Watch the 10 best Jarome Iginla fights

Jarome Iginla is the greatest Flame of all time. He could score, he could hit, he could will himself and his teammates to the Stanley Cup Final, and holy smokes, he could chuck fists. Even though fighting is slowly fading from the game, it’s fun to jump in the DeLorean and remind ourselves what the game was like not that long ago – especially when it’s 100% Jarome Iginla fighting content.

Jarome Iginla career fighting stats

(Insight courtesy of HockeyFights.com)

• Career fights: 72
• Fights as a Calgary Flame: 55
• Teams fought against most:
  • Dallas Stars – 8
  • Edmonton Oilers – 7
  • Colorado Avalanche – 5
• Most frequent opponent: Barret Jackman
• Most fights in a season: 6 (2000/01 and 2009/10)

Today, we’re counting down the top 10 fights in the illustrious career of Jarome Iginla. And we’re doing it with video. Fasten your fight strap and inhale your smelling salts – it’s time to watch some hockey fights.

10. Barret Jackman vs. Jarome Iginla – March 2, 2006

Barret Jackman was Iginla’s most frequent opponent. It’s a brief fight, but a decisive victory for the Flames captain at the Saddledome.

Jackman vs. Iginla on HockeyFights.com →

9. Rick Tocchet vs. Jarome Iginla – December 5, 1998

Forty-six seconds into the first period, a young Jarome drops the mitts with veteran tough guy Rick Tocchet (current head coach of the Vancouver Canucks).

Tocchet vs. Iginla on HockeyFights.com →

8. Eric Brewer vs. Jarome Iginla – September 30, 2002 

I appreciate this fight for a few reasons:

• Iginla has his own back. After taking a hard check into the boards, he instigates the fight. Nowadays, superstars don’t typically fight their own battles.
• This fight happened just six months or so after Iginla and Brewer won Olympic gold as Team Canada teammates in Salt Lake City.
• Iginla drops an Oiler. You just love to see it.

It’s also hilarious that this fight happened in a pre-season game.

Brewer vs. Iginla on HockeyFights.com →

7. Derian Hatcher vs. Jarome Iginla – April 24, 2004

In this scrap, Iginla picks a dance partner with the height, weight, and reach advantage. At 6’5″ and somewhere between 225 and 235 pounds, Hatcher fought 53 times in his career and was one of the league’s tougher customers during his 16-season NHL career, during which he racked up 1581 penalty minutes and served as the Stars’ captain for nine years before wrapping up his career in Detroit and Philly.

This particular fight was pretty even, but I’d give the edge to Iginla for the takedown. It also sparked a second tilt between Mike Commodore (Flames) and Darren McCarty (Red Wings).

Hatcher vs. Iginla on HockeyFights.com →

6. Ryan Kesler vs. Jarome Iginla – February 3, 2006

Iginla and Kesler hated one another. This fight was about the rivalry and it went the distance – both skaters end the tilly completely exhausted with the fans on their feet. While there’s not a clear winner, Iginla has been awarded the “W” over Kesler on HockeyFights.com.

Kesler vs. Iginla on HockeyFights.com →

5. Willie Mitchell vs. Jarome Iginla – October 11, 2008

Another fight at the Saddledome, another one in which he combatants take off their own buckets, and another one in the win column for Jarome.

With a hard knockout punch, Iginla drops Vancouver’s Willie Mitchell.

Mitchell vs. Iginla on HockeyFights.com →

4. Deryk Engelland vs. Jarome Iginla – March 29, 2017

The only fight on this list that features Jarome Iginla in another team’s sweater is his 2017 matchup versus Calgary’s Deryk Engelland. At the time, Engelland was one of the league’s most dominant heavyweights. While Engelland has the edge early, Iginla manages to slip Engelland’s helmet off and land a flurry of fists, cutting Engelland open and showing the crowd that the Saddledome still belongs to him.

Engelland vs. Iginla on HockeyFights.com →

3. Jamie Benn vs. Jarome Iginla – December 23, 2010

In one of the most memorable fights in Iginla’s career, a veteran Jarome takes on a young Jamie Benn after Benn landed a hard bodycheck on Mark Giordano that sent Calgary’s defenceman into the turnbuckle.

The scrap goes all 12 rounds and although the voters at HockeyFights.com give the victory to Benn by a very narrow margin, I think that’s just because of the cut to Iginla’s face. Jarome managed to land a series of blows near the end of the bout, so I’ll combine that with my blinding bias and give the win to Iginla.

Benn vs. Iginla on HockeyFights.com →

2. Bill Guerin vs. Jarome Iginla – October 24, 2002

This fight between current Minnesota Wild GM and four-time NHL All-Star Bill Guerin is glorious. Iginla and Guerin square up at centre ice at the Saddledome, voluntarily remove their own helmets (something you can’t do anymore), latch on, and start swinging. Iginla tags Guerin’s head with a hard left before eventually freeing his right hand and feeding Guerin’s kidneys until the refs step in.

My favourite part of this fight is not that Iginla destroys Guerin, though. It’s that he’s stepping in for then-teammate and current Calgary Flames colleague, Marc Savard.

Iginla vs. Guerin on HockeyFights.com →

1. Vincent Lecavalier vs. Jarome Iginla – May 29, 2004

Placing this fight in the number one spot was a no-brainer. NHL All-Stars going toe-to-toe in the Stanley Cup Final? It’s just not something we’re likely to see in today’s game.

While Gary Bettman and the NHL may have screwed the Flames out of a Stanley Cup (it was in) at the end of this series, Iginla got the better of Lecavalier in this spirited fight.

Kudos to Vinny, though. What a moment in Flames and hockey history.

Lecavalier vs. Iginla on HockeyFights.com →

Did you know Jarome fought future friend, teammate, and now boss, Craig Conroy when Conny was a member of the Blues back in 2000? That same season, Iginla also dropped the gloves with Brendan Shanahan and Rod Brind’Amour.

What’s your favourite Jarome Iginla fight?