Jarome Iginla is optimistic about Flames’ future

A lot has been made of the moves the Calgary Flames made to improve themselves and a lot of what’s been said is not exactly positive. While Flames GM Darryl Sutter is more than pleased with re-obtaining forwards Alex Tanguay and Olli Jokinen, people were curious as to what Flames captain and soon-to-be linemate Jarome Iginla thinks of everything.

As it turns out, Iginla is all about the Calgary Flames failed linemate reunion tour as the Globe and Mail’s Donna Spencer finds out from the captain.

“I think we definitely are a better team today than when we finished the season,” Iginla said Wednesday during a break at his annual hockey school in Calgary.

“Both of these guys, their top end is not 50 or 60 points. If they are rolling and have years they’re capable of, the sky is the limit. Could be 90, could be 100.”

“We need a bounce-back year,” Iginla said. “Personally, I need to be better. We’re getting two guys that are very hungry. A lot of us have that in common.”

There’s no doubt that both Jokinen and Tanguay have a lot to prove as both players had awful seasons last year and for Iginla, missing the playoffs is a huge failure on its own, even if he was one of a few consistent sources of production on the team. You can’t fault Jarome Iginla for being as positive as possible about the upcoming season, but you have to wonder if there’s a nagging doubt in his mind as to what the Flames are doing to help provide him with the support he’s been wanting for years and only giving him guys that didn’t work out before to try and do it.