"I always have a hard time watching the Final," the Hockey Hall of Fame forward said. "It's just one of those, I don't know why, it's almost hard to watch."
But Iginla said he'll be watching and cheering for the Colorado Avalanche to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 5 of the Final on Friday and win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 21 years.
The Avalanche hold a special place in Iginla's heart. He played 225 games with them from 2014-17 in the twilight of his Hall of Fame career.
"I got to play with Gabriel Landeskog, see him as a young captain, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen was just breaking in, and it was a great place to live," Iginla said. "Knowing MacKinnon, and 'Landy' and Rantanen, and (general Manager) Joe Sakic and how much they must be enjoying this and how close they are (to winning Stanley Cup), yeah, we're pulling for them."
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Iginla thinks Colorado has a good chance to end the best-of-7 series Friday.
"They're up 3-1 on an amazing team," he said. "It's going to be interesting, and I hope they finish it in Game 5. I think they're going to be pretty desperate because they're trying to eliminate a very, very good team that's used to winning. So, I don't think anyone is taking anything lightly."
Iginla signed a three-year contract with Colorado on July 1, 2014 after playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins (2012-13) and Boston Bruins (2013-14) following 16 seasons with the Calgary Flames (1996-2013).
Iginla had 59 points (29 goals, 30 assists) in 82 games with Colorado in 2014-15, and 47 points (22 goals, 25 assists) in 82 games the following season.
But the Avalanche failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs each season and he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on March 1, 2017 for a conditional pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.
"Overall, it was great, it was just, unfortunately, we weren't as good," he said. "But was a really good family experience and a lot of nice people."
Iginla had 1,300 points (625 goals, 675 assists) in 1,554 NHL games. He became the first Black player in NHL history to score 400, 500 and 600 goals and to surpass 1,000 points; the first to win the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL scoring leader (2001-02) and the Lester B. Pearson Award (now the Ted Lindsay Award) the same year, as the most outstanding player voted by his peers.
He was the first Black player to win the Rocket Richard Trophy in 2001-02 when he had an NHL career-high 52 goals with Calgary, and won it again in 2003-04 (41, also with Calgary). He was the second Black team captain in the NHL and first Black male athlete to win a Winter Olympics gold medal when he played for Canada in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
The only thing that eluded him was the Stanley Cup. He had 68 points (37 goals, 31 assists) in 81 playoff games and came close in 2004 when Calgary lost the Final in seven games to Tampa Bay.
Eighteen years later, Iginla has pinned his Cup hopes and dreams on the Avalanche.
"I'll be watching," he said.
