Jagr continues to amaze, defy Father Time

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This article was published 15/12/2016 (3262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At a time when the National Hockey League is continuously perceived as a young man’s game more and more each day, Jaromir Jagr has been equally persistent in his battle to prove age is only a number.

While Jagr, who will turn 45 in February, continues to defy logic by not only keeping pace but excelling in a league filled with emerging young talent, he’s also on the verge of rewriting the league’s history books — climbing a list of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of skates.

In his third season with the Florida Panthers — and 24th in the NHL — Jagr, who finished with an assist in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Winnipeg Jets Thursday, is just three points shy of Mark Messier’s 1,887 points for second place all-time in NHL scoring.

Simply put, it’s no longer a question of whether he’ll pass Messier, but when — and by how many.

That’s OK with Messier, who, in a conference call with hockey reporters earlier in the day, said even he can’t help but to be impressed by Jagr and his ability to stay relevant in today’s ever-evolving game.

“You’ve got to give Jaromir a lot of credit for what he’s been able to do in his career early on, and then maybe even more credit for how he’s been able to sustain himself over the years and still be competitive and productive,” said Messier, who played 25 seasons in the NHL before retiring at the age of 43. “I can speak first-hand that I know what’s needed to do to play at this age because I did it myself, and it’s not easy.”

Messier, who played with Jagr in his final season with the New York Rangers in 2003-04, doesn’t have any ill feelings of being surpassed at No. 2. If anything, he said it’s been a long time coming, delayed by the fact Jagr had a three-year stint in the KHL before returning to the NHL for the 2011-12 season.

“In my own mind he surpassed me a long time ago,” said Messier, who added he’d like to be there in person to congratulate Jagr.

Messier also recalled the moment when Wayne Gretzky, who sits at No. 1 with a seemingly unreachable 2,857 points, passed the legendary Gordie Howe for the all-time leader and the way Howe had treated the special moment.

“As humble as Gordie was when Wayne passed him, I look at this like an opportunity to hopefully inspire the next generation of players and set the benchmark for them and hopefully inspire them to be the best they can be,” he said. “When there’s been almost 6,000 people come into the league, I’m the most surprised person of anybody that I’ve been sitting at No. 2 for this amount of time.”

The fact Jagr is set to eclipse Messier’s mark in far fewer games — Messier played 1,756 NHL games, while Thursday was the 1,660th for Jagr — makes the feat all the more impressive.

As impressive as it will be, that doesn’t exactly mean it’s all that surprising, particularly to those who see him on a daily basis. To his Florida teammates, Jagr falls somewhere between an enigma and superhero.

“He knows everything about what will happen, what could happen, what happens — we feel safe and confident when he’s here,” said linemate Aleksander Barkov. “I think everybody sees how hard he works, especially me. I see him working hard, and I want to work harder than him. He’s 44 years old and he’s the hardest-working guy in this locker room and in this league.”

A vigorous work ethic has been the key reason Jagr has been able to extend his playing career, one that has spanned across eight NHL teams, including Pittsburgh, where he won back-to-back Stanley Cups in the early 1990s, with additional stops in Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston and New Jersey before being traded to the Panthers midway through the 2014-15 season.

Ask around, and that willingness to put in the work has always been there, even in the early stages of his career when Jagr first joined the league as an 18-year-old after being drafted by the Penguins fifth overall in the 1990 NHL Draft. A gifted player offensively, Jagr’s strength was often overshadowed by his prowess around the net.

“Everybody thinks of Pittsburgh as this incredibly talented team back then, but very few people realize how big and strong their team was on top of talent, and Jaromir was one of those guys,” said Messier. “He was incredibly talented, as we’ve all seen throughout his career, but his sheer size and power has been one of the things that’s been able to separate himself from so many other players alongside his skill and skating.”

It’s that part of the game Jets head coach Paul Maurice remembers most, among other things.

“The hair probably… the round helmet from back in the day,” said Maurice, speaking Jagr’s iconic mullet hairstyle and Jofa headgear. “And then, how frustrated our defence was not knowing how to play a guy like that — it was different.”

“He would wait for you to come to him, and then you didn’t know which way he was going by the time he decided — he wasn’t just around you, he was five feet off you.”

Perhaps the only one unwilling to give Jagr’s pending milestone the kind of credit it deserves is Jagr himself.

After a strong showing last season, a year in which the Panthers claimed the Atlantic Division with a record of 47-26-9, this year has been defined by turmoil. The Panthers have struggled to find consistency in their game, eventually leading to the firing of head coach Gerard Gallant 22 games into the year.

“To be honest with you, I don’t really think about it right now,” said Jagr early Thursday. “We have to win some hockey games — that’s the priority to me right now. I know if I just stay healthy I’m going to play good and the points are going to come. The team is No. 1 for me right now.”

Even if the chance to be No.2 is right around the corner.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton