Guest treble charged Report post Posted September 7, 2002 From TSN.ca CALGARY (CP) - The Calgary Flames finally got their ``main man'' on Friday by signing Jarome Iginla to a two-year contract worth $13 million US. ``I feel good,'' laughed the Flames winger who racked up 52 goals and 44 assists last season to win the NHL scoring crown. ``I started to feel most of the pressure when September came but the whole time I was very optimistic it would get done and I'm very thankful that it has.'' Terms of the contract weren't released but it's reported to be $5.5 million U.S. in the first year and $7.5 million in the second. Iginla, 25, helped Team Canada win a gold medal at the Salt Lake City Olympics and won the Lester B. Pearson trophy as the MVP as selected by his fellow players. He became a restricted free agent on July 1. The small-market Flames had originally offered a two-year deal worth more than $5.5 million per season. That was in line with contracts signed by New Jersey's Patrik Elias, Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson and Vancouver's Marcus Naslund. Iginla earned $1.7 million last season. He conceded with more money comes higher expectations. ``My fiancee and her parents are already putting expectations on me every year . . . I'm joking,'' he said. ``It's part of what drives us as athletes. We put expectations on ourselves and our first expectation is to make it to the playoffs and then move on from there.'' Iginla's agent Don Meehan was reportedly asking for $7.5 million per year. Calgary clearly did not want to lose a marquee player. ``For all of those animated fans you can stop e-mailing me,'' said Meehan. ``We have Jarome signed - I've heard you loud and clear and we have a happy day.'' Another high-profile Meehan client, Canadiens goaltender Jose Theodore, signed a three-year, $16.5-million US contract with Montreal on Thursday. The turning point in the Iginla deal came Tuesday when Flames president Ken King and general manager Craig Button spent the day with Meehan in Toronto. ``We made a very strong move forward, both Don and ourselves and we really thought we had made significant process,'' said Button. ``I don't think there was ever a stalemate. We shared the same objectives and same goals.'' The signing is expected to provide some much-needed stability within the organization with training camp scheduled to begin Tuesday in Banff, Alta. ``We didn't want to go every day and talk about Jarome, talk about Jarome - when's he going to sign?'' said linemate Craig Conroy. ``We just want to be able to focus. We want to take our focus away from all the other stuff outside of hockey and focus on working hard and getting off to a good start.'' It's also hoped that season-ticket sales, which were stalled at just over 10,200 - will start to take off with Friday's announcement. ``Yeah, we think things are going to be real good. I'm told that the phones are ringing.'' said King. ``I know there was one gentleman who closed on his club seats 15 minutes after he'd heard the news. ``Lanny (McDonald), Jim Peplinski and I talked to 7,000 people this past spring and we listened to them and we acted and we're anxious to hear from them again,'' he said. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest treble charged Report post Posted September 7, 2002 Now, while this deal is good for Iginla and Flames' fans, I don't know how the hell Calgary is going to fork over $7.5 million in the second year. They'll have to trade the rest of their team, leaving them with a bunch of no-namers (even moreso than now), and Iginla. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest redbaron51 Report post Posted September 7, 2002 i really can't see Iginla doing the same stats as he did last year. I just realy don't see that happening, and is not worth (in my eyes) this much money Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest treble charged Report post Posted September 7, 2002 Well, he proved his worth as a big time player during the Olympics, but he couldn't keep Calgary afloat after their awesome start last year. If the Flames don't make the play-offs this year, I think that they'll trade Iginla away, for draft picks, perhaps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Hogan Made Wrestling Report post Posted September 7, 2002 Calgary dropped 5 million dollars of deadweight in Mike Vernon (one of my all-time favorites, but it's time to call it a career) and Igor Kravchuk. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Youth N Asia Report post Posted September 7, 2002 He's no doubt going to remain a very solid player for the next bunch of years...I don't think anyone's going to dispute that. but he might have had a fluke Brady Anderson type season. J.I. will still be a hell of a player...but they're taking a chance on him repeating huge numbers and I don't think he's going to do it. They're kind of stuck though...if they didn't give him the money someone else would have based on last year's stats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest redbaron51 Report post Posted September 7, 2002 i can see iginla having 30 goals and 80 points, but racking up 40+ is stretching it abit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest AM The Kid Report post Posted September 7, 2002 Sadly, what the Flames will have to do is drop other higher priced talent like Derrek Morris to pay Iggy. Geez, alot of Calgary's money goes to the Flames so they better do more this season than sign Iginla. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
