Craig Conroy wore the ‘C’ in Calgary for two seasons before handing it to Jarome Iginla ahead of the 2003-04 campaign. The story of how it actually happened starts with Shane Doan.
Iginla was already one of the best players in the world by then. He’d won the Art Ross Trophy in 2001-02 and an Olympic gold medal with Canada that same season, and he was the clear face of the franchise. But that fall, Doan – Iginla’s former teammate with the junior Kamloops Blazers – was named captain in Phoenix. Iginla noticed, and he wasn’t thrilled about it.
“Shane Doan became captain in Phoenix and they were tight from their Kamloops days, and he was bitching about it,” Conroy said on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. “And I’m thinking, he’s sending a message here.”
Jarome Iginla got the ‘C’
Conroy took the hint and went to head coach and general manager Darryl Sutter to float the idea of stepping aside.
“I went and saw Darryl, and I said, ‘Darryl, Jarome’s the leader of the team. I have the ‘C,’ which is an honor, but what do you think about me giving the ‘C’ to Iggy?'” Conroy said. “He goes, ‘Oh yeah, you definitely should.'”
With Sutter’s blessing, Conroy went to find Iginla, who was sitting in the steam room with Martin Gelinas. The conversation didn’t take long.
“I’d go in and I’m like, ‘Hey, I think you should be the captain,'” Conroy said. “He’s like, ‘Oh, I totally agree.’ It wasn’t even like he hesitated.”
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Conroy laughed about the fact that nobody involved tried talking him out of it – not Sutter, not Iginla, not anyone in the room. He also admitted that giving it up wasn’t quite as painless as the speed of those conversations made it look.
“I understood where it was, and it was an honor. It was still hard to give up the ‘C,’ but for him to have it,” Conroy said.
Iginla became the first Black captain in NHL history when the Flames named him to the role, and he led them to the Stanley Cup Final that same season. He went on to wear the ‘C’ for nearly a decade, the longest tenure of any captain in franchise history. Conroy, now the Flames’ general manager, brought Iginla back to the organization as a special adviser in 2023.
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