The Utah Hockey Club might not have an authorities mascot or even a irreversible color plan, however now, it has its veryfirst draft choice.
Utah, previously the Arizona Coyotes, made 17-year-old Kelowna, Canada, forward Tij Iginla — child of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla — the 6th choice in the 2024 draft and the veryfirst choice in franchise history after it transferred from Tempe ahead of the upcoming season.
The senior Iginla played for 21 seasons, leading the NHL in points when (2002) and objectives twotimes (2002, 2004). The moreyouthful Iginla, who comes from the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL, was one of the draft’s top potentialcustomers and justrecently assisted lead Canada to a gold medal at the 2024 IHHL U18 World Championships in Finland.
Many anticipated Iginla — who is thought to be the veryfirst second-generation Black gamer in NHL history — would land with the Calgary Flames, with whom his dad played 17 seasons, nearly the totality of his profession. However, the Flames selected not to trade up for Iginla regardlessof having the chance to do so.
NHL fans were delighted to see Tij follow in Jarome’s steps on Friday night.
How the fans responded
TIJ IGINLA TO THE UTAH HOCKEY CLUB
What a minute inbetween Tij and Jarome Iginla ❤️ pic.twitter.com/VIsPb88Gnj
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) Jun