Jaromir Jagr Looking Downright Contemporary for Flyers

I’m shocked by how good Jaromir Jagr has looked for the Flyers. When he left the NHL in 2008, he looked exhausted. He was playing for a coach who didn’t mind static, half-court offensive sets without much stretch-passing or speed, but the league was changing around Jagr and around the Rangers. It was becoming harder and harder to consistently win without lots of strong skating. Jagr could still score from a full-stop around the face-off circles, but his talents seemed to have an expiration date. He left the league for many reasons, but one of them was certainly that he just wasn’t built for the new NHL. At least not at his age. Jagr went on to play in the KHL before returning to the NHL this summer, signing on to play for the Flyers. But the Jagr we’ve seen in the pre-season has been a different one from the one that left the league three years ago. This Jagr is skating well. He’s all about hustling into the offensive zone. He’s not scared to...