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Jarome Iginla trade: Flames ‘grateful for everything our captain has done’

2012 NHL Entry Draft - Rounds 2-7

during day two of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft at Consol Energy Center on June 23, 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Bruce Bennett

The Jarome Iginla era in Calgary ended Wednesday.

The Flames dealt their captain to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for prospects Kenneth Agostino and Ben Hanowski and the Penguins’s 2013 first round pick.

The news officially broke following the Flames 4-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in a game between the two worst teams in the Western Conference.

“We, as an organization, are grateful for everything our captain has done. We’ve missed the [Stanley Cup Playoffs] the last three years, we are in very tight spot right now as far as qualifying for the playoffs and we have Jarome in the final year of his contract,” Flames general manager Jay Feaster told reporters in Calgary.

“This is not why I came to Calgary, to be the guy to trade Jarome Iginla.

“It’s an unfortunate and difficult part of this business. It was tough. I’ve only known Jarome for the three years I have been here, and Jarome has been very good to me. They are tough conversations to have.”

Iginla, 35, was originally drafted in the first-round, 11th overall, of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Dallas Stars.

He became a member of the Flames via a trade in December of 1995. The Stars dealt Iginla to Calgary for Joe Nieuwendyk.

In 1,219 career regular season games with the Flames, he scored 525 goals and 1,095 points.

Iginla was a healthy scratch for Wednesday’s game against Colorado, prompting a wave of speculation that a trade was imminent.

“He’s been such a presence on this team, for this city, this organization, for so long,” Flames forward Michael Cammalleri told the Calgary Herald.

“It will be different, for sure, without him.”