Jagr Watch 2017

[spiritfan]

Colby... in the wild

[spiritfan]

anybody troll the Czech sites and see whats being said there?... would love to hear those translations... "hockey god consider birds hockey play no gold involved he talk with old man see no tears under bridge in city steel hungers for games of chance where rivers flood"

[Jasmine]

All those who wanted Kovalev, get on your knees and BEG for Jaromir Jagr!!!!!!!!
MARIO JR - it started here . . . it should end here (with another Stanley Cup and jersey retirement).

[ILikeTurtles]

The more I read, the less I want to see him back. Spend the money on talent that will grow with the team, not just collect a paycheck and play for one season.

[marek]

The more I read, the less I want to see him back. Spend the money on talent that will grow with the team, not just collect a paycheck and play for one season.

What kind of "talent that will grow with the team" are you going to find on the open market comparable to the money that Jagr would be paid by the pens? This years FA pool is downright pathetic.

A one year deal with the Pens/Jagr is a no brainer. A real threat from the right wing position to play with either sid or geno... would make the pens chances of getting a cup next year much greater.

[columbia]

I assume he was talking about Kennedy.

[marek]

I assume he was talking about Kennedy.

um yeah... I rest my case

[SteelCityFan]

I still can't believe he'd come to Pittsburgh after looking at our cap situation. I think Detroit will have more money to throw his way and offer him all the gambling he wants in Windsor. I believe it will be all about the dollars. I don't think Jags is sentimental at all.

[marek]

I still can't believe he'd come to Pittsburgh after looking at our cap situation. I think Detroit will have more money to throw his way and offer him all the gambling he wants in Windsor. I believe it will be all about the dollars. I don't think Jags is sentimental at all.

detroit will throw more money at him... but he has always held mario in the highest regard and that does mean something... i'd give detroit the advantage 3 to 2 that he signs there

[KG]

We need a poll...Will Jagr sign with the Pens, Wings, Other...

[stopper40]

All those who wanted Kovalev, get on your knees and BEG for Jaromir Jagr!!!!!!!!
MARIO JR - it started here . . . it should end here (with another Stanley Cup and jersey retirement).

[Pavel Bure]

If he would come back Sid needs to work below the goal line and off to the side of the net. Jagr in the right circle, Geno at the right point, Letang at the left point, and I'd put Kennedy on the left circle cause he scored a few crashing goals this past season from that part of the ice.

[ILikeTurtles]

The more I read, the less I want to see him back. Spend the money on talent that will grow with the team, not just collect a paycheck and play for one season.

What kind of "talent that will grow with the team" are you going to find on the open market comparable to the money that Jagr would be paid by the pens? This years FA pool is downright pathetic.

A one year deal with the Pens/Jagr is a no brainer. A real threat from the right wing position to play with either sid or geno... would make the pens chances of getting a cup next year much greater.

What if that one year deal deters the pens from signing Kennedy? Also there is no promise that he can even take the abuse of a 82 game regular season plus an extra 20-28 games. This has the nostaglia of Kovalev coming back written all over, especially with the huge deal the media and fans are making of it, but at the minimum no one is complaining about if Crosby is alive or not.

[ILikeTurtles]

I assume he was talking about Kennedy.

um yeah... I rest my case

Kennedy's point totals have increased each season, minus the 09-10 season when he missed a few games with a groin injury, he is only 24 and is, most likely, only going to get increasing better.

[tonysoprano]

As so many people are bashing Jagr for the way he left the Penguins in 2001, I felt it was approriate to post his response

----

Jagr: I was sad when Pittsburgh traded me

http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... tning-rod/

The Pittsburgh media wanted to hear Jagrs take on returning to Pittsburgh, the team he left under unhappy circumstances in 2001. He looked relaxed and wanted to explain the circumstances from that time, why he asked to be traded, a move the Penguins fans have interpreted as betrayal.

“We went through the tough times with bankruptcy and the team didnt have a lot of money, Jagr said. “Marty Straka, Robert Lang, Alex Kovalev were free agents, all three of them. We werent going to be able to sign all of them. I thought, its going to be a lot easier for a team to trade one guy than let go three guys. Thats why I made the step. Its going to be easier for the organization. If they lost all three of them, I didnt think it was going to be good for the team.

Jagr did not try to defend his actions at the time and he said when he did talk, he struggled to express his feelings in English.
He emphatically denied one of the impressions people had, that he did not want to play again with Mario Lemieux when he came back after his first retirement that year. Lemieux was Jagrs boyhood idol, the leader of the team that won Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992.

“Without him, I wouldnt be playing right now, Jagr said. “I learned everything from him. I am going to still respect him until I die. You have respect the players, the teachers that you learned from. Without him, without being drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, without seeing him play, who knows where I would be? Maybe I wouldnt play hockey at all.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/stor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... ockey/home

Pittsburgh fans have long memories. They remember his lament during that final season that he was "dying alive" in Pittsburgh and they still seethe.

Jagr, though, tried to rebuild a bridge to the fans Friday morning after the Rangers' game-day skate in preparation for the opener of their Eastern Conference semi-final against the Penguins. He said the real reason he wanted the trade was to allow the cash-strapped Penguins to sign three other stars and some of the things he said to precipitate the deal with the Washington Capitals were youthful folly combined with his struggles to speak English after arriving from the Czech Republic.

"It happened eight years ago and nobody knew the truth," Jagr said. "Yes I did, I told [general manager] Craig Patrick I wanted to be traded. But this is the real reason I did it.. I was sad when they traded me.

"Maybe I could have pushed them to find the money or maybe get the new arena. But when you are a young player you don't think like a businessman. You don't understand how tough it is to make money."

In the 2000-01 season, the Penguins had just come through their second bout of bankruptcy. They only remained in Pittsburgh because Mario Lemieux found the financing to take over the team and later that season he came out of retirement, in part because the team desperately needed a gate attraction to stay solvent.

By then, however, Jagr was in a long public sulk. He fought with his coaches and teammates and the media.

Now, he says, looking back with the wisdom of 36-year-old eyes, it was all done to keep forwards Alexei Kovalev, Martin Straka and Robert Lang in Penguins uniforms. All three were set to become free agents at the end of the 2000-01 season and Jagr said he knew the team needed them more than him. After Lemieux made his comeback halfway through the season, Jagr said the team could afford to lose him.

"It was impossible to sign all of them but if we didn't sign them, we didn't have a chance to do anything," Jagr said. "I thought it would be a lot easier for the team to trade one guy than [get rid of] three guys.

"I just wanted to make it easier for the team plus there was no reason to keep me when Mario came back. I thought it was going to be good for the team."

That is where Jagr's explanation gets a little thin. Thanks to Lemieux's comeback, the Penguins did advance to the 2001 Eastern Conference final, which made them a little more stable financially. They did manage to sign Kovalev, Straka and Lang but this did not bring much success.

The Penguins failed to make the playoffs for the next four seasons and fell to the bottom of the league. Lang stuck around for one more season, Kovalev for two and Straka for three. Straka is now Jagr's centre on the Rangers and it may be more than coincidence that Jagr is playing his best hockey in years.

"Some comments were made," Jagr said of his departure in the summer of 2001. "You've got to understand, English is not my first language. I was kind of reacting to my situation when I was in Pittsburgh, with the coach [Ivan Hlinka]. It was before Mario came back from retirement and we played together.

"The coach tried to put three guys together. They were great guys, no question it was good line with Lang, Straka and Kovalev."

The problem was. Jagr said, that left no centre on the team good enough to play with him. At least not until Lemieux came back.

"There was no one else left on the team, and a lot of guys expected me to have the same numbers, the same goals," he said. "It's impossible when you don't have a set-up man. Everything changed when Mario came back. I scored a lot of goals because of him."

By the time Jagr left, his relationship with Lemieux was stretched thin. But, he says, he will always have great admiration for Lemieux.

"Without him, I wouldn't be playing right now," Jagr said. "I learned everything from him. I'm still going to respect him until I die."

*yawn*

Revisionist history.

[Lesky]

Wow....

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110621 ... n-t-answer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That was some of the most stinking crap I´ve read in a long long time

Well, he had a few points but it was mostly pathetic insults....

[tonysoprano]

I still can't believe he'd come to Pittsburgh after looking at our cap situation. I think Detroit will have more money to throw his way and offer him all the gambling he wants in Windsor. I believe it will be all about the dollars. I don't think Jags is sentimental at all.

detroit will throw more money at him... but he has always held mario in the highest regard and that does mean something... i'd give detroit the advantage 3 to 2 that he signs there

I truly believe it's as easy as this - if Mario wants him here - he'll be here.

And I'm not saying that like it's a good thing.

[Penspal]

Who was Jagr's setup man when he said""It's impossible when you don't have a set-up man."????? Was it Kip Miller? If so, I'd probably agree.

[penny lane]

Who was Jagr's setup man when he said""It's impossible when you don't have a set-up man."????? Was it Kip Miller? If so, I'd probably agree.

Kip Miller wishes he was the awesomeness that was Jan Hrdina. he played in Jan Hrdina's shadow on the fearsome line of 37-38-68!
It was a good line for 1998-99.

[Three Stars]

Quote from Total Penguins:

Although Jaromir Jagr had breezed to his fourth straight scoring title, he was a changed man--and not for the better. Fueled in part by uncertainty over his future with the team and off-ice problems, he had become a morose and sullen presence in the locker room.

Mario admitted to being shocked by his old protege's attitude. He tried his best to buoy Jagr's sagging spirits, to no avail. The sheer joy that had once been a hallmark of No. 68's play had all but evaporated.

Following the playoffs the situation worsened. During a farewell meeting at the club's training facility, Jagr took Craig Patrick aside.

"What's going on with me?" he asked.

When the Penguins GM began to explain that he needed to meet with the owners to discuss the possibility of a contract extension, Jagr cut him off.

"No, no, you don't understand," Jagr said. "I don't want to be here."

[NJ5934]

Quote from Total Penguins:

Although Jaromir Jagr had breezed to his fourth straight scoring title, he was a changed man--and not for the better. Fueled in part by uncertainty over his future with the team and off-ice problems, he had become a morose and sullen presence in the locker room.

Mario admitted to being shocked by his old protege's attitude. He tried his best to buoy Jagr's sagging spirits, to no avail. The sheer joy that had once been a hallmark of No. 68's play had all but evaporated.

Following the playoffs the situation worsened. During a farewell meeting at the club's training facility, Jagr took Craig Patrick aside.

"What's going on with me?" he asked.

When the Penguins GM began to explain that he needed to meet with the owners to discuss the possibility of a contract extension, Jagr cut him off.

"No, no, you don't understand," Jagr said. "I don't want to be here."

I can't believe we are discussing this. Jagr was a headcase is Pitt, in Washington and in NYC. By the time he made his way to NYC he was slow too. Didn't anyone get enough of the other aging, super skilled, has-been last season in Kovy. Didn't I read the "I'd rather have the skill of Kovy over the grunt in Rupp" post by a regular around here last year at the trade deadline.....well how well did that work out? There was a reason Jagr took his over inflated ego to Europe in the first place?

Pass

[columbia]

I must have a really sadistic side, to keep posting this stuff....

PENGUINS COACH INTRIGUED BY POSSIBILITY OF ADDING JAGR
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=369618" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[pens#1]

i really believe Jagr will be a Pen soon

[Mongoose87]

There's tons of revisionist history going on here. Suddenly, Jagr is an offensive juggernaut that always missed Pittsburgh and is a total cancer who was never particularly good.

[llipgh2]

There's tons of revisionist history going on here. Suddenly, Jagr is an offensive juggernaut that always missed Pittsburgh and is a total cancer who was never particularly good.

I think you covered everything. Well done.