Jaromir Jagr’s jersey retired, time in Pittsburgh ’greatest’ of his life

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PITTSBURGH — There have been jokes. And laughter. And catharsis.

Simply no tears. Not less than none from Jaromir Jagr. Perhaps as a result of they have been pointless when the Pittsburgh Penguins retired his iconic No. 68 on Sunday.

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The look on Jagr’s face, the refined catch in his voice, the smile that is still boyish even at 52 mentioned all of it.

Regardless of the place the NHL’s second all-time main scorer has gone throughout knowledgeable odyssey that’s spanned 30-plus years and three continents, Jagr has lengthy understood the place his hockey house is: The place the place he arrived in 1990 as a teen from Japanese Europe shrouded in thriller, armed with a mullet that turned his trademark and the form of prodigious expertise that ultimately made him one of many sport’s all-time greats.

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“You ask anyone on the earth, Czech, Europe and also you say Jaromir Jagr, they’re going to say Pittsburgh Penguins,” Jagr mentioned earlier than a 40-minute on-ice ceremony that ended together with his jersey being raised to the rafters at PPG Paints Enviornment alongside mentor and Corridor of Famer Mario Lemieux’s No. 66 and Michel Briere’s No. 21.

Surrounded by his mom and former Penguins executives and gamers — Lemieux included — Jagr by no means broke down as he feared he may. As a substitute, the franchise’s fourth all-time main scorer let his 10-minute speech function the exclamation level on a weekend by which he reconnected with town to which he’s without end linked.

“The 11 years I used to be right here was wonderful,” Jagr mentioned. “Most likely the perfect years of my life. So thanks for that.”

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Jagr’s journey from Kladno, Czechia — the place he nonetheless performs for the group he owns at the same time as he drifts towards his mid-50s — for a celebration that appeared distant at instances was years within the making.

Sometimes not one for sentiment, Jagr made it a degree to drink all of it in. He swapped tales with former teammates throughout an occasion on Friday. He practised with the Penguins on Saturday — mentioning, “I used to be fairly good, let me inform you” — earlier than spending Saturday evening alongside Lemieux, Jagr’s idol-turned-running mate whereas main the membership to a pair of Stanley Cup titles in 1991 and 1992.

But even on a day — formally “Jaromir Jagr Day” in Pittsburgh — there have been nonetheless hints of the iconoclast whose ardour for the sport he’s helped redefine outweighs every little thing else. Nostalgia included.

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Jagr left the Penguins in 2001 when the then-financially harassed membership despatched him to rival Washington. He had an opportunity to return in the summertime of 2011 solely to signal with rival Philadelphia, a call that had nothing to do with not loving the Penguins and every little thing to do together with his perception that he may nonetheless play at a excessive degree in opposition to the perfect, a chance unlikely to occur in Pittsburgh, which was loaded on the time up the center with stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of their 20s.

Unwilling to simply accept a task on the third or fourth line, Jagr joined the Flyers as a substitute, an act of betrayal to a fan base that after idolized him and led to him being booed almost each time he returned as he bounced from group to group throughout the latter levels of his profession.

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It was bizarre, sure. Uncomfortable (if comprehensible) too at instances for a participant whose title is written on the Stanley Cup underneath the title “Pittsburgh Penguins” twice.

“I wouldn’t say I used to be egocentric however I used to be fascinated about myself,” Jagr mentioned. “Perhaps it was a mistake, I don’t know. Perhaps if I come right here the celebration can be larger.”

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No matter wounds there have been, nevertheless, have healed. The proof got here not simply throughout a rolling standing ovation when Jagr — carrying a darkish go well with and brown footwear — was launched however in the way in which he was embraced at each flip by a franchise that was teetering when he left, one which has now develop into synonymous with excellence.

“Once you take a look at the historical past of hockey, he’s someone that you simply’re all the time going to consider,” mentioned Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup winner himself. “The truth that he performed right here and had the impression that he did right here, what he was capable of accomplish over his profession, it’s unimaginable. And I believe all of us really feel fairly lucky to be a part of this.”

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So lucky that Crosby and the remainder of the Penguins skated out onto the ice for his or her pre-game warm-up earlier than Sunday evening’s contest carrying No. 68 jerseys whereas sporting black mullets in tribute to Jagr.

There was one skater on the ice, nevertheless, who was mulletless: Jagr himself. Save for the salt-and-pepper stubble on his cheeks, for a couple of minutes it was arduous to inform if it was 2024 or 1994. The sellout crowd — a lot of them sporting numerous iterations of Jagr jerseys (Penguin or in any other case) and some even donning white Jofa-brand hockey helmets — roared when he emerged from the tunnel.

It grew even louder minutes later when Jagr took one solo lap earlier than exiting into the darkness, a visit again to Kladno within the offing.

There’s a sport to be performed later this week. Greatness — in no matter type he can discover it at 52 — to chase.

“When you’re happy, I believe it’s over,” he mentioned. “Perhaps I’m not going to get higher however I wish to assume I’m getting higher.”

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