By Canadian Press

Former teammates, coaches reflect on Jagr with Penguins set to retire No. 68 jersey

Feb 14, 2024 | 3:24 PM

Rick Tocchet remembers the kid with a flowing mullet. 

Put a puck in the corner for a one-on-one drill and Jaromir Jagr would usually emerge victorious. 

“I don’t know if there’s many guys that can beat him,” said Tocchet, who played alongside the ageless forward for parts of three seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. “He’s that good. I marvel at it.”

Set to turn 52 on Thursday, Jagr is still going.

Despite Jagr continuing to play professional hockey for the team he owns in his native Czechia, the Penguins will retire his No. 68 jersey Saturday in honour of his time — 11 of 24 memorable NHL seasons — with Pittsburgh. 

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“The one thing I always respected about Jags was his work ethic,” said Tocchet, now head coach of the Vancouver Canucks. “As an 18-, 19-year-old, we had to kick him off (the ice) at morning skates. He’d be out there for an hour.” 

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said Saturday at PPG Paints Arena will be a trip down memory lane.

“Awesome what he did for the team and what he means to the city,” he said of Jagr, who helped Pittsburgh win the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992. “Growing up watching him and seeing what he accomplished, playing against him, and seeing his jersey go to the rafters will be special.” 

Jagr put up 439 goals and 1,079 points in 806 regular-season games with the Penguins from 1990 to 2001. He sits fifth in franchise history in games played, and ranks fourth in goals, assists and points. 

The Penguins traded Jagr to Washington before the 2001-2002 campaign. He would play another 13 seasons that included stops with the Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames.

“Love the man,” said Stars head coach Peter DeBoer, who coached Jagr in New Jersey. “I had heard all the legendary things about him, and he was better than advertised. I learned a lot about the game.”

Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette, who had Jagr with the Flyers, enjoyed a similar experience.

“Some of the conversations that we would have in my office … you think you’re just about done for the day and he would come in and he would want to talk,” Laviolette recalled. “And you leave there thinking about what he said, and whether that had an impact on what you were going to do moving forward.

“Brilliant hockey mind.”

Jagr stepped away from the NHL after playing 22 games for Calgary in 2017-18.

Mark Giordano, who was then the Flames’ captain, said that brief stint in southern Alberta was unforgettable.

“He was always in the gym doing crazy workouts,” said the 40-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman. “Weight vest on, shooting the (medicine) ball with his hockey stick. One time he had inflammation in his knee and he taped potatoes to his knee. 

“He had a lot of superstitions. It was great.”

In 1,733 regular-season NHL games, the six-foot-three, 230-pound winger, who isn’t yet eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame because he continues to play pro, registered 766 goals, 1,155 assists and 1,921 points.

Jagr ranks fourth all-time in games played and goals, fifth in assists, and is second behind only Wayne Gretzky’s 2,857 points. 

He won the Art Ross Trophy five times as the NHL’s top scorer and captured the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 1998-99. 

Giordano said even late in his career, Jagr was a handful — especially in those one-on-one battles Tocchet referenced all those years ago.

“I know at 40 it’s hard to keep up with the speed of the game and all that,” Giordano said. “But he had a way of holding on to pucks and making plays. 

“It was pretty impressive.”

CHASING 70

Leafs sniper Auston Matthews has scored 42 times in 50 games, good for a 68-goal pace.

Crosby thinks if anyone can hit 70 for the first time since Brett Hull in 1991-92, Toronto’s No. 34 is the man to do it.

“He’s more than capable,” Crosby said. “It’d be great for hockey to see a run like that.”

HERE COMES MCDAVID?

Connor McDavid’s career-high six assists in Edmonton’s 8-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday brought him to 77 points in 47 games, 13 back of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov for the overall lead through his 53 contests.

The Oilers captain, who has won the Art Ross three straight seasons, is on pace for 131 points, six adrift of Kucherov’s current final projection.

McDavid claimed last year’s scoring race with 153 points, 25 clear of teammates Leon Draisaitl’s 128. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2024.

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Joshua Clipperton’s weekly NHL notebook is published every Wednesday.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press