Calgary Flames’ Jay Bouwmeester has been traded to St. Louis Blues (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

JayBo has scored six goals and added nine assists in 33 games with the Flames this season. It was arguably his best season with the Flames since being acquired just prior to becoming a UFA from Florida. His trade doesn’t come as a surprise, just days after the Flames traded long-time captain Jarome Iginla to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 2013 first-round pick is conditional on the St. Louis making the playoffs this season. If the Blues miss the playoffs, the 2013 1st round pick becomes a 4th round pick in 2013 and the Flames will receive the Blues’ 2014 first-round pick.

Bouwmeester has one more year remaining on the five-year deal he signed prior to the 2009-10 season worth an average annual value of $6.68-million.

As pointed out by TSN.ca, Bouwmeester, a veteran of 10 NHL seasons, holds the NHL record for most games played without a playoff appearance. Man, that’s gotta suck.

The rumours abound right now (i.e. Kipper to the Leafs?!!), so who do you think will be next. I bet it won’t be Kipper, and that we’ll see someone else go.

Iggy’s #12 Pens Jersey (Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins Instagram)

Dear Pittsburgh Penguins fans,

Congratulations, you are now in possession of one of the greatest hockey players of all time. Actually, what am I thinking…. you’re now in possession of 3 of the greatest hockey players of all time. You already had two and with the addition of Jarome Iginla, you’ve now got 3 in your lineup. Make the most of it this season.

We Flames fans have 16 years of experience with Jarome Iginla, so please allow us to offer the following suggestions/comments to better understand the future Hall of Fame player you’ve acquired for your Cup run this year, and how to welcome him to your great city.

1) Jarome is an amazing person and ambassador for hockey. He is known to all as “Iggy” and the most appropriate way to welcome him to the ice for his first shift in a Pens jersey is to chant “Iggy…. Iggy…. Iggy” over and over. This will certainly get a smile out of him, and, more importantly, will solidify in his mind that he made the right choice in coming to Pittsburgh. It will also ease the pain inside all Flames fans’ hearts, so please consider this for the benefit of all.

2) If you ever want Iggy to play better, collectively pray/wish that someone hits him hard. Don’t worry. He’s a bear and won’t get hurt, and it will only make him angry. An angry Iggy is the best Iggy. Angry Iggy is the one that will single-handedly dismantle the opponent’s defence just when you need him to. As previously-indicated, you already have a couple guys that can do that. When you throw Angry Iggy into the mix, you’ll certainly like the results.

3) The main reason Iggy has not won a Cup so far is that our team’s management wasn’t able to surround him with players that exceeded his hockey ability, and were thus able to take the pressure off Jarome. Sure, he got really close when the Flames scored more goals than the Lightning in game 6 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, but for some unexplained reason, Tampa Bay won that game and eventually beat the Flames 2-1 to win the Cup. Now that Iggy has guys like Crosby, Malkin and Neal to play with, opponents will no longer be able to focus solely on Iggy, and you’ll see him light it up. Please, whatever you do, make sure your team wins the cup this season. Not just for you, but for all of us.

4) Iggy is the most humble guy you’ll ever meet – even more humble than Sidney, some may argue. It is for this reason that he has the utmost respect of everyone in Calgary, and the majority of our rivals’ fans too. When you see him around town, don’t be afraid to welcome him to Pittsburgh in person. You may be surprised how approachable and friendly he is, despite his superstar status.

About 2 years ago, as the Flames floundered in our “almost making the playoffs, but not quite, for the umpteenth” season, it became evident to many of us that Iggy would eventually be traded. There were a few different teams that were on my list of “acceptable” places to trade our captain. You should know that Pittsburgh was on the top of my list.

While I am very sad that Iggy has left the Flames because we couldn’t get him a Cup, you should know that there is a small amount happiness in my heart that he’s on your team now. Before your recent acquisitions, the Pens were my favourite to win the Cup this year. Now that you have added Iggy, Morrow and Murray to your lineup, you are head and shoulders above the rest. Now all that is left is to keep everyone healthy, and battle your way to a 4th Stanley Cup.

You should know that there is no other end to the season that will be acceptable to us, so make it count.

And, whatever else you do, enjoy the ride. This kind of thing doesn’t happen every day.

Jarome Iginla has been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After an almost certain consensus that Jarome Iginla was going to Boston, the Calgary Flames announced tonight that their captain would, instead, be going to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This time, it’s for real though. It’s on NHL.com and the Flames Tweeted it.

The #Flames have traded Jarome Iginla to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) March 28, 2013

So Iggy will be reunited with his fellow gold-medal winning teammate, Sidney Crosby in the hunt for Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Coming to the Flames are prospects Kenneth Agostino & Ben Hanowski and Pittsburgh’s first round pick in 2013.

Twenty year-old Agostino was drafted in the fifth-round in the 2010 NHL Draft and has a career-high 15 goals and 37 points for Yale this season.

Hanowski is a 22-year-old right winger who just finished his senior season with St. Cloud State, where he tallied 62 goals and 111 points in four years. He was a third-round pick in the 2009 Draft.

Flames GM, Jay Feaster had this to say about the yongsters, “our pro scouts feel very strongly about these players. They fit our criteria for hockey sense & they have good skill level.”

Clearly the Pittsburgh Penguins are ready for a Cup run, and I’m infinitely more happy to see Iggy going to the Pens than to Boston. For one, my home relationship will remain intact, so long as the Pens and Habs don’t meet in the playoffs. Also, I think the Pens are stacked and are a true contender – giving Iggy the best chance to win the Cup as a ‘rental’ player.

The big bonus for me is that Iggy, who is a UFA this summer, will likely be back in Calgary next year. Pittsburgh doesn’t have a hope of signing him with their current contracts, so we can expect our captain to be back in the Flaming C… with a Stanley Cup ring starting in October.

It was rumoured that Iggy was being traded to the Boston Bruins (Photo: source unknown)

After an evening full of speculation, it is now official.

TSN’s Aaron Ward has reported that the Calgary Flames and Boston Bruins have come to an agreement that sends Calgary Flames Captain Jarome Iginla to Boston in exchange for defenceman Matt Bartkowski, Bruins prospect Alex Khokhlachev as and a (possibly conditional) first-round draft pick in the 2013 draft.

Expect the announcement sometime after tonight’s Flames-Avalanche game.

Jarome Iginla leaves Calgary Flames fans with a large hole in their hearts. But he hopes to fill a hole in his well-stocked awards cabinet by going to a Stanley Cup contender. Apart from a Stanley Cup, Iggy has won pretty much everything else there is to win in the hockey world, but we all know that he won’t be happy to retire anything less than a Stanley Cup champion.

Here’s a highlight reel of Iglinla’s junior, NHL and international accomplishments.

Junior
Memorial Cup Championship in 1994 and 1995

NHL
Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy in 2002 and 2004
Art Ross Trophy in 2002
First team All-Star in 2002, 2008 and 2009
Second team All-Star in 2004
Lester B. Pearson Award in 2002
King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 2004
NHL All-Rookie Team in 1997

International
Olympic Gold Medal 2002 and 2010
World Championship Gold in 1997
World Cup Gold in 2004
World Junior Championship Gold in 1996

Iginla also leads the Calgary Flames franchise in the following categories:
Games played – 1219
Goals – 525
Points – 1095
Powerplay goals – 161
He is 2nd in assists, with 570, trailing only Al MacInnis, who notched 609 helpers while in a Flames uniform.

For a very cool timeline of Iggy’s time in Calgary, check out the Calgary Herald.

Good luck Iggy. You’ll be missed. Go get yourself a Stanley Cup.

Jarome Iginla could be headed to Boston. (Photo by Mike Ridewood/Getty Images)

Jarome Iginla is a healthy scratch for the Calgary Flames game versus Colorado tonight. The reason can only be that the long-time Flames captain is in the process of being traded.

The main, and most reputable rumour seems to indicate that Iggy is bound for the Boston Bruins.

If this is true, TSN’s Bob McKenzie predicts that the players coming the other way would likely be D-man Matt Bartkowski and 2nd-ranked Bruins prospect Alex Khokhlachev as well as a first-round pick.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to Flames fans since it’s Iggy’s final season of his contract and Calgary is essentially (though not mathematically) out of the playoffs again. The Flames are doing what any respectful team would do – give their franchise player a chance to win a Stanley Cup.

While this is (will be) a sad moment for the majority of Flames fans, there is a silver lining. Regardless of whether he raises the cup or not, Iggy will end the season as an unrestricted free agent, and you’d be crazy to think that he won’t be coming back to Calgary this summer. Iggy’s wife Kara, and their three children live in Calgary and after living here since 1996, one could argue that he’s firmly-rooted in cow town.

So, Flames fans, tell me: of all the places Iggy could end up (rumours were once circulating about Pittsburgh, LA, and Boston, among other cities) what do you think about Boston? If not Boston, where would you rather see him go?

I am officially 50-50. The good thing Boston has going for it is that they kicked Vancouver’s ass to win the Stanley Cup 2 years ago and they have a legitimate chance at it again this year. The bad thing going for them (for me, at least) is that I live with a Habs fan, so cheering for Boston would be enough to get me burned at the stake or have my coffee poisoned.

My personal favourite has always been Pittsburgh. Iggy & Crosby have a natural chemistry and play very well together, as we learned on February 28, 2010. But a Jarome Iginla-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin line could also be a fun one to watch… if you’re cheering for the Bruins.

For the sentimental ones out there, here are some Iggy highlights

Miikka Kiprusoff stops a shot in his return to NHL action tonight (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jeff McIntosh)

The win was a great one for the team, and especially for Miikka Kiprusoff, who made his return to the ice after nursing an injury sustained when Detoit’s Johan Franzen ran him into the net on February 5. Kipper was stellar in the win tonight, and had 28 saves to lead his team to the win.

Kipper showed some of his vintage form over a 3 minute period in the third period when San Jose opened-up a shooting gallery while down 3-1 late in the game. Kipper was a rock in net, and robbed a few different Sharks players from what looked like sure goals.

Calgary started the scoring in the first period when Roman Cervenka scored his 3rd goal of the season on a rebound. Joe Thornton tied it for San Jose in the 2nd period with his 5th of the year.

Then the Flames opened it up. Over the span of 99 seconds, Calgary scored twice to take a 3-1 lead. First, Blake Comeau snapped a shot past San Jose backup goalie Thomas Greiss, then Jarome Iginla found himself all alone in the slot after a Sharks’ giveaway and made no mistake with a wrister just inside the post. Jiri Hudler had the assist on Iggy’s goal and it was his 6th point in the past 3 games.

Curtis Glencross added an empty net goal to make it a 4-1 final.

Calgary now heads out on the road for a 3-game road trip in California, including an unusual, back-to-back set of games in LA on Saturday an Monday.

On a more somber note, Canadian music legend, Stompin’ Tom Connors passed away tonight at the age of 77. He was most well known for The Hockey Song, and will be missed by Canadians and hockey fans around the world.

Iggy, Hudler & Cammalleri celebrate a Flames goal. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Larry MacDougal)

Taylor had a lot of help from his skaters tonight. Mike Cammalleri scored two goals, including the Flames’ 4th, into an empty net. Lee Stempniak (do people really call him “snipe-niak”?) scored to tie it at 2-2 before the end of the 3rd, and Jarome Iginla added the game-winner at 12:36 of the 3rd period.

The Flames D-men were also a major help towards Danny boy’s first NHL win. The Canucks seemed to be playing their usual “shoot from the side boards, and hope for a far-side rebound to stuff in” game, and there were a lot of loose pucks in front of the net as a result. But Calgary helped out their rookie goaltender by clearing the puck almost every time. The rest of those times, Danny was the man.

The Canucks had goals from Chris Higgins and Jannik Hansen, who was probably pretty stoked that the Canuck’s plane couldn’t make it to Calgary last night. Hansen’s wife gave birth to twin boys early this morning. As a father of 7.5 month-old twin boys myself, I tip my hat to him. He may play for the wrong team and have a bigger bank account than I do (read: can buy some help), but he’s got a shit-load of work ahead of him in the next little bit. Trust me. Twin baby boys take up a lot of time, but are they ever awesome.

The big stories (or non-stories, maybe) of the game were 1) the fact that a winter storm kept the Canucks from getting to Calgary until the last minute, and 2) Brian McGrattan’s Jagr-esque salute to the fans after his fight with Tom Sestito. Before we dive into the salute, it should also be noted that transplanted Canucks fans haven’t figured out real Canadian winter driving yet. Right up until the the end of the first period, I noticed fans in Canucks jerseys arriving at the game and taking their seats. Better late than never, I guess.

Now the salute. Brian McGrattan had a good return to the Flames. He’s been very vocal about being happy to return to Calgary, and had a fight and two good hits tonight. McGrattan had been looking to go with Sestito all game, and after Stempniak’s tying goal, they dropped the gloves. It was a good fight, and I’d give McGrattan the win because he landed more good punches, but more importantly, he fired up the C of Red and made the fans a factor in the game for the rest of the night. As he was skating to the penalty box, he saluted the fans in the same manner that Jagr does after a goal. Apparently he’s no Jagr, though, because he was assessed a 10 minute misconduct for it.

But it was definitely worth it. McGrattan’s fight raised the volume of the crowd by about 2 notches. It also cemented the momentum in the Flames favour and reduced the likelihood of a buzzkill goal 30 seconds later by one of the Sedin sisters.

I would be a slacker if I didn’t mention the awesome play of Jiri Hudler tonight. He had 2 assists (on Cammalleri’s first goal and Iggy’s game-winner) and was named the first star of the game. As is usually the case, he was shifty with the puck, and seemed to be the secret sauce that screwed-up the Canucks’ zone defence. You see, Hudler doesn’t play like the rest of the Flames. He actually keeps possession of the puck and skates with it instead of dumping it to where the opponents are waiting. That is something that made a big difference in tonight’s game, and I hope the rest of the Flames team continues to learn from it.

Calgary’s next game is on Wednesday, at home versus the San Jose Sharks. Not only are they a mere 4 points out of a playoff spot, the Flames are also 4 points away from 4th spot in the West. It’s pretty jammed up in there, so it’s time to string some wins together.

Ryan O’Reilly has just signed an offer sheet with the Calgary Flames. (Photo: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

“The Calgary Flames have signed restricted free agent Ryan O’Reilly to an offer sheet. Under the rules pertaining to an offer sheet, we will allow the process to transpire. We will not provide any further comment until the process is complete,” said Flames General Manager Jay Feaster.

There has been a lot of buzz around O’Reilly, who has not played a game for Colorado so far this season as their contract talks have stalled. The 6 foot tall, 22 year-old, 200lb centre had a career-high 18 goals and 55 points with the Avs last season.

According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, O’Reilly’s offer from the Flames is for $10 million over 2 years (averaging $5 million/season). He would receive a $1 million salary and $2.5 million signing bonus this season, and a $6.5 million salary next season.

Colorado has seven days to match Calgary’s offer and retain O’Reilly, or receive Calgary’s first- and third-round picks in the 2013 NHL Draft as compensation.

UPDATE: The Avalanche have announced that they have matched the Flames’ offer so O’Reilly will be staying in Colorado.

Glencross celebrates with his teammates after scoring late in the 3rd. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jeff McIntosh)

Trailing the Phoenix Coyotes 4-3 with less 2 minutes to play in the 3rd period, it seemed that the Flames would end up with another loss at home. But Jarome Iginla and Curtis Glencross had other ideas. The Calgary Flames captain capitalized on a cross-crease pass from Alex Tanguay and banged the puck past Coyotes’ goalie Mike Smith to tie the game with 1:23 left in the period.

Just 23 seconds later, Curtis Glencross broke out of his scoring slump by beating Smith with a slap shot from the slot to put the Flames up 5-4. Everyone went nuts, including Sportsnet play-by-play guy, Rob Kerr, who I thought would either have a heart attack or lose his voice for good. Too bad the latter didn’t happen.

the good news: it seems the guys who are supposed to score for the Flames have finally woken up. Iggy scored two, and both Cammalleri and Glencross added goals of their own. Let’s see if this trend continues and we’re able to really put a win-streak together.

Here are the rest of the game highlights:

Matt Stajan celebrates his 2nd goal. (Photo: CP, Jeff McIntosh)

Alex Tanguay scored a highlight reel goal early in the first period to give the Flames a 1-0 lead. It was a Datsyukian breakaway goal, complete with a Gretzky-worthy deke, a slow fade to the left and a laser into the top of the net over a sprawled Niklas Backlund. The goal was one that needs supporting video evidence to explain how sweet it truly was. Your honour, I present the following:

The highpoint of the game for Minnesota fans was when rookie Charlie Coyle scored his first-ever NHL goal off a nice feed from Pierre-Marc Bouchard. His goal tied the game, which remained deadlocked at 1-1 until Stajan scored the eventual game-winner late in the 3rd.

Stajan’s first goal could be considered “gritty”. After Chris Butler fired a shot on net from the point, it was deflected by Jarome Iginla and a scramble around the net followed. Stajan was in the right place at the right side of the net and after a couple whacks, the puck found its way into the net.

Stajan’s 2nd of the night came into the empty net at 19:51 of the 3rd and sealed the win for the Flames, who desperately need points now. It was Stajan’s first 2-goal game since Dec. 12, 2009, but he downplayed the personal moment in favour of a team-oriented outlook.

“It seems like a while since I’ve had two in a game, but I’ll take it,” Stajan said. “That’s a big win. It doesn’t matter about personal stuff right now. We need to find ways to win and if we’re winning games, it benefits everybody in here.”

The Flames get right back at it tonight, hosting the Phoenix Coyotes at the ‘Dome. Puck drop is at 6pm.

Matt Stajan scores a goal over Stars’ Richard Bachman (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Mike Cammalleri scored on the powerplay just over 8 minutes into the first period to put the Flames up 1-0. It was his his 4th goal of the season, all of which have come against the Stars, and was in typical Cammy-style, fired from the knee in the circle.

The Stars answered with two goals in 58 seconds to start the 2nd period. Antoine Roussel and Reilly Smith gave Dallas a 2-1 lead and Ryan Garbutt added another with less than 5 minutes remaining in the period to put the Stars up by 2 goals.

As Flames fans seemed to be accepting the inevitable collapse that has happened too many times recently, the team turned things around in the final period… and in dramatic fashion.

Calgary tied the game 2:24 into the 3rd period after Roman Horak and Matt Stajan both netted their first goals of the the season. After some back-and forth play, unexpected off-season pick-up, Steve Bégin, put the Flames ahead for good with his first of the season on a gritty play in front of the net.

Begin’s goal was his first as a Flame and his first regular season NHL goal since he scored the winner for the Bruins in a Boston-Carolina game on April 10, 2010. Tonight, he got himself back on the stats sheet after fighting for position in front of the net and capitalizing on a blocked point shot. The puck popped to the side of the net, and Bégin spun around and fired it over Stars’ goalie, Richard Bachman.

The win was a sweet one for Calgary, who have definitely had their struggles recently. After two wins in two games, the Flames seem to have the Stars’ number for the first time in as long as I can remember, and thanks to Sportsnet’s Rob Kerr – who mentioned it no less than 3 times at the end of the game – I now know that the Flames became the first team since October 31, 2009 to beat the Stars after trailing at the end of the 2nd period. Thanks stats. That’s something I’ll never forget.

Seriously, is there any worse play-by-play guy in the league? (I guess that’s a post for another time)

Flames fans wont have long to enjoy tonight’s victory. The team flies to Phoenix tonight and will face the Coyotes tomorrow in the hockey mecca of Glendale, AZ.

Calgary 1988 Olympic torch (photo: Government of Canada)

Mike Cammalleri scored his 200th career NHL goal into the empty-net with 1:26 remaining in the game to seal the win in a wild west shootout. In addition to Cammalleri’s 200th in his career, the goal was also his 3rd of the game, marking his 5th career hat trick.

Jay Bouwmeester opened the scoring for the Flames just over 3 minutes into the game and Jiri Hudler and Cammalleri each added a goal to give the Flames an early 3-0 lead. Midway thought the period expired, former Flames 4th-liner Eric Nystrom tallied for the Stars to bring them within 2 goals, but as time dwindled, Roman Cervenka scored his 2nd of the season to regain the 3-goal lead.

Dallas captain Brendan Morrow scored less than a minute into the 2nd period, once again bringing the Stars within two goals. Then Cammalleri and Morrow exchanged goals about 24 seconds apart to make the score 5-3.

With 8 minutes left in the 2nd, Curtis Glencross regained the 3-goal lead for the Flames for the 4th time in the game. That lead stuck for the rest of the period, but was cut to 2 1:05 into the third period when Cody Eakin scored his first of the season.

It was definitely not a goaltender’s battle tonight, and the lacklustre performance by Leland Irving brought into question whether he’s truly NHL material. He had a very shaky game, letting in a few weak goals. Luckily for the Flames, they were on fire and Stars rookie goalie Richard Bachman was no better than Irving.

To his credit, Irving tightened up his game when it mattered most and kept the Stars off the board when they pressed late, allowing the Flames to celebrate the Olympic Anniversary with 2 important points.