Jarome Iginla became Calgary Flames captain in a surprisingly hilarious way

When you think of the Calgary Flames’ all-time greats, the name that first comes to mind for many fans is Jarome Iginla.

The Hall-of-Famer spent 1,219 of his 1,554 career games in a Flames uniform. During Iginla’s time wearing the Flaming C, he racked up 525 goals and 1,095 points. And, as the fan base can attest, he was far more than just an offensive producer.

Iginla was a true leader in every sense of the word, bringing a warrior-like mentality every time he hit the ice. He was also regarded as one of the NHL’s best captains during the nine seasons he wore the “C” with the Flames. The way he was named captain, however, came in a rather unique fashion.

In a recent interview with the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, current Flames GM and former player Craig Conroy explained that Iginla voiced his frustration after Shane Doan was named an NHL captain before him. The two had a friendly rivalry dating back to their days as teammates with the Kamloops Blazers.

Doan was named captain of the Phoenix Coyotes ahead of the 2003-04 season, by which time Iginla had already established himself as one of the NHL’s best players. Realizing Iginla was upset, Conroy, who was serving as the Flames captain at the time, went to have a conversation with then-head coach Darryl Sutter.

“I went and saw Darryl, and I said, ‘Darryl, Jarome’s the leader of the team. I [have] the ‘C,’ which is awesome; it is an honour, but what do you think about me giving the ‘C’ to Iggy?’ He goes, ‘Oh ya, you definitely should. He’s the captain.'”

Conroy then went to talk to Iginla, who was completely on board with the plan.

“You’re the captain, you should have the ‘C,'” Conroy said to Iginla. “He was like, ‘Oh, I totally agree.’ It wasn’t even like he hesitated.”

“It was still hard to give up the ‘C,’ but I knew he was the leader on that team.”

Conroy’s decision proved to be the right one, as Iginla quickly grew into one of the most iconic captains in Flames history. And, as the story makes clear, he didn’t exactly need to be asked twice.

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