Nice article about Jaromir Jagr and his highs and lows with the Penguins
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Pretty amazing that he is still going strong. I'm in my 40s and he was playing for the Penguins when I was just starting high school. Had he not taken a hiatus from the NHL you can conservatively estimate that he would have scored close to 100 more goals, meaning he'd be in earshot of Gretzky's all-time record for goals. He's the greatest European player of all-time in my book, just ahead of Selanne, Lidstrom and Ovechkin.
Remember seeing him @ Donzis and elsewhere in the Strip. Don't think I was doing Chauncey 's then.
Great article. I'm one that believe his number should hang in the rafters when he retires one day. One of the best.
If it were just his play, his number would hang from the rafters. However, he has a very complicated relationship with the Penguins, and especially with the team's owner.
Look, here's the story. The Penguins were the best team in the NHL since the Edmonton Oilers teams of the mid-80s. Even those great Detroit teams in the late 90s were not as good as Pittsburgh in it's prime.
Unfortunately for the Penguins, Mario Lemieux could not stay healthy. He had well chronicled issues with his back and with cancer.
With Lemieux out, Jagr blossomed into the NHL's best player and remains the greatest European of all-time (though I think Ovechkin will eventually pass him) and one of the best players in the history of the NHL.
Then, completely unexpectedly and nearly miraculously, Lemieux decided to make a comeback and was great from the jump. That really surprised everyone – especially No. 68.
Unfortunately, Jagr could not handle the fact that after years of being the man, he was now the number two guy again.
It's easy to blame that on the guy having an oversized ego but the truth is you don't become as great as he became without having a huge ego.
He is trying to position it now like he was demanding a trade for the betterment of the team but that is not what was happening at the time. He felt like he was being suffocated by the shadow of Lemieux and he wanted out from under it.
Does anyone really believe that Pittsburgh would've been better off but keeping Robert Lang or even Lang and Kovalev instead of Jaromir Jagr?
That doesn't make any sense. Lang was a good player and Kovy was an excellent player but neither one was in the category of No. 68 and everyone knew that then and knows it now – including Jagr.
Just as a reminder to some of how great he was – or perhaps a lesson to the youngsters who don't fully realize it – Lemieux, who missed four years while battling back and cancer issues, comes back for the final 43 games of the 2000–01 season and he racks up 76 points!
In retrospect, it seems like that's how it was always supposed to go down but at the time people weren't sure if he was going to embarrass himself or worse, injure himself?
Some of the people – including the people who were working out with him – were telling people that he looked extraordinarily good but there was definitely a lot of debate and skepticism in the hockey community about how effective he would be. Nobody, not even his greatest supporters, foresaw the level of dominance he was about to display.
That remains probably the most incredible thing I have ever seen in sports. A guy misses his entire prime, comes back as an old man, and completely dominates the best league in the world. Not even the great Michael Jordan could do that.
It was truly breathtaking and unlike anything I've ever seen at any level of any sport. However, I can see why the other guy – who was previously considered the team's and indeed the world's best player – would have his feelings hurt over it.
It had to be devastating to work as hard as Jagr has always worked to build yourself to the point where you are clearly the most dominant player in the world, only to have this guy literally walk off the golf course and step onto the ice and immediately dwarf you in every way imaginable. I can definitely see how that could get under someone's skin.
Still, Jagr's point about the team having serious financial problems is not wrong and I understand why anyone would want to get away from that. The Penguins were seriously mismanaged in that period and they were clearly at the end of their run. Their D corps was a shambles and everyone knew it.
I understand why they extended it as long as they did. They were kind if hosed by the hockey gods with Lemieux getting seriously injured right in his prime. I also agree with Jagr that Pittsburgh probably would have won additional cups had Lemieux remained healthy. I don't know if they would've won four more Stanley Cups – that would have required a lot of luck and excellence – but I definitely think two more cups would have been a very realistic number with those two dominating the league as they did.
However, the real damage to the relationship was done upon Jagr's return to the NHL from the KHL. His agent, former Canadiens defenseman Petr Svoboda, contacted the Penguins and told them that his client's dream was to return to Pittsburgh to finish his career.
Lemieux – who still had hard feelings from the way Jagr originally departed – magnanimously put aside those hard feelings and rolled out the red carpet for Jagr's return.
However, at the very end they came to realize they were being used as leverage to negotiate with other teams. Jagr wanted to play for Montreal but they needed to increase their offer. One of the reasons he has played for so long is because he accrued serious gambling debts and he's trying to make back the money he squandered when he was younger.
That was it for Lemieux. He was officially done with Jagr forever and he has told people that for years. He doesn't even bother to hide it.
Soon thereafter, Jagr's initial reasoning for deciding against re-signing with Pittsburgh was because our top two centermen were both left-handed and he needed a right-handed center for one timers and the like.
Well, that never made any sense because he's not a one-timer type of player and someone from Pittsburgh quickly pointed that out. Later that season Jagr clarified his earlier position and said that he m needed to dominate the puck and so too did Pittsburgh's top two centermen.
That was nonsense too. Great players will find a way to play together. Jagr would have definitely had a prominent role with Pittsburgh.
I think what happened is very clear. I think Jagr hated living in Pittsburgh. I think he thinks the city is too small for his liking. That's fine, a lot of guys feel that way. Also, I think he really hated the fact that he would never be "the man" here – certainly not then and not now either. However, he doesn't want to be reviled so he makes up a lot of nonsense.
I think his position in Pittsburgh would be a lot different had he not used the Penguins as leverage upon his return to the NHL. I think his number could one day hang from the rafters of whatever they are calling the arena that week. However, that will not happen while Lemieux is the team's owner.
Look, here's the story. The Penguins were the best team in the NHL since the Edmonton Oilers teams of the mid-80s. Even those great Detroit teams in the late 90s were not as good as Pittsburgh in it's prime.
Unfortunately for the Penguins, Mario Lemieux could not stay healthy. He had well chronicled issues with his back and with cancer.
With Lemieux out, Jagr blossomed into the NHL's best player and remains the greatest European of all-time (though I think Ovechkin will eventually pass him) and one of the best players in the history of the NHL.
Then, completely unexpectedly and nearly miraculously, Lemieux decided to make a comeback and was great from the jump. That really surprised everyone – especially No. 68.
Unfortunately, Jagr could not handle the fact that after years of being the man, he was now the number two guy again.
It's easy to blame that on the guy having an oversized ego but the truth is you don't become as great as he became without having a huge ego.
He is trying to position it now like he was demanding a trade for the betterment of the team but that is not what was happening at the time. He felt like he was being suffocated by the shadow of Lemieux and he wanted out from under it.
Does anyone really believe that Pittsburgh would've been better off but keeping Robert Lang or even Lang and Kovalev instead of Jaromir Jagr?
That doesn't make any sense. Lang was a good player and Kovy was an excellent player but neither one was in the category of No. 68 and everyone knew that then and knows it now – including Jagr.
Just as a reminder to some of how great he was – or perhaps a lesson to the youngsters who don't fully realize it – Lemieux, who missed four years while battling back and cancer issues, comes back for the final 43 games of the 2000–01 season and he racks up 76 points!
In retrospect, it seems like that's how it was always supposed to go down but at the time people weren't sure if he was going to embarrass himself or worse, injure himself?
Some of the people – including the people who were working out with him – were telling people that he looked extraordinarily good but there was definitely a lot of debate and skepticism in the hockey community about how effective he would be. Nobody, not even his greatest supporters, foresaw the level of dominance he was about to display.
That remains probably the most incredible thing I have ever seen in sports. A guy misses his entire prime, comes back as an old man, and completely dominates the best league in the world. Not even the great Michael Jordan could do that.
It was truly breathtaking and unlike anything I've ever seen at any level of any sport. However, I can see why the other guy – who was previously considered the team's and indeed the world's best player – would have his feelings hurt over it.
It had to be devastating to work as hard as Jagr has always worked to build yourself to the point where you are clearly the most dominant player in the world, only to have this guy literally walk off the golf course and step onto the ice and immediately dwarf you in every way imaginable. I can definitely see how that could get under someone's skin.
Still, Jagr's point about the team having serious financial problems is not wrong and I understand why anyone would want to get away from that. The Penguins were seriously mismanaged in that period and they were clearly at the end of their run. Their D corps was a shambles and everyone knew it.
I understand why they extended it as long as they did. They were kind if hosed by the hockey gods with Lemieux getting seriously injured right in his prime. I also agree with Jagr that Pittsburgh probably would have won additional cups had Lemieux remained healthy. I don't know if they would've won four more Stanley Cups – that would have required a lot of luck and excellence – but I definitely think two more cups would have been a very realistic number with those two dominating the league as they did.
However, the real damage to the relationship was done upon Jagr's return to the NHL from the KHL. His agent, former Canadiens defenseman Petr Svoboda, contacted the Penguins and told them that his client's dream was to return to Pittsburgh to finish his career.
Lemieux – who still had hard feelings from the way Jagr originally departed – magnanimously put aside those hard feelings and rolled out the red carpet for Jagr's return.
However, at the very end they came to realize they were being used as leverage to negotiate with other teams. Jagr wanted to play for Montreal but they needed to increase their offer. One of the reasons he has played for so long is because he accrued serious gambling debts and he's trying to make back the money he squandered when he was younger.
That was it for Lemieux. He was officially done with Jagr forever and he has told people that for years. He doesn't even bother to hide it.
Soon thereafter, Jagr's initial reasoning for deciding against re-signing with Pittsburgh was because our top two centermen were both left-handed and he needed a right-handed center for one timers and the like.
Well, that never made any sense because he's not a one-timer type of player and someone from Pittsburgh quickly pointed that out. Later that season Jagr clarified his earlier position and said that he m needed to dominate the puck and so too did Pittsburgh's top two centermen.
That was nonsense too. Great players will find a way to play together. Jagr would have definitely had a prominent role with Pittsburgh.
I think what happened is very clear. I think Jagr hated living in Pittsburgh. I think he thinks the city is too small for his liking. That's fine, a lot of guys feel that way. Also, I think he really hated the fact that he would never be "the man" here – certainly not then and not now either. However, he doesn't want to be reviled so he makes up a lot of nonsense.
I think his position in Pittsburgh would be a lot different had he not used the Penguins as leverage upon his return to the NHL. I think his number could one day hang from the rafters of whatever they are calling the arena that week. However, that will not happen while Lemieux is the team's owner.
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When I was about 8 or 9 he almost ran me over in his Mercedes Benz SL 500. He was late to practice and I was standing outside the Iceoplex trying to get an autograph. Dude was a solid 30 mins or more late for practice and ripped in the lot at 45 mph. Did sign an autograph for me because of the close call. Good times.
Doc, as I remember it, he asked for those trades prior to Lemieux coming back. The requests stopped after Lemieux came back until the end of the season. The guy wanted a change.
I will fully admit, Jagr is a very complicated man. But he is one of the greatest Pens players and the prime of his career was captured here. He deserves to have his number retired IMO.
I will fully admit, Jagr is a very complicated man. But he is one of the greatest Pens players and the prime of his career was captured here. He deserves to have his number retired IMO.
