TRAVELLING JAGRS A BAND LIKE NO OTHER
Mullet-wearing fan club follows ageless one in Alberta, U.S. road trips
Under the lights of an outdoor hockey rink in Tuscany, they gathered Monday evening for a game of shinny and a tryout of sorts.
Side by side they sat, putting on their skates, gloves and mullets before heading onto the ice wearing different coloured jerseys. All wore No. 68. One night before they storm the Saddledome for what might be their last local appearance as a group, the Travelling Jagrs faced off for some laughs, a few pops and an open audition to find the next member of their ever-growing group.
No, Jaromir Jagr wasn’t traded again, prompting the purchase of a ninth NHL jersey to represent the well-travelled star.
“We lost our Czech Jagr, so we’re going to get a new one,” said Chris Richter, one of the group’s co-founders, before puck drop.
“We set up a Facebook page and one guy sent a resume in online this morning, but we put ‘rejected’ on it because he was a Leafs fan.”
Those who arrived Tuesday night thinking admission to the well-coiffed club came simply with sporting a Jagr jersey and accompanying mullet were sadly mistaken. Like Fight Club, there are rules. “There’s a little bible of rules we made up over time, like we never cheer for the home team or even his team — the Panthers — we cheer for Jagr only,” explained Richter, 34, a local realtor whose group is comprised largely of childhood pals who went to school and played hockey together in Bowness.
“We’re always at his pre-game skates but we never stand up until he hits the ice. And when he leaves the ice we head to the concourse.”
They’ll do so sporting beer and all the different jerseys the 44-year-old Jagr has worn as an NHLer, with matching hockey pants and socks, of course.
“I think we have 20 tickets in the nosebleeds Tuesday, so you might see a theme of Too Many Jagrs,” chuckled Richter, who says there will also be a Jagr wearing his hometown Kladno jersey as well as a 1993 Western All-Star team Jagr.
“He knows we’re always around. He always acknowledges us during the pre-game skate. I don’t think he knew what to think at first, but he knows that we’re happy to support him. I think he gets a kick out of it for sure.”
Jagr first stared into the Saddledome crowd to see a halfdozen imitators a handful of years ago after a few of the lads wore Jagr costumes to a Vegas Halloween party and got a huge response.
What happened in Vegas didn’t stay there, as they joked about how funny it would be to greet Jagr as, well, Jagr.
They’ve since made it a semiannual outing, attending Jagr’s games in Calgary and Edmonton while also sprinkling in boys trips to Boston, Washington, Philadelphia and even Florida, where their last visit included a postgame meet and greet with Jagr that also included free food and booze in the owners box.
“We’ve had a hoot travelling to different cities, meeting people — never-ending belly laughs,” said Richter, the Washington Jagr, whose group draws plenty of attention everywhere they go.
“We pose for hundreds of photos all game — it’s all we do.
“It’s for the fans too. Hopefully he scores one for us. That always makes it a little sweeter when he gets a point or two.”
The five-time NHL scoring champ has had 1,674 of them over the course of a Hall of Fame career that has seen him score more points than any player in hockey history outside of Wayne Gretzky. His 15-straight seasons of 70 points is one of the many NHL records he set before dabbling in the KHL for three years.
Yet, it’s the character of the Czech legend, who learned to speak better English by playing Scrabble, that drew the lads to him.
Despite claims he’ll try playing into his 50s, Richter and his Jagrs know his visit with the Panthers Tuesday could be his very last.
“We always think it’s going to be the last one, but he surprises us every year with a new contract,” laughed Richter, who topped Tuesday night’s tryout with an emotional mullet presentation.
While the casual observer may think all their mullets are alike, a closer look reveals each one of the Jagrs styles their lid in tune with the way Jagr wore it at the time.
“We’ve got big huge hair for Western All-Star Jags (Terry Alkema) and Dallas Jags (Trevor Freeman) went all out with the short mullet — we call him Modern Jags,” laughed Richter. “Pittsburgh Jags (Rhett Bagnall) wears the most coveted jersey and for some reason our Philly Jags seems to be a rotating door. Billy Christian is our Philly of late. He seems to be sticking around, so we’ll keep him there.”
The main group is filled out by Shayne Kuzek (Boston), Ryan Sellers (Florida), Nick Golden (New Jersey), Josh Hood (Kladno) and Tylor Keller (Rangers).
A radio station contest in Florida landed the group a Czech truck driver from Chicago, who temporarily filled the Czech national team jersey, until Monday night when the legend of the Travelling Jagrs grew even bigger.
We’ve got big huge hair for Western All-Star Jags (Terry Alkema) and Dallas Jags (Trevor Freeman) went all out with the short mullet — we call him Modern Jags.
against the Panthers, he went bananas.
Bennett scored just 56 seconds after the anthems and completed his hat-trick before the first intermission.
He added another shortly before the final buzzer, becoming the third-youngest shooter in hockey history to score four times in an NHL game.
“It was pretty special. It was a really surreal moment,” Bennett recalled. “But that was last year. I’m just focused on our team and winning games at this point right now.”
Bennett has nine goals and nine assists in 46 outings so far this season, but has managed just three points — all tallies — in his past 18 contests.
He hasn’t recorded a helper since Dec. 4.
“It’s frustrating when you’re not producing,” Bennett said. “I want to contribute offensively. But just playing the right way is my main focus. Hopefully, I keep getting chances and eventually one has gotta go in.
“I don’t want to be a one-dimensional guy, just all offence,” he added. “My penalty-kill, I think, has been really good for our team and I’m trying to help out as much as I can in any way I can without producing (points) right now.”