Jarome Iginla is on pace surpass the 100-point plateau for the first time in his 11-year career. (Larry Macdougal/Canadian Press)

Jarome Iginla was well aware of Mike Keenan's hard-nosed reputation and wanted to make sure he was ready for him.

When Keenan was hired as head coach of the Calgary Flames in the summer, the team captain didn't hesitate in contacting players who competed for the man commonly recognized as Iron Mike – gathering as many opinions as he could before training camp.

He didn't have to go far.

Iginla's first stop was speaking with Calgary teammates Adrian Aucoin and Craig Conroy, who Keenan coached in Vancouver and St. Louis, respectively. He then chatted with former junior teammate and New York Rangers defenceman Jason Strudwick, another Keenan player with the Canucks.

All three gave Iginla the same grim report.

"We heard a lot of different legends and stories and things about Mike and how intense he is and in your face," Iginla said during a conference call. "I talked to players who've had him before. He's still very intense and challenges us and that's one thing they said is [the same]."

It's no secret that Keenan, following several coaching stops, has butted heads with some of the best players in NHL history. Goaltender Ed Belfour, centre Jeremy Roenick and sniper Brett Hull have all had public clashes with the fiery coach in the past. Hull in particular, loathed Keenan's penchant for calling out players through the media.

Thriving under Keenan

This is something Iginla wanted desperately to avoid, and to this point, the Edmonton native has succeeded. Through the first 31 games of the season, Iginla has stayed out of Keenan's doghouse, and is tied for sixth in NHL scoring with 17 goals and 39 points.

He's also on pace to surpass the 100-point plateau for the first time in his 11-year career.

To his credit, Iginla stayed in great shape with an arduous training program, allowing Keenan to use him in all facets of the game. It also keeps him ready for practices, which are routinely intense and players are required to go full out all the time.

So how has Iginla, a topnotch player for a number of years, been able to get a long with mighty Mike when other former stars cringe at the very mention of his name?

Iginla said the ground rules were set before the season started, so he's been able to keep a respectful relationship with his new coach.

"He has an open door and he talks with a lot of players and has a lot of one-on-ones with them," he said. "He is vocal and we do have a lot of meetings. But as a captain he welcomes you to come in there. We don't always agree, but you're allowed not have the same opinion and he's good in that respect. I think he definitely has an open communication [policy]."

Rude awakening

But players expecting a kinder, gentler Keenan were in for a rude awakening as the team struggled for the first two months of the season that hit its lowest point with a five-game losing streak to begin the month of November.

Mike Keenan has butted heads with some of the best players in NHL history, including sniper Brett Hull. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

"They make the biggest blunders that lead to incredible scoring opportunities by the other team," Hockey Night In Canada analyst Kelly Hrudey recently told CBCSports.ca. "It's mistakes that shouldn't happen to veteran players. Other than Jarome, I'd say every player on that team is guilty of it."

Many hockey pundits expected the Flames to be improved from their eighth-place showing in the Western Conference last season, but a 13-13-5 record has the team only one-point out of the Northwest Division basement. Keenan was so displeased during the team's 4-3 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 1 that he spoke out to reporters following the game.

"Let's call a spade a spade," he began. "We should have better goaltending. Period. If we had, we'd be rewarded with a victory tonight."

Those biting remarks were a clear shot at Miikka Kiprusoff. The Calgary goaltender, a Vezina Trophy winner in 2006 and one of the best netminders in the league the last three seasons, hasn't been at his best. Kiprusoff (13-11-5) has lost six of his last 11 games with a mediocre 2.78 goals against average.

While Kiprusoff agreed with his coach's assessment of his play, Iginla could tell Keenan's blunt words had an affect on him.

"I don't think he was happy about it," said Iginla. "I saw him in the room after [the comments were made] and I think he definitely took it as a challenge and he's focused. People see him as a very quiet guy, but he's not all that quiet. He's a very competitive guy and he works very hard. He wasn't happy with where we were as a team."

No one could blame Kirpusoff for feeling frustrated with the constant defensive breakdowns, a puzzling weakness considering the roster features usually reliable blue-liners Aucoin, Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr. Furthermore, Calgary has given up the third most goals (91) in the West and also has the worst penalty-killing unit in the conference.

"Our first third of the season wasn't consistent," he said. "We had our offence going but we didn't have our defence going. Our specialty teams were struggling and that was a big part of it."

"We're a veteran team and a lot of us have kind of been here before. Even though you're not getting the results initially, it's just a matter of time before you get on a roll and that's where we feel we're at right now."

On Tuesday night, Iginla scored the tying goal with 11 seconds remaining in the game. For his part, Kiprusoff was also outstanding in making 32 saves to help lead the Flames to a 2-1 shootout win over the Florida Panthers.

It was only the fourth time this season that Calgary has won consecutive games. If the Flames are really ready to sustain a winning streak, they'll need similar efforts from both stars or risk facing more public jabs by their head coach.