Old man winner Jagr deflects Pens rift talk
Awkward split from Pitt still dogs quirky, spiritual star on eighth NHL stop at 44
SUNRISE, FLA.— When Teddy Richards began his new job as head equipment manager for the Florida Panthers, one of his first tasks was meeting with Jaromir Jagr and learning his preferences. It took 90 minutes. Inside the Panthers dressing room at BB&T Center, there’s no mistaking where Jagr sits. It looks like someone put a hockey equipment store in a blender and poured it out in the corner. While his teammates get one stall apiece, Jagr has two, better to house multiple pairs of skates and gloves, along with his weighted vests, ankle weights and three separate toiletry-type bags that Jagr keeps at his side.
The NHL’s oldest player by nearly half a decade, Jagr, 44, is best not confined to any sort of space. From his out-of-the-box workouts, to the constant tinkering with equipment, to his willingness to regrow his signature mullet, to his remarkable longevity, there’s only one Jaromir Jagr.
“He’s definitely a different bird,” teammate Shawn Thornton said. “He’s got his own way of doing things, but it’s obviously working for him because he’s still doing it.”
As well as ever, too. Jagr, who scored 27 goals in 2015-16, will turn 45 in February. For the first time, his number of NHL seasons without playing for the Penguins (12) eclipses the number he played with them (11). That much becomes apparent when you talk to Jagr about his Pittsburgh days.
“My fans are already dead or old like me,” Jagr said. “There are new fans. Half of them probably don’t even know I played there.” The Penguins, commemorating their 50th season this year, have chosen not to celebrate their two early 1990s Stanley Cup teams with Jagr and his Panthers when they’re in town Tuesday, preferring instead to do it Dec. 3 against the Red Wings. One of the three most important players in franchise history along with co-owner Mario Lemieux and captain Sidney Crosby, Jagr couldn’t care less. He is anything but wistful when it comes to his time in Pittsburgh.
“It’s not about me; it’s about the Pittsburgh Penguins,” Jagr said. “If I’m not in town, it’s fine. I’m just a very little piece of the history, a very little piece. So many great players have played for that organization. I’m just a little piece. I don’t know why they would adjust their schedule to me. I’m not that important.”
Four teams picked before the Penguins drafted Jagr in 1990. Speaking this summer, former general manager Craig Patrick said he heard Jagr was telling teams he would not come to North America immediately. Patrick encountered no such issues with Jagr, who said he’d be there on day one to play with Mario Lemieux.
The back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992 were impressive enough — only the Red Wings have won consecutive Cups since — but Jagr thought the Penguins of the 1990s could have been even more dominant.
“If Mario wouldn’t have had the back problems, I think Pittsburgh would have won three or four more Cups,” Jagr said. “Because he was dominating the league so much. Back then, one guy could make that big of a difference.”
While the beginning of Jagr’s tenure here could not possibly have gone better — he averaged 38 goals and 90 points before winning the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top scorer four consecutive years —it came apart at the seams toward the end.
In a Post-Gazette story from Dec. 13, 2000, Lemieux confirmed that Jagr had made a pair of trade requests. Jagr was frustrated with his poor start and believed new surroundings could help him.
“I wasn’t happy with the way I was playing, and I thought that maybe the change would help me,” Jagr said back then. “I wanted to get back where I was (in previous seasons).” Lemieux, of course, denied both requests, saying, “There’s only one Jagr in the world, and you don’t trade the best player in the world.”
Asked last week about his trade requests and desire to leave Pittsburgh, Jagr seemed to take issue with the idea that he wanted out.
“People believe whatever they want to believe. They never been there,” Jagr said. “They never been involved in it. It was only me and Craig Patrick that was there in that room.
“I know the truth, Craig knows the truth and God knows the truth. That’s all that matters.”
Shane Harper of the Panthers remembers watching old VHS tapes of Jagr’s top goals whenever he was little. Harper is now 27. “It’s hard to believe that’s still the same guy,” Harper said. “I feel like I was so young watching that.” Jagr has the eyes and ears of Florida’s talented kids, and he seems to have found the perfect situation in south Florida. He does what he wants, when he wants and how he wants to do it; nobody seems to care. The Panthers are thrilled to have someone who commands attention and respect.
During one recent shooting drill at a morning skate before a game against the Red Wings, Jagr slipped out of line, grabbed a seat atop the boards and watched. But don’t think Jagr is any sort of loner who detests his teammates. It’s quite the opposite. Jagr routinely jokes with Florida’s younger players, even if they are usually in awe the first time they skate alongside him.
“He’s not an alien,” said Vincent Trocheck, a centre for the Panthers. “He’s one of our teammates. He’s a hockey player. He’s just like one of the guys. He’s not any different.”
Jagr’s preparation for games and practice is something else. He’ll shoot a medicine ball into a wall. He loves working with a cable machine but instead of normal chest fly exercises, Jagr has affixed a hockey stick to one end of the machine, enabling him to shoot with a massive amount of resistance.
It’s not uncommon for Jagr to practise with a weight vest, weights on his ankles or weights in his skates.
“He does stuff I’ve never seen anyone else do,” said Penguins minor league winger Garrett Wilson, who played with Jagr last year in Florida.
Strength and conditioning coach Tommy Powers is on call 24 hours a day, for any of Jagr’s 11 p.m. workout
“I’m just a very little piece of the history.” JAROMIR JAGR ON HIS PENGUINS LEGACY
whims, but Powers loves it. He gives Jagr the freedom to do his thing, helping find new exercises when asked or simply providing a willing training partner.
“He never cuts corners on anything, which is one of the reasons I think he’s been so successful,” Powers said. “He knows what he needs to do, and he knows his body.”
And its energy. One of Jagr’s secrets is involving what Powers called the “spiritual” aspect of his routine: yoga, meditation and mindfulness. Jagr believes in opening up his chakras, adhering to an Indian religious con- cept where seven energy centres are located along the spine.
“I don’t see that from anyone else,” Powers said. “I’ve never seen someone encompass all those different aspects into their routines, training and their belief system. For him to be able to do that and bring it all together, that speaks to why he’s still playing at 44 years old.”
Still it’s the Penguins with whom Jagr is most often associated. He played 806 games for them, no more than 277 for anyone else.
Yet if Jagr is worrying about his place in franchise history, or whether his No. 68 will one day hang from the rafters, he isn’t letting on.
“It’s not up to me,” Jagr said. “Twenty or 30 years from now, if someone comes to the arena and knows that Jaromir Jagr played here, it would be nice. But it’s not in my hands.”