Image Credit: Kamloops Blazers / CFJC Today

By Chad Klassen

HALL OF FAMER

‘He came to play every night’: Hay reflects on gritty, determined Iginla

Jun 25, 2020 | 5:35 PM

KAMLOOPS — Don Hay got to know Jarome Iginla before he became a Blazers icon. Hay vividly remembers the first day he met Iginla.

“Bob Brown and I were up at a camp in Sherwood Park, Alberta. We watched him play in the morning. We gave him a contract after the practice. It was him and his mom and his grandma and grandpa,” he noted. “We hand him the contract and said, ‘Take this home and look at it.’ By two o’clock that afternoon, he had it back to us. He was just eager to play.”

That love for the game translated to the Blazers. Iginla became a key member of two Memorial Cup teams in 1994 and 1995.

“I just remember how driven he was, how competitive he was,” said Hay. “His level of compete was high every day at practice. I can remember, we had a couple real good teams there. He was a young guy, but he led the way by how hard he played. He could play centre, he could play the wing. He could fit in on any type of line we wanted him to play on.”

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Iginla was drafted by Dallas in 1995, but came back to Kamloops and scored 63 goals in his final season. After a trade landed him in Calgary, he and Hay crossed paths again in the NHL. For Hay, an assistant with the Flames, he was the same old Jarome.

“He didn’t change very much. Just a real good person first and foremost, real good teammate. Just did so much for his team, and also within the community. A real good role model for young kids to follow,” he said. “Just consistent in his play. You always knew that you were going to get a good effort from Jarome. He came to play every night.”

It all culminated with Iginla receiving the call to the hall from Lanny McDonald on Wednesday (June 25). He joined elite company as a first-ballot Hockey Hall of Famer.