Jarome Iginla Chose Colorado Avalanche Over Tampa Bay Lightning For Foolish Reason

A recent report has come out saying that Jarome Iginla chose the Colorado Avalanche over the Tampa Bay Lightning in free agency not because of money or the chance to win the Cup, but youth hockey. According to the report, Iginla wanted his children to play in an area where the youth hockey was of a high standard, which apparently the Tampa area’s is not. If this is true, Iginla may have made one of the most foolish decisions in recent memory and put the final nail in the coffin in terms of winning the Stanley Cup.

For starters, hockey in Florida is on the upswing, as projected 2016 top pick Jakob Chychrun hails from Boca Raton, and Philadelphia Flyers star prospect Shayne Gostisbehere is also from the Sunshine State. To dismiss hockey in the Sunbelt like that is wrong and shows a lack of understanding of the growth of the game on Iginla’s part. Also, Iginla would be in Tampa for at most three years, meaning after that he could relocate and have his kids play hockey wherever he saw fit, likely with a Stanley Cup ring to show off at the rink.

While the Avalanche may be a young and exciting team on paper, they still lost arguably their best player in Paul Stastny, failed to upgrade their defense, and have a goalie in Semyon Varlamov who has one quality season under his belt. Even if teenaged phenom Nathan MacKinnon turns into a Top-5 player in the league (unlikely, but possible), the Avalanche still face an uphill battle in the tough Western Conference. Iginla definitely improves this team, but the Avs as constructed are more likely to miss the playoffs than make the Stanley Cup Final.

The Lightning, on the other hand, have one of the game’s elite players in Steven Stamkos and much upgraded supporting cast that may just run rough shot over the weak Eastern Conference next season. The path to the Final is much easier in the East and Iginla would make them the odds on favorite to win the Conference. After  18 years without a ring, Iginla should have been looking for the best chance to win his first Stanley Cup to cap off his Hall of Fame worthy career, and Tampa Bay would have given him that.

No one should tell Iginla how to be a parent, but bottom line, hockey in Florida isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be and the Lightning have a much better shot at the Stanley Cup than the Avalanche. Iginla better hope the quality of youth hockey in Denver leads to one of his kids making the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup, because with the way it looks right now, that’s only way anyone in his family is getting their name engraved on it.