In the winter of 1995, Calgary Flames general manager Al Coates found himself at a crossroads. The team was at an impasse with forward Joe Nieuwendyk, who was sitting out due to dissatisfaction with his contract. In a chat on Friday morning on Sportsnet 960 The Fan, Coates recounted how that situation ended up bringing Jarome Iginla to Calgary.
At the time, the Flames were approaching the holiday roster freeze. But without the franchise’s all-time leading scorer (at the time) and sitting with a 7-19-7 record, the club decided to finally make a move to end Nieuwendyk’s tenure with the team on Dec.