‘It’s been a lot of fun:’ Tij Iginla speaks on his early success

Two hat tricks, 12 goals, 12 assists and 24 points in 15 games. Is that good?
Those are Tij Iginla’s stats so far with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. He’s in 18th place in WHL goals and he’d likely be higher if he hadn’t missed three games while attending the Utah Hockey Club training camp.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Iginla told the Deseret News. “I think we’ve got a good group, a lot of talented players, so it’s been great to get back here with these guys and keep working to get better each day.”
Utah HC general manager Bill Armstrong famously told Iginla after drafting him that the team has enough 20-goal scorers and that they need a 50-goal scorer. That’s no easy task, but Iginla is up to the challenge.
He’s currently on pace for 57 goals over a full 68-game WHL season — 10 more than he scored last year. He’s still far from being able to produce that much offense in the NHL, but it’s a huge step in the right direction.
“Obviously 50 in the NHL is an extremely incredible number and an amazing feat, but I have lofty aspirations,” Iginla said. “I believe anything is possible. I’m not going to tell you that, yes, I’m going to score 50 goals, but I’m also not going to tell you that I’m not.”
Every elite goal scorer has an equally elite playmaker backing him up. Alex Ovechkin had Nick Bäckström; Auston Matthews has Mitch Marner; Wayne Gretzky had the entire Edmonton Oilers roster. For Iginla, it’s been Washington Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall.
Cristall has assisted on six of Iginla’s nine goals this season. He had the primary assist on all three goals in Iginla’s most recent hat trick. It’s a shame the two won’t play together in the NHL, but maybe an existing playmaker such as Matias Maccelli could have a similar effect.
“Cristall is super smart, super skilled, thinks the game so well and (is) super crafty,” Iginla said.
He also had high praise for his other linemate, Max Graham.
“Graham is a power forward,” he said. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s physical. He does all the little things right.”
“They make it super easy for me,” he said of the pair.
As well as things are going for Iginla and his linemates, the Rockets as a team are still finding their footing. They began the season with a five-game losing streak, although it was partly due to several players still being at NHL training camps. They currently sit two points behind the Portland Winterhawks, who occupy the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Utah HC management gave Iginla some things to work on this year to progress toward his goal of being a top player in the NHL. Among them were getting stronger and learning the ins and outs of the center position.
“You just want to get better — and get better in as many ways as you can,” Iginla told Regan Bartel of Rocket Fan.
Iginla has played center at various points throughout his life, but he spent last year almost exclusively on the wing. Utah HC drafted him with the hopes that he would play the more coveted position.
“I’ve been playing more center this year,” he said. “I think it’s good to be able to play both, but I’ve been playing some center. With that comes more defensive responsibilities, faceoffs, things like that.”
It will be imperative for Iginla to improve on the defensive side of the puck. You can score as many goals as you want, but if you allow the other team to score more than you do, it’s all for naught.
At Utah HC’s development camp in the fall, Iginla noticed how much bigger and stronger NHL players are, in comparison to the WHL competition he’s used to facing.
“I’ll be trying to catch up to them as much as I can,” he said.
Of course, much of that will come naturally as he gets older. Remember: He just turned 18.
The World Junior Championship — one of the most exciting times of the year for hockey fans — is less than two months away, and Iginla has a legitimate shot at making Team Canada.
“It would mean so much,” Iginla said. “I’ve worn the maple leaf at times throughout my career, but I think the World Juniors is the next level. That’s the big tournament.”
He went on to reminisce over his childhood memories of watching the World Juniors, seeing Team Canada triumph some years and fall short other years. He’d like to be part of a winning team.
“That would be, truly, an amazing honor.”
Tij father, Jarome Iginla, led the tournament in scoring in 1996 en route to the gold medal. Tij would love to follow in his father’s footsteps in that regard, but there’s one aspect of that tournament that Tij could do without: Jarome was traded a week before the tournament began.