Jarome Iginla

Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla was born on 1 July 1977 in Edmonton, Alberta. Like many kids in the city, he admired Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier of the Oilers, but he idolised the Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr, and in imitation of him played goalie for his first two years of organised hockey before switching to right wing. He later played for the Kamloops Blazers, helping them win two Memorial Cups.

He was drafted 11th overall by the Dallas Stars in 1995 and traded to the Calgary Flames in the Joe Nieuwendyk deal in 1996. He spent 16 seasons with the Flames, from 1996 to 2013, leading the team in scoring 11 times, and in 2003 he was named the 18th captain in Flames history.

His peak came in 2001–02. He scored 52 goals and 96 points, winning the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's top point-scorer, the Maurice Richard Trophy as its top goal-scorer and the Ted Lindsay Award, then known as the Lester B. Pearson Award, as the most outstanding player as voted by his peers. At the 2002 Winter Olympics he scored two goals in the final as Canada beat the United States 5–2 to win its first Olympic hockey gold in 50 years.

In 2003–04 Iginla won a second Richard Trophy and carried the Flames to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost in seven games to Tampa Bay. He won the King Clancy Trophy for leadership and humanitarian work in 2004 and the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2009. At the 2010 Vancouver Olympics he scored five goals and passed the puck to Sidney Crosby for the overtime golden goal that gave Canada the gold medal.

He retired in 2018 after stops in Pittsburgh, Boston, Colorado and Los Angeles, with 625 goals and 1,300 points in 1,554 games, and as the Flames' all-time leader in goals and points. The Flames retired his number 12 in 2019. In 2020, in his first year of eligibility, he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was the first Black player to lead the NHL in goals and points, and the first Black male athlete in any sport to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.