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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 27, 2008

Jarome Iginla

DAVID KEON: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm David Keon of the National Hockey League's public relations department, and I'd like to welcome you to today's call.
With us today we have Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla. Thanks to Jarome for taking the time to answer your questions, and thanks to Peter Hanlon of the Flames' public relations department for setting up the call.
Earlier today, Jarome was named "First Star" for last week after recording seven points on five goals and two assists, as the Flames won all three of their starts. Jarome leads the team and is tied for 15th in overall league scoring with ten points and six goals and four assists. Two-time winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy, he is the NHL's leading goal scorer. Jarome is Calgary's franchise leader in games played and goals. He's in his 12th NHL season, all with the Flames, and in his fifth season as team captain.
With a record of 4-3-1 for nine points, Calgary hosts the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow night, Boston on Thursday at the Pengrowth Saddledome. Thanks to Jarome for taking the time to answer your questions today.

Q. Fighting is up significantly in the NHL this season. Do you have any theories on why that is?
JAROME IGINLA: No, I don't. I don't have any theories. I think it's definitely still part of -- I guess the numbers would show it, but I think it's still part of the game and part of the team and as far as momentum, and also making sure you don't get intimidated or vice versa.
No, I wasn't aware that it was up or not, but definitely when you play, you know, there's always that -- you never know if it's going to be -- it's not out of it, as people are talking.

Q. You guys added a couple of new people in the off-season, and maybe that was part of the reason for the slow start. How hard has it been working in a couple of these new guys this year?
JAROME IGINLA: It's been great. I think that we made changes in the off-season, as most teams do, and up front I think we've gotten a lot quicker. I think that Bertuzzi has come in and played really, really well for us, and that's been a big part of our power play. Cammalleri has fit in really nicely, and we added Bourque and Glencross with their speed.
I wouldn't say that the start that we had -- we had a good preseason. We were playing pretty well and things were going good, and we just got off to a tough start. We had a bad first game against Vancouver, and then we lost a few one-goal games in a row where defensively our game wasn't very sharp, and we were still right there in the one-goal games and we were having terrible second periods.
So I wouldn't say it was like getting used to everyone. It didn't really feel like that. It was just that we kind of just went into a little bit of a -- got a little bit away from what we wanted to do and weren't moving the puck very well or playing very strong defensively. We tried to change those things. It's all the things you talk about. And fortunately this last week was a lot better for us.

Q. I'm doing a story on Alexander Semin. When you look at what you've done this year, you guys are the only team that held him without a point. When you were playing against him, kind of what was the game plan and what were your thoughts on his skill level and what he brought to the Capitals?
JAROME IGINLA: Yeah, when we were playing them, we just went through a lot of video about getting strong defensively and a lot of talking about it, and we were in a rut defensively. So we really were trying to bear down for that game. We knew we had a handful with the Capitals and just all their different offensive threats, Ovechkin and him being one of them, Green on defense always jumping up. So we were really, really trying to bear down.
A big part of it is Kipper had a great game. Semin did get some chances. I don't think you're going to stop Ovechkin or him or players like that from getting any chances, but fortunately we were able to hold him off the score sheet that day and also get a win and play well defensively.
But we were definitely really, really keyed up and wrapped up for that one to try to shut down one of the more dynamic teams in the league.

Q. And kind of a follow-up to that, how much do you think he benefits from teams really focusing on a guy like Ovechkin?
JAROME IGINLA: Well, we don't play them a lot, but I would think that if he's -- you know, he's been able to fly a little bit under -- I mean, Ovechkin, everybody, and rightfully so, has been talking about him. He led the league in goals, he led the league in points, so when you play him, you're -- I don't know if they play on the line together regularly. I don't think they do, but I would guess -- for our team when we played them, our top defensemen are definitely playing against Ovechkin, and that's a big part of -- that's great to have on a team, to have a one-two punch like that where they have to decide who you're going to play against.
But I think just all the different threats there, yeah, it's hard, because who do you try to stop, right?

Q. And looking at your team, you mentioned Todd Bertuzzi. Can you talk about how he fit in and the strong start he's gotten off to for you guys?
JAROME IGINLA: Yeah, he's been really, really good for us. He's come in and he's playing really hard. He's having a lot of fun. Talking to him, he's really enjoying himself. He's one of the older guys on the team, so he's been a leader in our dressing room.
He's come in on the power play. I think our power play has been really coming on, and he's a big part of that. He grabs a lot of attention in front of the net. He moves the puck well still. So on the power play, we wanted to -- we want to be a better team in the league and we've got to get our power play up there, too, and he's been a big reason why it's been improving.

Q. This is sort of a league issue. I was going to talk about the new injury disclosure policy in which the league has really tightened what the teams can release publicly about injuries. I wanted to just talk a little bit about the rationale. Have you ever been targeted by an opponent who may have known you were injured any time in your career? Did you ever feel that that was a threat?
JAROME IGINLA: I personally haven't been. You know, I can see the one side where it sounds like you don't want anyone to know if a guy has maybe a bad hand and you're going to start slashing his hand. But I don't think that's going to happen regularly. I know when we hear a guy -- we just played Arnott. We knew he came back in Nashville, and we knew he came back from a finger injury. We're trying to be hard on him obviously because it's his first game back and he plays so well against us, but no one made one comment about let's go slash his hands or anything like that. I mean, maybe playoff time things heat up even more. But no, we've never really talked like that at all.

Q. And just one quick follow-up. There's been some comparisons drawn with the NFL only because it's a pretty physical sport, as well, and guys try to take advantage of every piece of intelligence that they have. They have the most transparent policy, in which every Wednesday and Friday there's a report that comes out on each injured player, where he's hurt, what he's been able to do. There's a big reason for that, and that's in Las Vegas with the wagering and whatnot. But I'm just curious, if the NFL can be that transparent, why can't the NHL?
JAROME IGINLA: Well, yeah, I think it's obviously a very physical sport, too. I mean, we're trying to -- say a guy has a shoulder injury. Say we're playing another team and one of their top guys has a shoulder injury. Well, we're probably trying to hit him anyway, but we're trying to hit him as much as we can. And if it's an ankle injury, there's nothing a guy is really doing to another guy's ankle. I guess it would be a hand would come to mind that you might see more, but refs are on that and see that anyway.
So yeah, most of them -- yeah, I'm not that -- personally obviously I'm not that worried about it because usually I feel like they're trying to hit me anyway, or playing against another team's defensemen and they're trying to run me into a corner whether my shoulder is good or not. No, I could see why it could be more transparent.

Q. I want to ask you, you've been captain in Calgary for five years. Did you feel any more pressure to put the team up on your shoulders? You had such a great week this week. Since you're the captain and the leader, did you maybe send out the message to the rest of the guys about how everybody needs to pick up their play a little bit more and if they see the captain doing it they'll try to do what they can to try to follow your lead?
JAROME IGINLA: Well, I mean, we had a lot of talk before this week about the fact that we definitely want to turn it around, but that's something that happens when you're not winning as a team. Yeah, I personally want to be better, but every guy wants to be better in the room. I think if you went around and you asked Dion and Kipper and Bertuzzi, and you went to our young guys, Boydie, it's something that it's every single guy. There's not many that feel good and they just want to keep going. Every guy thinks when you're not winning that you can do just a bit more and you want to be a little bit sharper.
I don't think it's because I'm a captain or anything. I think partly I'm a veteran and have been here, and I thankfully play a good amount of minutes and I'm out there, but I think it's just something that's part of a team that every guy does look at himself and see how he can contribute and collectively be better as a group.

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