Jaromir Jagr Explains Signing With Penguins Rival

PITTSBURGH – After years of waiting, the Pittsburgh Penguins have finally retired Jaromir Jagr’s number and jersey, immortalizing him as a franchise icon. The relationship between Jagr and the Penguins has been rocky at points, but with his number retired, it’s safe to say all is happy between the parties.

While the Penguins would have liked to see Jagr play his whole career in Pittsburgh, that wasn’t possible considering the Penguins landscape in 2001. A decade later, however, there was a chance for a reunion that may have changed the course of hockey history.

Jagr was returning to the NHL after a three-year stint in Russia’s KHL. Word at the time was that the Penguins were pursuing the icon, but a deal was never signed, and Jagr ended up signing with the hated Philadelphia Flyers.

Penguins fans booed Jagr years before this signing, but his donning orange and black struck a new nerve with the Pittsburgh faithful.

In a press conference before his jersey retirement ceremony, Jagr set the record straight on why a second stint between him and the Penguins never happened.

“I had a chance to come back," Jagr said. "There was big talk about 'I’m coming back to Pittsburgh.' When I was coming back from KHL, I still felt like I was a good enough player to play more than one year or two years.”

At the time, Jagr was 39 years old, and while we look at that as ancient in hockey terms, he spent another six full seasons in the NHL, plus the start of a seventh with the Calgary Flames. Despite his age, Jagr felt he could still compete at a high level and be a key contributor to a team.

“I wanted to go to a team where I’m going to have a fair chance to play a lot,” Jagr said. “The Penguins had such a great team.”

Entering the 2011-12 season, the Penguins were without Sidney Crosby, who was still recovering from the concussion he had sustained the season prior. However, Evgeni Malkin was still around and about to embark on an MVP season and score a league-leading 109 points.

Crosby eventually returned to the lineup and scored 37 points in 22 games.

“Sid has his line,” Jagr said. “Geno had his line. I felt like I would probably play third or fourth line. I felt like I wouldn’t get fair chance to show what I can do.”

That same year, James Neal stepped up in a massive way for the Penguins with 40 goals and 41 assists for 81 total points.

The Flyers came to Jagr with an opportunity to be a top player, and he couldn’t turn it down. He scored 19 goals and notched 54 total points in Philadelphia.

“I felt ‘this is a perfect fit for me,’” Jagr said. “I don’t know if I would say I was selfish, but I was thinking of myself.”

Jagr wanted his chance to show what he could do in the NHL, and there is no faulting him for that. Jagr went on to play those seven seasons and was a useful piece in most of them. He led the New Jersey Devils in scoring in 2013-14 with 67 points, then led the Florida Panthers in 2015-16 with 66 points.

The fans may not have liked seeing Jagr with the cross-state rival, but it was the best situation for him then and helped further solidify his stature as one of the greatest players of all time.

“Maybe if I come here, the celebration would be bigger,” Jagr said. “I took that chance.”

As fate would have it, the Penguins and Flyers met in the opening round of the playoffs that year. Fans of both franchises know how it ended and the epic matches (or brawls) that took place as the Flyers trounced the Penguins in six games.

That series saw 56 goals between the Penguins and Flyers and 312 penalty minutes. Jagr had a goal and seven assists. Crosby and Malkin both put up three goals and five assists.

Jagr may have had his number retired by the Penguins, but he still plays professional hockey in his native Czechia. At 52 years old, Jagr has shown no signs of slowing down.