High-scoring forward will formally announce his retirement at a Monday press conference

Jarome Iginla will formally announce his retirement from the NHL during a press conference Monday in Calgary.

Already, long-time league executive Brian Burke has dubbed it “a sad day for the NHL,” according to The Star.

Well, maybe not all of the NHL.

No doubt, anyone who has been associated with or cheered for the Nashville Predators has great respect for the 6-foot-1, 210-pound forward who played for five different franchises in an 18-year career. That doesn’t mean they will be sad to see him go.

No player has done more damage to the Predators since they entered the league in 1998. His 42 career goals against Nashville is — by far — the most by any single player and more than Iginla scored against any other single opponent.

A rundown of the all-time leading goal scorers against the Nashville Predators:





Player

Season

Goals vs. Nashville

Games

Jarome Iginla

1998-2017

42

68

Rick Nash

2002-present

26

61

Teemu Selanne

1998-2014

24

51

Brendan Shanahan

1998-2009

23

42

Parrick Kane

2008-present

23

57

Pavel Datsyuk

2002-2016

21

67

Patrick Marleau

1998-present

21

67



The next-most terrorized teams by Iginla and his traditional power forward’s approach to the game were Arizona, Edmonton and Minnesota. He scored 39 goals against each but faced all three more often than he did the Predators. It took him 73 contests against the Coyotes, 84 versus the Wild and 101 matched up with the Oilers to hit that number. In contrast, he recorded his 42 goals vs. the Preds in 68 games.

Iginla wasted no time letting the Predators know how things would be. He had a goal and an assist in his first game against them (Oct. 23, 1998 in Nashville), one goal each of the first three times he played them and finished that first season with six points (three goals, three assists) against them. He added five points (one goal, four assists) in three meetings the next season and took things to another level with seven points (four goals, three assists) in Nashville’s fourth year, 2001-02.

He scored a hat trick against the Predators in 2008.

Iginla actually played his final NHL contest more than a year ago.

Fittingly, in his final game against the Predators (March 9, 2017 with Los Angeles), he had a pair of goals. In his final appearance at Bridgestone Arena (Feb. 23, 2017 with Colorado), he had a goal and an assist.

So, from start to finish, the guy was a headache for the Predators.

Nashville will wish him well … but wishes he would have walked away sooner.



