TORONTO -- Calgary Flames right wing Jarome Iginla won the Lester B. Pearson Award on Thursday as the NHL's most outstanding player as voted on by his peers.

	Iginla

Iginla, who is also a finalist for the Hart Trophy which is awarded to the NHL's MVP, beat out goaltenders Sean Burke of the Phoenix Coyotes and Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche.

"I want to say that for all those accidental slashes and face-washes and the trash-talking that I did this season, now I feel a little bad,'' Iginla said after receiving the award at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Iginla won the NHL scoring title with 96 points and had a league-high 52 goals, earning him the Art Ross Trophy as the league's top scorer and the Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy as the top goal-scorer.

Iginla, whose father is from Nigeria and whose mother is from the United States, is the first black player to win the Pearson Award.

The 24-year-old Iginla becomes a restricted free agent on July 1, when he turns 25. He earned $1.7 million last season, but could command up to $8 million a year.

His agent, Don Meehan, planned to meet with Flames general manager Craig Button this week to discuss a new deal.

Iginla, Roy and Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jose Theodore were finalists for the Hart Trophy, which was to be awarded Thursday night.