Where did Jarome Iginla’s game go? Jarome has not scored a goal since October 24 and has not scored a point in the last three games. In fact in his last game he was a disastrous minus four and failed to record a single shot on goal for the first time since March 3, 2010.
Things are going from bad to worse for Iginla who is seeing his ice time drop each game. Last season Iginla averaged over 20 minutes a game but this season Iginla is under 19 minutes a game. Of the 15 games played already this season Iginla has played 18 minutes or less in five of those games. Last game Iginla was only on the ice for 16:47 and just four games ago Iginla only played 15:20.
After posting back-to-back 90+ point seasons Iginla’s point totals have drop in each of the last two seasons. This season Iginla has just two goals and eight points in 15 games which means Iginla is on pace for a career low 11-goal and 44 point season.
Don’t put the full blame for Calgary’s failures strictly on Iginla’s poor play, as he has had no help offensively over the last eight seasons. The table below shows the point difference between Iginla and the next two top scorers for the Flames that season:
| SEASON | SECOND | THIRD |
| 01-02 | -21 | -45 |
| 02-03 | -8 | -14 |
| 03-04 | -26 | -31 |
| 05-06 | -8 | -18 |
| 06-07 | -13 | -17 |
| 07-08 | -32 | -33 |
| 08-09 | -7 | -40 |
| 09-10 | -11 | -32 |
Three seasons the second highest point producer scored 20+ fewer points than Iginla and one of those season there was a 32 point difference. Look at the third rank scorer, five seasons of scoring 30+ fewer points than Iginla. Iginla has never had a legit #1 center to play with. It’s no wonder he is showing signs of slowing down as he has carried this team’s offense all by himself for far too long.
With ice time being reduced and production dropping the Flames need to move Iginla now because if this trend continues his value will continue to drop. Iginla needs a change of scenery to get his career back on track.
Flames fan do you want to see your captain and team hero go down in flames to end his career? Status quo is not good enough. It’s time that the GM of this team either makes a move to bring in a legit playmaking center to re-ignite Iginla’s game and no Olli Jokinen is not that guy or throw in the towel and rebuild. Trade Iginla so that he has a shot at a Stanley Cup and bring in some youth to give the rebuild a kick-start.
Fantasy Hockey Coach Brouwer
"Because 2nd place is the 1st loser!"
http://fantasyhockeycoach.com
