Tij Iginla isn’t shy about using his famous last name, instead embracing the expectations that come with being the son of a Hockey Hall of Famer.
The 17-year-old is so comfortable as Jarome Iginla’s son that he welcomes the chance to follow in his father’s footsteps if he is selected by the Calgary Flames in this weekend’s NHL draft in Las Vegas.
“I think there might be a little more attention, expectations and pressure. But for me, having my dad and my family, the pros far outweigh the cons,” Iginla said earlier this month.
“Obviously if I were to go to Calgary, it would be even bigger,” he added. “I’d be happy to go anywhere. But I think it would be cool to play in a Canadian market where the fans are as passionate as they are.”
Jarome Iginla spent more than 15 of his 20 NHL seasons as the face of the Flames after being traded to Calgary by Dallas six months after the Stars selected him with the 11th overall pick in the 1995 NHL draft.
The idea of another Iginla in Calgary became a topic of discussion after the 6-foot, 182-pound forward dramatically increased his draft stock. His 47 goals in 64 games with the Kelowna Rockets ranked sixth among Western Hockey League players and he finished 22nd with 84 points; that was an improvement of 41 goals and 66 points from his rookie season.
The Flames currently hold the ninth overall pick, and Iginla happens to be the ninth-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, though his overall ranking falls outside the top 10 when European skaters are added.
Jarome Iginla, now an advisor to the Flames, recently told Sportsnet.com that he has no influence over the team’s plans.
More family ties
Tij Iginla tops the list of prospects with direct NHL ties expected to be selected this weekend. Among the more well-known players is Finland’s Aatos Koivu, the son of former Canadiens captain Saku Koivu, who also played for Anaheim.
There’s also Lukas Fischer, whose father Jiri won the Stanley Cup with Detroit, and Noah Lapointe, whose father Martin won two titles with the Red Wings. Max Plante is the son of former NHL player Derek, and there’s also Miroslav Satan Jr., whose father of the same name played more than 1,000 NHL games.
“I could maybe take some advice from him, but I would just do what I want,” Koivu, 18, said when asked about his father, who is an advisor to his son’s Finnish League team, TPS. “Maybe sometimes it could motivate me a little bit because he played. So I just want to show people that I can also play and that I can be a good player myself.”
For Iginla, family is a priority. He spent his first WHL season in Seattle before being traded last summer to Kelowna, where he was able to stay with his younger brother, Joe, in one of his parents’ homes during the off-season. The return to familiar surroundings has benefited Iginla after struggling to find his footing as a rookie on a veteran-heavy Seattle team.
“It was the first time in my life I was ruled out for health reasons,” Iginla said of being limited to just 48 regular-season games and three playoff games for the eventual WHL champions.
“I just tried to use it as fuel and motivation as much as I could,” he added. “Going through that adversity, I think it helped me develop a lot of grit.”
To answer questions
Rockets coach Kris Mallette has been impressed with how Iginla has responded to adversity while being open to constructive criticism and improving his game. Mallette said he often brings back to Iginla conversations he’s had with NHL scouts about what they perceive to be the player’s deficiencies.
Some said he was too individualistic. Others questioned his lack of physical play. One by one, Iginla answered the questions that remained.
“It showed NHL scouts that he was a coachable player,” Mallette said. “Did he like it? Probably not. But he took it upon himself to keep working on it, trusting the process and seeing results from it.”
Central Scouting chief Dan Marr called Iginla “the complete package.”
“He’s an exciting player. He’s fast, agile and has talent. And he’s a finisher,” Marr said. “He’s not a kid who brags about his name.”
Iginla draws on his experiences growing up in the NHL. He remembers sitting at the “kids’ table” when his dad invited Avalanche teammate Nathan MacKinnon over for Thanksgiving, and meeting Sidney Crosby after his father was traded to Pittsburgh in 2013.
“From the outside, it might seem like there’s more pressure, more expectations,” Tij Iginla said. “But for me, my motivation comes from within. I want to succeed because that’s what I want to do and that’s my dream.”
