The facility currently known as Akinsdale Arena in St. Albert's, Alberta will be renamed in honour of hometown hero Jarome Iginla in a celebration to be held Sunday. Iginla, who started playing hockey at seven years old, played for local teams including the St. Albert Eagle Raiders.
"We are so proud to honour this great player and Hometown Hockey Hero,” the city said in an event notice on its website. "The City of St. Albert would like to thank Jarome for creating such great memories for St. Albert and for hockey fans everywhere. He has inspired many youngsters to pursue their dreams and we are proud to rename the Akinsdale Arena, where he spent so many of his formative years, the Jarome Iginla Arena in his honour.”
At 16, Iginla moved to BC to play for the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL. He went on to play 16 seasons for the Calgary Flames, as well as playing for Pittsburgh, Boston, Colorado and LA. The six-time All-Star has his number 12 retired by Calgary in March of this year.
Source: Calgary Herald
