Tij Iginla has had a long year.
Most hockey players his age are skating for their junior or college teams, gaining the developmental experience necessary to take the eventual next step to their NHL clubs.
Iginla had to put all of that on pause.
“It wasn’t probably what I would’ve expected — at 18 years old getting double-hip surgery,” he said.
It was previously reported that Iginla underwent one hip surgery in December; however, he confirmed on Sunday that it was two. Iginla got his right hip done at the beginning of December and waited six weeks to build up “strength and stability” to support the surgery on his left hip at the end of January, he said.
Iginla is in Utah this week for the Utah Mammoth’s development camp and can participate in “a lot of the drills,” general manager Bill Armstrong said. The forward will, however, wear a non-contact jersey. He said he thinks he will be back to full contact and 100% skating in the next month or so.
Tij Iginla, center, poses after being selected by the Utah Hockey Club during the first round of the NHL hockey draft Friday, June 28, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)
“He’ll be out there. He’s really excited about being here,” Armstrong said. “He’ll move slowly, but get going. Good to see him and he is back on the ice.”
Iginla — who was Utah’s sixth overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft — sat out the majority of last year’s training camp due to a lower body injury. He went on to play 21 games for the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets — and had 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) — before he officially addressed the hip issue.
“It was great to be a part of that [Utah] camp,” Iginla said. “I definitely learned a lot — for one thing, I learned that my hips were pretty messed up. Other than that, it was good to see the level, see the guys, be around that.”
The taste of NHL pace Iginla got in September is what has fueled him through his rehabilitation. He wants to return stronger and make up for the time and on-ice reps he has missed compared to his Mammoth prospect counterparts.
Accordingly, Iginla watched a lot of hockey. Whether it was Mammoth games, tape of current NHLers, video of himself or even his brother and sister’s seasons, Iginla worked to sharpen his IQ of the sport while sidelined. He used virtual reality, he said, for hockey sense training. Iginla has spent a lot of time in the weight room, too, to build his power away from the ice.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Tij Iginla (12) shoots the puck as Carsen Musser (35) defends the goal during the scrimmage game following UtahÕs 2024 Development Camp at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 5, 2024.
“I think there’s a certain aspect of resilience that you have to have going through that,” Iginla said. “Keeping a good head space and finding ways to keep getting better. For someone like me, that’s what keeps me sane going through something like that. Just knowing that I’m not just sitting on the couch getting worse.”
Double-hip surgery is not exactly uncommon for hockey players. Mammoth defenseman Ian Cole underwent the procedure in 2019 (he was 30 at the time), as did Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand in 2022 (he was 34 at the time). Obviously, Iginla being 18 and needing the surgery stands out.
The Utah doctors, training staff, coaches and front office will keep a close eye on Iginla this week as he takes the ice in the limited capacity alongside other top prospects for the Mammoth. Some notable names attending development camp are 2025 fourth-overall pick Caleb Desnoyers, Cole Beaudoin, Dmitri Simashev, Daniil But and Michael Hrabal.
Six of Utah’s seven players selected in the 2025 NHL Draft will be at development camp — forward Yegor Borikov will not be there.
(Damian Dovarganes | AP) Caleb Desnoyers, left, stands with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman after being drafted by the Utah Mammoth during the NHL hockey draft Friday, June 27, 2025, in Los Angeles.
The event — which goes until Thursday — offers the opportunity for players to show their progress and get a feel of the pros, and for the organization to get an up-close look at the assets in its system.
The on-ice sessions are set for June 30 and July 1 at Park City Ice Arena and happen in two groups (scheduled for 9:45-11:45 a.m. and 12:15-2:15 p.m.). Those practices will be open to the public. Development camp will conclude on July 3 with a scrimmage at Utah’s Olympic Oval. The prospects will play in a four-on-four, intra-squad competition to simulate a mock game with officials. While the scrimmage is closed to the public, the Mammoth will host 500 youth hockey players from the Utah Amateur Hockey Association to watch.
For Iginla, it is the first phase of getting back to some hockey normalcy and starting to see his hard work in recovery pay off.
“Try to trust the process and believe that it will all work out for the best,” Iginla said. “At this point, I can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
