Jaromír Jágr

Jaromír Jágr
Born February 15, 1972 (1972-02-15) (age 38),
Kladno, Czechoslovakia
Height
Weight		 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
240 lb (109 kg; 17 st 2 lb)
Position Right wing
Shoots Left
KHL team
F. teams		 Avangard Omsk
New York Rangers (NHL)
Washington Capitals (NHL)
Schalker Haie (Bund.)
Bolzano-Bozen Foxes (Serie A/6 Nat.)
Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
HC Kladno (Cze-1)
Ntl. team  Czech Republic &
 Czechoslovakia
NHL Draft 5th overall, 1990
Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career 1988–present

"I didn't even know what anagram meant in English, how could I translate that into Czech?"

—Jiří Hrdina, former Penguins teammate and fellow Czech trying to explain to Jágr that mixing the letters of "Jaromir" actually spells "Mario Jr"[1]

Jaromír Jágr (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjaromiːr ˈjaːɡr̩]  ( listen); born February 15, 1972) is a Czech ice hockey right winger who plays for Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League. Jágr formerly played in the National Hockey League with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, and New York Rangers, serving as captain of the Penguins and the Rangers, as well as for Avangard.

Jágr was the fifth overall selection in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. He would win two consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1991 and 1992 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. In his career he has won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading point scorer five times, received the Lester B. Pearson Award as voted by the NHL Players' Association three times, and won a Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player. He has been named to seven NHL First All-Star Teams. Jágr is currently in the top fifteen among players in NHL career goals, assists and points (as of the end of the 2008–09 NHL season), and is the all-time leader among European trained players in all three categories.[2] Jágr recently was chosen as the Czech Republic's flag bearer for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

He is one of a very elite group of hockey players to have won the Stanley Cup (1991, 1992), the Ice Hockey World Championships (2005, 2010), and the Olympic gold medal in the ice hockey tournament (1998). This is known as the Triple Gold Club, and Jagr is one of only 2 Czech players in the Triple Gold club, the 15th player to complete it out of 24 total, as of June 2010.[3]

Contents

Career overview

Jágr began skating at the age of three. At the age of 16, he was playing at the highest level of competition in Czechoslovakia for HC Kladno.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Jágr was the first Czechoslovak player to be drafted by the NHL without first having to defect to the West.[4] He was taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins with the fifth overall pick in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. He was a supporting player with the powerhouse Penguins that won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992. He was the youngest player in NHL history, at 19 years of age, to score a goal in the Stanley Cup finals.

Before he had a clean grasp on the English language, he could be heard reading the daily weather forecast on Pittsburgh radio station WDVE in his broken, thickly accented English. He and teammate (and fellow countryman) Jiří Hrdina were promoted as the "Czechmates", a play on the term "checkmate" from chess. Some Penguins fans realized that the letters in his first name could be scrambled to form the anagram "Mario Jr.", a reference to teammate Mario Lemieux.

In the 1994–95 NHL season Jágr won his first Art Ross Trophy as the scoring champion of the NHL. He tied Eric Lindros with 70 points but won based on his 32 goals to Lindros' 29. The next year, Jágr set a record for most points, 149, by a European-born player. Both his 62 goals and 87 assists from that season still stand as career-highs. His 1995–96 totals for assists and points stand as the records for right-wingers in those categories. After the 1997–98 season, Ron Francis signed with the Carolina Hurricanes, leaving Jágr the Penguins' captaincy. From 1997–98 to 2000–01, Jágr would win four straight NHL scoring titles. In 1999, Jágr would win the Hart Memorial Trophy, as the NHL's Most Valuable Player as well as the Lester B. Pearson Award. In 1998, he led the Czech Republic's team to a gold medal at the Nagano Olympics.

In addition to his hockey skills, Jágr was also well-known for sporting a mullet throughout much of his career.

On December 30, 1999 Jagr scored 3 goals and 4 assists for a 7 point night against the New York Islanders.

In 2000–01, Jágr was struggling to find his scoring touch and faced criticisms about his relationship with coach Ivan Hlinka.[5] With the return of Mario Lemieux from retirement, the Penguins had two superstars but friction developed between the two; Jágr held the captaincy but many fans regarded Lemieux as the talisman of the team. Also, the struggling, small-market Penguins could, with Lemieux back, no longer hope to afford Jágr's massive salary. Thus on July 11, 2001, they traded him (along with František Kučera) to the Washington Capitals for Kris Beech, Michal Sivek and Ross Lupaschuk.

Washington Capitals

Later that year the Capitals signed Jágr to the largest contract ever in NHL history (at that time)—$77 million over 7 years at an average salary of $11 million per year, with an option for an eighth year. However, Jágr did not live up to expectations, as the Capitals failed to defend their division title and missed the playoffs in 2002. Even when the Capitals reunited him with linemate Robert Lang during summer 2002, Jágr failed to finish among the league's top scorers or make the postseason All-Star Team during his time with the Capitals. In 2002–03 Washington managed to finish 6th overall in the Eastern Conference, but lost to the upstart Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs despite winning the first two games.

This prompted the Caps to unload much of their high-priced talent in order to save money—not just a cost-cutting spree, but also an acknowledgement that their attempt to build a contender with high-priced veteran talent had failed. Disgruntled, the Washington ownership spent much of 2003 trying to trade Jágr, but a year before a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was to be signed, few teams were willing to risk $11 million on Jágr.

On January 23, 2004, he was traded to the New York Rangers for Anson Carter and an agreement that Washington would pay approximately four million dollars per year of Jágr's salary. Jágr also agreed to defer (with interest) $1 million per year for the remainder of his contract to allow the trade to go ahead.[6]

Jaromír Jágr (on the right) with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sokolniki Arena, Moscow, 2001

New York Rangers

However, due to the new collective bargaining agreement signed before the start of the 2005–06 season, Jágr's salary was subsequently reduced to $7.8 million, the maximum allowed under the terms of the new salary cap.

During the NHL labor dispute in 2004–05, he played for HC Kladno in the Czech Republic, and afterward for the Avangard ice-hockey team at Omsk in Russia.

Jaromír led the Czech Republic to gold at the 2005 World Hockey Championships in Austria; and was elected a tournament all-star in the process. He also became a member of hockey's prestigious Triple Gold Club, players who have won a Stanley Cup, a World Hockey Championship, and an Olympic gold medal.

Prior to the 2005–06 season, the Rangers had missed the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons. Following the fire sale of the high-priced underachieving veterans that made up the team's roster, as well as the retirement of long-time captain Mark Messier, many experts picked the Rangers to be the worst team in the NHL. Jágr disagreed and promised the team would surprise a lot of people and make the Stanley Cup playoffs. He started strong during the beginning of the 2005 season and the return from the lockout of the NHL. He became only the fourth player in NHL history to score 10 or more goals in less than 10 games at the start of a season. His return to dominance helped the Rangers return to the Stanley Cup playoffs, but injuries to Jágr and others contributed to a quick Ranger exit in a first round sweep of the Broadway Blueshirts by the archnemesis New Jersey Devils.

Jágr scored his 1,400th point on a power play goal against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 2, 2006, pushing him past Jari Kurri into second place all-time among European-born players. He later passed Stan Mikita to become the all-time leader.

On March 18, 2006, against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jágr became only the sixth Rangers player in team history to break the 100-point barrier, and became the only Ranger right winger to score 100 points in a season.

On March 27, 2006, against the Buffalo Sabres, Jágr had a goal and an assist, which tied both the Rangers' single-season goal record of 52 (Adam Graves, 1993–94) and the Rangers' single season points record of 109 (Jean Ratelle, 1971–72). Two nights later, on March 29, 2006, Jágr passed Ratelle when he assisted on Petr Průcha's first-period goal against the New York Islanders' Rick DiPietro. 9 days later, on April 8, against the Boston Bruins, Jágr scored his league-leading 53rd goal of the season, breaking the Rangers' single-season goals record.

Jagr, a caucasian man with short, brown hair, has his head turned down slightly and is wearing a black suit and tie with a white dress shirt.
Jagr at the 2006 NHL Awards Show

After leading the league in points and goals for most of 2005–06, Jágr was passed by the San Jose Sharks' duo of Joe Thornton (125 points) and Jonathan Cheechoo (56 goals), losing both the Art Ross and Maurice Richard trophies in the final week of the season. Jágr finished with 123 points, 54 goals, and 24 power-play goals, second in the league in all three categories. He finished third in the league in both assists, with 69, and +/-, at +34. Despite being inched out by Thornton for the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy (league MVP), Jágr won his third Lester B. Pearson Award as the league's outstanding player. However, just as in Washington, playoff success was not to be for Jágr, whose Rangers were swept four games to none by the New Jersey Devils. Jágr suffered a dislocated shoulder in the third period of the first game of the series, which kept him from playing at his top form for the rest of the series. Jágr had surgery on the shoulder after the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs.[7]

On October 5, 2006, before the first game of the 2006–07 NHL season against the Washington Capitals, Jágr was named as the 24th captain in the history of the New York Rangers, replacing Mark Messier, who retired before the 2005–06 season. Jágr then proceeded to score a goal on his very first shift in the game, just under 30 seconds into the new season.

On November 19, 2006, he scored his 600th career NHL goal on Tampa Bay goalie Johan Holmqvist, making him the 16th player in NHL history to do so. Power play linemate Brendan Shanahan had scored his 600th goal almost three weeks earlier, making them the first teammates in NHL history to score their 600th goal in the same season.

On February 10, 2007, against the Washington Capitals, Jágr earned an assist on a goal by Michal Rozsíval to record his 1,500th career point. He is only the 12th NHLer to reach this mark. He is the fourth fastest player to score his 1,500th point after Marcel Dionne, Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky.

On April 5, 2007, against the Montreal Canadiens, Jágr scored his 30th goal of the 2006–07 NHL season to record 15 consecutive seasons of 30 or more goals. This tied the NHL record of consecutive 30-goal seasons held by Mike Gartner.

After a regular season slowed by a weak shoulder, he led the New York Rangers to a sweep of the Atlanta Thrashers in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Rangers would fall to the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

On November 14, 2007, against the New Jersey Devils, Jágr scored his 4th goal of the 2007–08 NHL season at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, making him the only player to score a goal in 53 different NHL arenas.

Jágr finished his NHL career 13th all-time goals scored (646), 9th all-time in points (1599) and 7th all-time in points per game (1.256).

Even though Jagr had departed the league after the 2008 season he left an impression with Ranger fans with the team salute that he created. After every Rangers home win, Jagr would direct the players to center ice and have the whole team follow in saluting the fans by raising their sticks in the air before departing the ice. The tradition is still carried on by the Rangers for every home win.

Avangard Omsk

On July 3, 2008, Jágr, now a free agent for the first time in his career, was informed by Rangers GM Glen Sather that the club was moving on without him. Sather admitted that the two sides never engaged in detailed negotiations for a new contract, and that after many months of speculation, Jágr was "seriously considering" going to Russia to finish his career, despite offers from other NHL teams.[8] A day later, these reports came true, when Jágr agreed to a two-year deal with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League; the deal will reportedly pay Jágr the equivalent US$10 million annually.[9]

Jágr has also expressed desires to finish out his career at his father's club, HC Kladno.[10]

Jaromír Jágr was sitting next to Alexei Cherepanov when Cherepanov, first pick of the New York Rangers, died. They were discussing the past shift when Cherepanov collapsed right next to Jágr. Jágr was named Avangard's captain on January 30, 2009.

In April 2009, Jágr publicly stated an interest in returning to the NHL, stating that he really just needed a break from the pressures of an 82 game NHL schedule. Jágr, who claimed to have lost 15 pounds since his last NHL season, and who was "practicing a lot harder than [he] ever did in [his] life" stated he would be interested in joining the Edmonton Oilers because of the interest they showed in July 2008. However, following the expiration of his original contract with Avangard, Jagr re-signed with Avangard for the 2010-11 KHL season, meaning that Jagr may finish his career in Russia.[11][12]

Off-ice incidents

Although he has repeatedly denied that he has a gambling problem, he admitted in 2003 that he settled debts totaling US$950,000 with two internet gambling sites between 1998 and 2002. The first of these incidents centered on Belize-based website CaribSports and its owner, William Caesar, to which Jágr owed US$500,000. Sports Illustrated reported that Jágr agreed to make monthly payments to Caesar to settle the debt, and Caesar leaked the story to the press when Jágr stopped making payments.[13] In 2003, the Internal Revenue Service filed a US$3.27 million lien against him for unpaid taxes for the 2001 tax year. Only a few months before, Jágr had settled a US$350,000 claim for taxes dating to 1999.[13] In the summer of 2006, Jágr sued his former accountant over a tax form that was supposed to have been filed in 2003, claiming that the form would have saved him $6 million had it been filed in a timely fashion.[14]

Personal life

Jágr resides in the Czech Republic during the off-season. His father, also named Jaromír Jágr, owns a chain of hotels and serves as president of HC Kladno.[15]

Jágr wears the number 68, which he has worn through his entire career, in honor of the Prague Spring rebellion that occurred in Czechoslovakia in 1968, also the year in which his grandfather died while in prison.

Jágr has been a long time supporter of the liberal conservative Civic Democratic Party, stating in 2004 that he "had always" voted for the party. In previous election he has appeared at the party's billboards and was among its generous sponsors.[16]

On May 26, 2010, he announced he was backing the Civic Democrats and its leader Petr Nečas. At the press conference he said: "I realise that there will be elections in two to three days. I would like their outcome to be good. We should not be in five to ten years where Greece is now."[17]

He also urged the party not to forget about sport when distributing money. "We all know what would happen if the young did not practice any sport. If children practice some sport, they do not have time for other things such as alcohol."[17]

Awards

NHL
Other

NHL records

New York Rangers records

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1984–85 Kladno Jr. Czechoslovak-Jr. 34 24 17 41 — — — — — —
1985–86 Kladno Jr. Czechoslovak-Jr. 36 41 29 70 — — — — — —
1986–87 Kladno Jr. Czechoslovak-Jr. 30 35 35 70 — — — — — —
1987–88 Kladno Jr. Czechoslovak-Jr. 35 57 27 84 — — — — — —
1988–89 HC Kladno Czechoslovak 29 3 3 6 4 10 5 7 12 0
1989–90 HC Kladno Czechoslovak 42 22 28 50 — 9 8 2 10 —
1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 80 27 30 57 42 24 3 10 13 6
1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 70 32 37 69 34 21 11 13 24 6
1992–93 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 81 34 60 94 61 12 5 4 9 23
1993–94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 80 32 67 99 61 6 2 4 6 16
1994–95 HC Kladno Czech Rep. 11 8 14 22 10 — — — — —
1994–95 HC Bolzano Six Nations 5 8 8 16 4 — — — — —
1994–95 HC Bolzano Italy 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1994–95 Schalker Haie Germany 1 1 10 11 0 — — — — —
1994–95 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 48 32 38 70 37 12 10 5 15 6
1995–96 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 82 62 87 149 96 18 11 12 23 18
1996–97 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 63 47 48 95 40 5 4 4 8 4
1997–98 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 77 35 67 102 64 6 4 5 9 2
1998–99 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 81 44 83 127 66 9 5 7 12 16
1999–00 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 63 42 54 96 50 11 8 8 16 6
2000–01 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 81 52 69 121 42 16 2 10 12 18
2001–02 Washington Capitals NHL 69 31 48 79 30 — — — — —
2002–03 Washington Capitals NHL 75 36 41 77 38 6 2 5 7 2
2003–04 Washington Capitals NHL 46 16 29 45 26 — — — — —
2003–04 New York Rangers NHL 31 15 14 29 12 — — — — —
2004–05 HC Kladno Czech Rep. 17 11 17 28 16 — — — — —
2004–05 Avangard Omsk RSL 32 16 22 38 63 11 4 10 14 22
2005–06 New York Rangers NHL 82 54 69 123 72 3 0 1 1 2
2006–07 New York Rangers NHL 82 30 66 96 78 10 5 6 11 12
2007–08 New York Rangers NHL 82 25 46 71 58 10 5 10 15 12
2008–09 Avangard Omsk KHL 55 25 28 53 62 9 4 5 9 4
2009–10 Avangard Omsk KHL 51 22 20 42 50 3 1 1 2 0
CZE totals00000000000000 99 44 62 106 30 19 13 9 22 0
RSL/KHL totals00000000000000 138 63 70 133 175 23 9 16 25 26
NHL totals00000000000000 1273 646 953 1599 907 169 77 104 181 149

International play

Medal record

Jaromír Jágr
Men's ice hockey
Olympic Games
Gold 1998 Nagano Team
Bronze 2006 Turin Team
World Championships
Bronze 1990 Bern Ice hockey
Gold 2005 Vienna Ice hockey
Gold 2010 Cologne Ice hockey

Jágr has represented his country many times, but his play has been hindered by injuries. In 1994 he and Martin Straka arrived in the middle of the World Championships. The fans' expectations were high as Jágr was an NHL star, but before they were able to integrate into the team Czechs lost their quarterfinal game and were out of the tournament. Jágr was also hurt in numerous other games.

The 1996 World Cup of Hockey also did not see Jágr at his best. His performance was hampered by the flu and it only underscored the poor play of the whole team. After losing 7-3 to Finland, 3-0 to Sweden and 7-1 even to relatively weak Germany, the team did not qualify for the playoffs.

All this was forgotten in 1998 when the Czech Republic won the gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. It was only the third gold medal for Czech or Czechoslovak sportsmen from the Winter Olympics and it is still fondly remembered.

Jágr did not play in the 1996, 1999, 2000 or 2001 World Championships, where the Czech Republic won the gold medals. He was a member of the team on the 2004 World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, where the expectations were high, especially after the team won all the games in the group, but they lost in the quarterfinals game.

It was the 2005 World Championships that finally brought a gold medal to Jágr. Although he broke his finger in an early game against Germany, he played with it bandaged during the rest of the tournament and led his team to victory.

More injuries struck Jágr in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He was injured after a hit from Jarkko Ruutu in the game against Finland; he required stitches to his eyebrow. However, the injury was not as serious as it first seemed, and Jágr was able to play in the following games. He was unable to finish the bronze medal game due to muscle injury. Despite this trouble Jágr won the second Olympic medal in his life — bronze this time. Jagr was the flag bearer of the 2010 Winter Olympics for the Czech Republic.

International statistics

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1989 Czechoslovak EJC 5 8 4 12 2
1990 Czechoslovak WJC 7 5 13 18 6
1990 Czechoslovak WC 10 3 2 5 2
1991 Czechoslovak CC 5 1 0 1 0
1994 CzechRep WC 3 0 2 2 2
1996 CzechRep WCH 3 1 0 1 2
1998 CzechRep OG 6 1 4 5 2
2002 CzechRep OG 4 2 3 5 4
2002 CzechRep WC 7 4 4 8 2
2004 CzechRep WC 7 5 4 9 6
2004 CzechRep WCH 5 1 1 2 2
2005 CzechRep WC 8 2 7 9 2
2006 CzechRep OG 8 2 5 7 6
2009 CzechRep WC 7 3 6 9 0
2010 CzechRep OG 5 2 1 3 6
2010 CzechRep WC 9 3 4 7 12

References

  1. ↑ Pittsburgh Penguins All-time Alphabetical Roster
  2. ↑ "Europe’s most productive hockey player". Czech.cz. August 19, 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-03-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20080316090806/http://www.czech.cz/en/news/sport/europes-most-productive-hockey-player/. Retrieved 2007-08-23. 
  3. ↑ Triple Gold Club
  4. ↑ "Athlete profile: Jaromir Jagr". cnn.com. 1998-02-03. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/events/1998/nagano/athletes/122.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-25. 
  5. ↑ "Super disappointment". CNN. 2000. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/news/2000/12/09/frustrated_jagr_ap/. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
  6. ↑ "Capitals get Carter in return". espn.com. 2004-01-26. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1716156. Retrieved 2007-08-25. 
  7. ↑ "Rangers' Jágr has shoulder surgery". ESPN.com News Services. 2006. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2437895. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
  8. ↑ "Never close to a deal, Rangers say goodbye to Jagr". Newsday. 2008. http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/rangers/ny-sprang0704,0,5525930.story. Retrieved 2008-07-03. 
  9. ↑ "Jagr signs two-year deal with Avangard Omsk". TSN.ca. 2008. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=242465. Retrieved 2008-07-04. 
  10. ↑ Zinser, Lynn (July 5, 2008). "Jagr's New York Exit Becomes N.H.L. Farewell". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/05/sports/hockey/05jagr.html?ref=hockey.story. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 
  11. ↑ "Jagr stays with Avangard Omsk". ESPN (via Associated Press). 2010-05-06. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=5165917. Retrieved 2010-05-06. 
  12. ↑ "Jagr Says Oilers Would be His First Choice for Return to NHL". TSN. 2009. http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=277073. Retrieved 2009-05-02. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Michael Farber and Don Yaeger (2003). "Capital Losses". Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/news/2003/03/12/scorecard/. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
  14. ↑ David Conti (2006). "Jagr sues former accountant". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_465310.html. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
  15. ↑ "Jagr's father, HC Kladno president". http://www.hc-kladno.cz/index.asp?staly=10. 
  16. ↑ "Jaromír Jágr v závěru volební kampaně podpoří ODS (Czech)". České noviny. 2010-05-26. http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/domov/volby/zpravy/jaromir-jagr-v-zaveru-volebni-kampane-podpori-ods/482333. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Jaromír Jágr podpořil ODS. Nechci abychom dopadli jako Řecko! (Czech)". ODS. 2010-05-26. http://www.ods.cz/volby2010/aktuality-Jaromir-Jagr-podporil-ODS--Nechci-abychom-dopadli-jako-ecko-1524.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  18. ↑ Home
  19. ↑ The Top 100 NHL Players of All-Time, Hockey News, Steve Dryden (1998). McClelland & Stewart, ISBN 0771041756

External links