Report of Jagr joining Flames has Calgary players buzzing

CALGARY — The possibility of a hockey idol walking through their dressing room door had the youngest Calgary Flames shaking their heads in amazement Monday.

A Sportsnet report that 45-year-old Jaromir Jagr, the NHL’s second all-time leading scorer behind Wayne Gretzky, picked Calgary to be his first Canadian franchise in his 24 seasons was something they had to get their heads around.

The Flames and coach Glen Gulutzan prefaced their comments on Monday morning with “if he comes here” as the team was mum for much of the day on Jagr.

The scope of Jagr’s career was particularly epic for 19-year-old forward Matthew Tkachuk, because his father Keith was drafted in the first round with Jagr in 1990.

“It’s crazy to think about,” Tkachuk said. “My dad’s been retired for however many years now. For me personally, I’m going to try and get as much as I can out of having him on the team. We’ve all heard the stories what a legend he is and I’m excited to see it first-hand.”

Gulutzan, who coached Jagr for part of a season in 2012-13 when they were both with the Dallas Stars, confirmed Jagr phoned him Sunday.

“We just chatted. Obviously he’s talked to a few teams,” Gulutzan said. “Everybody knows I had Jaromir in Dallas, so he felt he could call me and just chat.”

The six-foot-three, 213-pound winger from Kladno, Czech Republic, is coming off a 46-point season (16 goals, 30 assists) with Florida and had 66 points (27 goals, 39 assists) with the Panthers in 2015-16.