels, both on and off the ice, and it's almost entirely the fault of the Flames absolutely horrible upper management that he only got the opportunity to run for the Cup the one time he was here. There's gonna be as many people cheering in Calgary as there will be in Steeltown if/when the 'Guins win it this year and Iggy lifts it up at centre ice. Goodbye, old friend.

"Thanos" said
The Toronto Sports Network can go eat a bag of dicks. Even in years where the Flames are doing good they treat us with total contempt. So screw them to hell when their crap reporting turns and bites them on the ass.

"Thanos" said
They got what they could for an older player that probably only has two or three more seasons left in him at best. The Iggy of 2013 isn't the Iggy of 2008, and that's something that happens to all players eventually. The prospects look good and any first-round pick they acquired was absolutely necessary given how many of them Darryl Sutter had stupidly been giving away since 2003.

I actually expect more to happen in the next few days or by summertime if Kiprusoff and Bouwmeester are also traded. They both should gain a first-round pick each plus more younger prospects. Add in some more minor trades or outright releases for some of the remaining players over the summer and the Flames come training camp in September are going to look vastly different and will be much younger than they are right now. The inevitably fire-sale and blow-up that they've been avoiding for the past four years looks like it's finally arrived and a long-term rebuild is the only option the have left. I'm just hoping the fans are patient enough to put up with a few years of growing pains. Going back to the Sutter formula of giving up picks and prospects for short-term benefit (not much of which did any good anyway) would be nothing short of disastrous for the health and overall competitiveness of the franchise.

"Unsound" said
The Toronto Sports Network can go eat a bag of dicks. Even in years where the Flames are doing good they treat us with total contempt. So screw them to hell when their crap reporting turns and bites them on the ass.

Good luck to Iggy and Pittsburgh in this Cup run. He was one of the all-time great players and a class act on all levels, both on and off the ice, and it's almost entirely the fault of the Flames absolutely horrible upper management that he only got the opportunity to run for the Cup the one time he was here. There's gonna be as many people cheering in Calgary as there will be in Steeltown if/when the 'Guins win it this year and Iggy lifts it up at centre ice. Goodbye, old friend.

"OnTheIce" said
The Toronto Sports Network can go eat a bag of dicks. Even in years where the Flames are doing good they treat us with total contempt. So screw them to hell when their crap reporting turns and bites them on the ass.