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Jarome Iginla Signs With Colorado Avalanche

BOSTON (CBS) -- Jarome Iginla is the newest member of the Colorado Avalanche.

The free-agent forward elected to sign with Colorado, the club announced on Tuesday afternoon. The deal was originally reported a little more than two hours after NHL free agency opened at 12 p.m. ET by TSN's Bob McKenzie.

McKenzie reported that Iginla will earn $5.5 million in each of the next two seasons and $5 million in 2016-17.

"We are excited about Jarome Iginla becoming a member of the Avalanche," Executive VP of hockey operations Joe Sakic said in the team's news release. "Jarome's track record speaks for itself. He is one of the top goal scorers of all time, as well as a great leader. His addition will bolster our offense."

Iginla, who turned 37 years old on Tuesday, spent the first 15-plus seasons of his career as a member of the Calgary Flames, where he scored 525 goals and netted 1,095 points in 1,219 games while building his resume as a future Hall of Famer. It was in the lockout-shortened season of 2013 when Iginla decided he wanted to try to win a Stanley Cup before running out of time on his career, and it appeared he was heading to Boston to do it. However, Iginla asked the Flames to open discussions with the Pittsburgh Penguins after then-GM Jay Feaster had already agreed on a deal with Boston. Iginla ended up going to Pittsburgh, and in a twist of fate, his Cup hopes were dashed by the Bruins, who swept the Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals.

As a free agent last summer, Iginla signed a one-year, incentive-laden deal to join the Bruins. He hit all of the incentives, essentially turning it into a $6 million pay day, as he scored 30 goals and had 31 assists in 78 games played for Boston.

Again, he fell short of raising Lord Stanley's Cup yet again, this time at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, who beat the Bruins in seven games in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

And so, Iginla's Cup quest now sends him to Colorado, where he hopes to achieve hockey's ultimate glory. He came close back in 2004, when his Flames came within inches of winning Game 6 against the Lightning on the Martin Gelinas goal that nearly was. The Flames lost that game, and the Game 7 that followed, and Iginla never made it out of the first round again with the Flames.

The Avalanche finished in first place in the Central Division but lost in seven games to the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the playoffs.

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