Jarome Iginla is back in familiar territory in Calgary, and not-so-familiar territory at the same time.
The former Flames captain spent his first 15 1-2 seasons with the Flames, so he spent a considerable amount of time on the Scotiabank Saddledome ice. But he was in the visitors' locker room for only the second time for a regular-season game when the Avalanche had their morning skate this morning to prepare for tonight's match against the much-improved Flames.
Iginla was traded to Pittsburgh on March 28, 2013. He played in 13 regular-season game for the Penguins and in 15 games in the playoffs, then signed as a free agent with Boston, where he had 30 goals in 78 games last year.
Iginla played in Calgary as a member of a visiting team for the first time when the Bruins defeated the Flames 2-1.
"I was pretty average," he said Wednesday before the Avalanche left for a two-game road trip that includes Friday's visit to Winnipeg. "I think this time will be different in that it will just be an NHL game as opposed to being a little bit more surreal like last time being on the other side. I think this will feel a lot more normal.
"It'll always be special for me, I have a lot of good memories there. I was very fortunate to play there for a long time. But it's different than the first time. It was a little more emotional for me and my family, now it's more business. You look at the standings and we want to move up, win and enjoy playing there. It's not as nostalgic for me, but it will still be fun to play in the building where I played a lot of games."
The Flames have been one of the league's surprise teams under former Avalanche coach Bob Hartley. They're third in the Pacific Division with a 16-8-2 record after finishing sixth last year at 35-40-7.
"There's a lot of different guys, there's been a big turnover, but I still know a lot of the staff and guys throughout the organization," said Iginla, who has four goals and 11 assists in 25 games. "I played against them last year and we saw them in preseason, so that stuff is out of the way. Now we're just trying to get a win there.
"When I'm done it will always be the team I'm cheering for, but now, aside from the standings, I'm not watching individually how everyone is doing. I'm concerned with how we're doing and trying to get better. I guess if we were in a different conference it would be different, but right now they're in a playoff spot and we're not."
Alex Tanguay is another former Flame; he played two seasons with them, 2006-07 and 2007-08. Not to bring back too many bad memories, but the Avalanche traded Tanguay to Calgary for defenseman Jordan Leopold and two second-round draft picks (center Codey Burki in 2006 and goalie Trevor Cann in 2007).
Goalie Semyon Varlamov will get the start for the Avalanche in what will be his first appearance since sustaining a groin injury Nov. 15 in New Jersey.
Karri Ramo is expected to start for the Flames. He has a 7-2-1 record with a 2.25 goals-against average and .921 save percentage.
Here is the Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Alex Tanguay - Matt Duchene - Ryan O'Reilly Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Jarome Iginla Tomas Vincour - Max Talbot - Daniel Briere Nick Holden - Michael Sgarbossa - Cody McLeod
DEFENSEMEN Jan Hejda - Erik Johnson Nate Guenin - Tyson Barrie Karl Stollery - Zach Redmond
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Reto Berra