Ex-Flames great Jarome Iginla to announce NHL retirement in Calgary

The face of the Calgary Flames for over a decade and a half is returning to the city to end his NHL career.

Jarome Iginla will officially announce his retirement Monday in Calgary at 12:30 p.m. ET.

The 41-year-old winger didn't play in the NHL this past season. He suited up for the Los Angeles Kings for his final 19 games in 2017.

Iginla played 20 NHL seasons, registering 625 goals, 675 assists, 1,300 points and 1,040 penalty minutes in 1,554 games.

But few players have made an impact on one franchise the way Iginla did for 16 seasons in Calgary.

Iginla scored 525 goals and had 570 assists as a Flame from 1996 to 2013.

6-time all-star

The six-time all-star is the franchise leader in goals, points (1,095), games played (1,219) and game-winning goals (83).

"I don't think there's any question he's the greatest Flame of all time," said Craig Button, a television analyst who was Calgary's general manager from 2000 to 2003.

"This is a player that's represented everything the Calgary Flames were about in good times and bad."

The six-foot-one, 210-pound forward from Edmonton was feared on the ice for his power, speed, skills, toughness and smarts.

"He could beat you so many ways," Button said. "With great players, everybody is trying to shut you down. You try and find ways to adapt and adjust to what the other team is doing and Jarome always did.

"He could beat you with a shot, he could beat you with a pass, he could beat you with skating, he could beat you with power. If you were a player that lacks in any one of those areas, he beat you and he relished beating you."

Iginlabecame the19thmember of theNHL's600-goal club four years later while a member of the Avalanche, notching a power-play marker to help lift Colorado to a 4-1 victory over the Kings.

Jarome Iginla scores 600th goal of career

9 years ago

Duration 1:58

Colorado Avalanche forward becomes 19th player to reach 600 goals.

Iginlawas dealt toPittsburgh at the trade deadline in 2013,signed with Boston the following season and capped his career with Colorado and L.A.

Twice a 50-goal scorer he also reached the plateau in 2007-08 and 40-goal man,Iginlareached the 30-goal mark 11 times

He guided Calgary to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004, his first season as captain,when it dropped a seven-game series to the Tampa Bay Lightning and led all scorers that post-season with 22 points in 26 outings, including 13 goals.

The Dallas Stars drafted Iginla11th overall in 1995 and traded him to Calgary thatDecember along with fellow forward Corey Millenfor centre Joe Nieuwendyk.

Iginlamade his NHLdebut in the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs, collecting a goal and an assist in two games. He scored his first regular-season goal on Oct. 5, 1996, and played all 82 games that seasonto finish runner-up to New York Islanders defenceman Bryan Berard in Calder Trophy voting for top rookie honours.

Internationally, hewill be remembered for his pass that set up Sidney Crosby's Olympic overtime winner in the gold-medal game against the U.S. in Vancouver in 2010.

Iginla, a three-time Olympian, also won Olympic gold in 2002 and captured titles with Canada at the world championship (1997), World Cup (2004) and world junior championship (1996).