Pittsburgh Penguins Acquire Jarome Iginla After Trade To Boston Appeared To Be Done Deal
BOSTON (CBS) --Many hockey fans went to bed Wednesday night upset with a Bruins loss to the Canadiens but ecstatic about the team's reported acquisition of Jarome Iginla. But they're due to wake up to a surprise.
Roughly 90 minutes after TSN's Aaron Ward reported via Twitter that Iginla had been traded to the Boston Bruins, the Flames surprised the hockey world by announcing that Iginla had instead been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"We had offers from three different clubs," Flames GM Jay Feaster said. "We worked with the player and we have concluded a deal this evening with the Pittsburgh Penguins."
"I realize that there was a lot of reporting tonight about where this trade was going to be consummated," Feaster later said regarding the Boston reports. "That information obviously was not correct. We didn't contribute to that. ... I think that's unfortunate and I'm sorry that that's out there. But again, we simply believe that conducting our business internally and then telling you when we have something to announce as the right way to go about it."
Shortly after midnight on Thursday morning, Ward tweeted that Iginla had been traded to Boston. TSN's Bob McKenzie didn't confirm the deal but did tweet what he believed the trade package to include from Boston.
Feaster was asked about the premature reports about Iginla going to Boston, and he seemed to indicate that Pittsburgh was a more desirable landing spot for Iginla than Boston.
"We had multiple teams that we were dealing with, had multiple offers, and again, at the end of the day, it's a process of working with the player as well," Feaster said. "Certainly, the player has a role to play when the player has a no-trade, no-move [clause]. In this instance, the deal that we consummated, this is where the player was prepared to wait for."
Iginla, 35, has spent his entire 16-year career with the Calgary Flames. He's scored 525 goals with 570 assists in 1,219 career games, and he served as team captain from 2003 through this season.
All signs pointed to a Boston trade as the events of Wednesday afternoon and evening unfolded. The Bruins called up Torey Krug from Providence, placed Johnny Boychuk on injured reserve and made Matt Bartkowski a healthy scratch just one day after signing him to a one-way deal. The Providence Bruins also made Khokhlachev a healthy scratch late before their game against Portland.
Then, Iginla was a healthy scratch for the Flames against Colorado. Considering he has not missed a game in several years, it was clear something was transpiring.
However, it ended up being a trade to Pittsburgh for college players Kenneth Agostino, Ben Hanowski and a 2013 first-round pick.
Ward deleted his initial tweet and said, "Apologies, had multiple sources confirm a trade that did not happen."
TSN's McKenzie also tweeted around 3 a.m. EST, "To be clear - no excuses - our group at TSN, of which I'm part of, regrets making a reporting error tonight. Apologies to our audience."
