Top prospect Tij Iginla and the Kelowna Rockets are fighting for their lives at the Memorial Cup in a win-or-go-home game against the Everett Silvertips on TSN on Wednesday night.
Iginla, the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, is the star of the tournament-host Rockets - the 19-year-old forward led the team with 41 goals and 90 points in just 48 games this season, and has a team-leading seven goals in the playoffs. All of this comes just one year removed from double hip surgery.
Already drafted to the Utah Mammoth with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, Iginla is trying to stay focused on the tournament while also weighing his future in professional hockey.
Iginla joined First Up on TSN1050 on Wednesday morning to discuss their game against the Silvertips, his recovery from surgery and lessons from his father growing up in hockey.
“It was obviously tough [to lose in overtime against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Sunday],” Iginla said. “I thought we played a much better game than our first one, I thought we played a pretty good game throughout as a team but we didn’t get the result in overtime that we were looking for. So we gotta bounce back and win the next one.”
The Rockets were overmatched in their tournament opener against the OHL champion Kitchener Rangers, where they got blown out 5-0. Against the QMJHL champion Sagueneens, Iginla scored one goal for Kelowna before they fell 3-2 in overtime on a goal from Liam Lefebvre.
“I think [it’s about luck and bad bounces] a little bit, but overtime is about possession and that last game there we weren’t able to get the puck enough,” Iginla said. “It’s the little things like that that go into deciding an overtime. If we see [overtime] again we gotta be better at getting possession and keeping possession again.”
A season at the level Iginla played this year may have been hard to imagine after the young star underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right hip on Dec. 4, 2024, and then left hip on Jan. 20, 2025.
“Last season, I missed two thirds or more of it, it was just ... it was a long process,” Iginla said. “Six-month recovery for one of those surgeries, I had about a month and a half apart so it came out closer to seven and a half month recovery and rehab stuff.
“It was boring not being able to work and being away from the game ... it’s not one or two months, it’s a long road to go through and the biggest thing is how the rehab can get boring and the days go by slow. I think I just try to keep my focus on things I can keep improving, mental side of the game, things like that, but yeah I made it through.”
Not only did Iginla light up the WHL this season, but he also played at the World Juniors, where he totalled four goals and eight points in seven games to help Team Canada to a bronze medal. “I feel like I had a good year,” Iginla said. “I felt like at the start, coming back from the surgeries, as much as I try to do while I’m off and hurt, there was still timing of the game and things like that that takes a little bit of time to get back.
“I felt like it was a good year, growth for me, World Juniors was really good to experience and learn from and I just am so happy compared to last year to be able to be playing and healthy.”
While working through his rehab, Iginla said his father was always a grounding factor to keep him focused. He described the “thousand different things” Jarome, who scored 625 goals with five different franchises in 1,554 career NHL games, would teach him, but one lesson stood out through this successful season.
“If I had to pick one ... It’s hard,” Iginla said. “I’d say as simple as it is, the value of every day just putting in more time and more practice and stick handling, shooting pucks at home, growing up he would always really just preach how important and how much of a difference all that stuff made.”
Iginla is focused on the tournament, but admitted that sometimes the motivation of earning an eventual spot on an NHL roster in Utah comes to the forefront.
“When I’m training or going through parts of the regular season [the NHL] kind of is motivation for the day today and the work that I try to put in, then I’ll think about it and think about I’m doing this and want to make the team and whatever it is. But definitely obviously like a moment like [the Memorial Cup] I wouldn’t be thinking about it.”
The Rockets and Silvertips are no strangers. The WHL clubs met nine times in the season, including a five-game series in the second round of the WHL playoffs. Everett won eight of those nine contests.
“They’re a structured team, they play fast and they play together so obviously a huge game, do or die for us, so we gotta be ready to put our best foot forward,” said Iginla.
