Jaromir Jagr’s return to Pittsburgh ended with his No. 68 retired — and catharsis

PITTSBURGH (AP) — There were jokes. and laugh. And catharsis.

Just no tears. At least not anyone from Jaromir Jagr. Maybe because he was unnecessary when the Pittsburgh Penguins retired his iconic No. 68 on Sunday.

The expression on Jagger’s face, the subtle hold of his voice, the boyish smile even at the age of 52 say it all.

No matter where the NHL’s second all-time leading scorer has gone during a professional odyssey spanning more than 30 years and three continents, Jagr has long understood where his hockey home is: the place where he was in the 1990s. He arrived in the United States as a teenager from Eastern Europe. Shrouded in mystery, armed with a mullet that became his trademark and the kind of prodigious talent that ultimately made him one of the game’s all-time greats.

“You ask anybody in the world, Czech, Europe and you say ‘Jaromir Jagr,’ they’ll say Pittsburgh Penguins,” Jagr said before the 40-minute on-ice ceremony, which ended with his jersey being raised to the rafters. PPG Paints Arena with mentor and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux’s No. 66 and Michel Briere’s No. 21.

Surrounded by his mother and former Penguins executives and players – including Lemieux – Jagr never broke down as he feared he might. Instead, the franchise’s fourth all-time leading scorer let his 10-minute speech serve as an exclamation point on the weekend, reconnecting with the city to which he is forever linked.

“The 11 years I was here were amazing,” Jagger said. “Probably the best years of my life. So thank you for that.”

Traveling to Jagr from Kladno, Czech Republic – Where He still plays for the team he owns Even as he approaches his mid-50s – a celebration that sometimes seemed far away was years in the making.

Normally not one for sentimentality, Jagger made it a point to get completely drunk. He swapped stories with former teammates during an event on Friday. He practiced with the current Penguins On Saturday – Before spending Saturday, pointing out, “I was pretty good let me tell you” – night with lemieuxJagger’s idol-turned-running partner as he led the club to Stanley Cup titles in 1991 and 1992.

Yet even on that day — officially “Jaromir Jagr Day” in Pittsburgh — there were still signs of the iconoclast whose passion for the game has helped him overshadow everything else. Nostalgia is involved.

Jagr left the Penguins in 2001 when the then-financially stressed club sent him to rival Washington. He got a chance to return in the summer of 2011 to sign with rival Philadelphia, a decision that had nothing to do with not loving the Penguins and everything to do with his belief that he could still compete against the best. An opportunity that could play at a high level was unlikely to occur in Pittsburgh, which at the time was loaded with mid-20s stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Unwilling to accept a role as a third- or fourth-line center, Jagr joined the Flyers, an act of betrayal of the fan base that had once idolized him and cheered him on whenever he was a When he returned from one team to another, he was criticized almost every time. During the last phase of his career.

It was weird, yes. Sometimes inconvenient (if understandable) even for the player whose name is spelled “Pittsburgh Penguins” on the Stanley Cup twice.

“I wouldn’t say I was selfish but I was thinking about myself,” Jagger said. “Maybe it was a mistake, I don’t know. “Maybe if I come here the celebration will be even bigger.”

However, whatever wounds there were have healed. Proof of this came not just during the standing ovation that Jagger received when he was introduced, dressed in a dark suit and brown shoes, but in the way he was embraced at every turn by a franchise that knew him. Was faltering after, which has now become synonymous with excellence.

“When you look at the history of hockey, he’s a guy you’ll always think about,” said Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup winner. “The fact that he played here and had an impact on what he did here, what he was able to accomplish in his career, it’s incredible. And I think we all feel very fortunate to be a part of it.

It was very fortunate that Crosby and the rest of the current Penguins skated on the ice wearing the No. 68 jersey while wearing black mullets for their pregame warm-ups before Sunday night’s contest in tribute to Jagr.

There was one skater on the ice, however, who was mullet-less: Jagr himself. For a few minutes it was hard to tell whether it was 2024 or 1994, except for the stubble of salt and pepper on his cheeks. The sellout crowd – many of them sporting various iterations of Jagr jerseys (Penguins or otherwise) and some even wearing white Jofa-brand hockey helmets – began to roar when he came out of the tunnel.

This became even more intense a few minutes later when Jäger did a solo lap before heading out into the darkness for the journey back towards Kladno.

There is a game to be played this weekend. Greatness – in whatever form he can find it at the age of 52 – is there to pursue.

“Once you are satisfied, I think it’s over,” he said. “I may not get better but I’d like to think I’m getting better.”

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