Edmonton picks Iginla's son Joe in WHL draft after Calgary passed him up
The WHL’s Calgary Hitmen apparently hold no allegiance to the Iginla household.
In the 2023 WHL draft on Thursday afternoon, Jarome Iginla’s son Joe was selected 12th overall by the Edmonton Oil Kings. This would sting for Calgary Flames fans regardless of the circumstances, but making it even worse was that the Hitmen owned pick No. 11, and instead chose to take Noah Kosick.
The 14-year-old is coming off of a fantastic season with the RINK Hockey Academy Kelowna U15 team in which he led his team with 37 goals and 65 points in just 27 games.
While some in Calgary will certainly be disappointed that the Hitmen hadn’t selected Iginla, the organization got themselves an incredible player in Kosick. Playing in a higher-tiered U18 league with the Pacific Coast Academy, he too led his team in scoring with 45 points in 32 games.
Though it won’t be easy to go on to have a Hall-of-Fame career like their father Jarome, who put up 1,300 points at the NHL level, the Iginla kids are quickly developing a name for themselves.
His oldest, Jade, is currently playing at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She is coming off of a freshman season in which she scored 17 goals and 23 points in 29 games at just 18 years old.
Meanwhile, Jarome’s oldest son Tij was drafted ninth overall by the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL in 2021. He was able to crack the Thunderbirds’ deep lineup this season as a 16-year-old, where he recorded six goals and 18 points in 48 games.
As for Jarome himself, he had a 20-year NHL career, 16 of which were spent in a Flames uniform. He is the organization’s all-time leader in a number of statistical categories including games played (1,219), goals (525), and points (1,095). He has plenty of accolades from his lengthy career, including two Olympic gold medals in 2002 and 2010, two Maurice Rocket Richard Trophies, as well as an Art Ross Trophy and a Ted Lindsay Award.
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