it was May 2, 1999 and it was the biggest he's scored in his entire career. It tied the series and may have saved the franchise.
Pens were losing, 3-2, in the series and if they would lose in the first round the team would move to Kansas City because they had no money. Pens had to make the second round to get the (money for) the payments.
This was Jagr at his peak, unreal. He had just seperated himself from the rest of the pack in a way that we hadn't seen since Mario/Gretzky. This was one of those games that we as Canadians call "gutsy" because Jagr was suffering from a groin problem (or ribs, I can't remember) but either way it was a game he shouldn't have played. He ties the game, wins it in overtime against Brodeur (who has a surprisingly poor playoff overtime record) and then got 3 points for the win in Game 7. He was such a dominating force out there and in all honesty we haven't seen a player do that on the ice like Jagr since..............Jagr. That includes Ovechkin and Crosby. I'm sorry but neither had a year like 1999 Jagr.
I know the Pens had a lot of financial troubles but I really don't remember anything about the team moving to Kansas City if they lost this round. Mario still had to come and save the day in 1999 with part ownership either way so I don't think it would have mattered. The Penguins were broke at that time.
This was Jagr at his peak, unreal. He had just seperated himself from the rest of the pack in a way that we hadn't seen since Mario/Gretzky. This was one of those games that we as Canadians call "gutsy" because Jagr was suffering from a groin problem (or ribs, I can't remember) but either way it was a game he shouldn't have played. He ties the game, wins it in overtime against Brodeur (who has a surprisingly poor playoff overtime record) and then got 3 points for the win in Game 7. He was such a dominating force out there and in all honesty we haven't seen a player do that on the ice like Jagr since..............Jagr. That includes Ovechkin and Crosby. I'm sorry but neither had a year like 1999 Jagr.
I know the Pens had a lot of financial troubles but I really don't remember anything about the team moving to Kansas City if they lost this round. Mario still had to come and save the day in 1999 with part ownership either way so I don't think it would have mattered. The Penguins were broke at that time.
100% agree. This will silence anyone who thinks Jagr never played his heart out. He was the best player on the ice even though he was injured and had not skated in a while.
As a side note, that was tremendous hockey. Straka is totally underrated. Jagr's 1 on 1 play on Stevens was great (~3:40).
On the brink of capturing their opening-round Stanley Cup playoff series, the Devils were victimized by the Penguin star Jaromir Jagr today. Making an electrifying return from a groin injury that had kept him out of four previous games, Jagr tied the score with a goal late in the third period and sent the Devils to a 3-2 defeat with another goal in overtime.
Jagr took advantage of the Devils' conservative play after they had a one-goal lead and enabled the Penguins to force a seventh and deciding game in New Jersey Tuesday night. The loss was the sixth overtime setback in a row in playoff action for the Devils.
''We were a little stunned and shocked,'' Devils defenseman Brad Bombardir said, ''but this is playoff hockey and things like this happen when you have the best player in the league playing. We can take the blame, though, because we became a little conservative.''
Jagr was hobbled so badly that he could barely stand up on skates before the Devils' 4-3 victory Friday in Game 5. He talked pessimistically Saturday of playing in today's game, but became more encouraged after being fitted with some scuba-diver's pants that provided more support and partly eased the pain.
''I felt pretty good,'' Jagr said. ''The new pants held my leg a little tighter and I felt much better when I skated. That's when I decided to play.''
Wow. You rarely hear of stories like that anymore.
I was so lucky to have been at that game. The atmosphese was unlike anything I've ever seen before. Glad to see Jagr recognizes the importance of that game!
That Penguins team had to be the most Euro-flavored team in recent memory.
Sven Butenschon, Jan Hrdina, Jaromir Jagr, Darius Kasparaitis, Alex Kovalev, Robert Lang, Aleksey Morozov, Martin Skrbek, Peter Skudra, Martin Sonnenberg, Martin Straka, German Titov, and Jiri Slegr.
That game and that goal was the highlight of my childhood fandom.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tortorella
It is a travesty that some Penguins fans aren't even considering him as a jersey retirement.
Putting aside how he left, I think a team should only consider jersey retirements for players who spend their whole careers with a team, and thus far it would appear the team agrees with me. Hows that a travesty?
That game and that goal was the highlight of my childhood fandom.
Putting aside how he left, I think a team should only consider jersey retirements for players who spend their whole careers with a team, and thus far it would appear the team agrees with me. Hows that a travesty?
Do you realize that in today's NHL, it is extremely rare that a player plays his entire career for one single franchise.
For every Lemieux, Sakic, Yzerman, Brodeur and Lidstrom, there is a Jagr, Bure, Sundin, Gretzky, Chelios, Bourque, Leetch and Roy.
Jagr should have his jersey retired by Pittsburgh no questions asked. He will always be the second greatest Penguins player and that says a lot when that franchise has seen the likes of Coffey, Francis, Kehoe, Lemieux, Crosby and Malkin don the Black and Gold/Yellow.
His PPG as a Penguin is second to only Lemieux, he's second in goals, assists and points in both the regular season and playoffs and he kept that franchise alive during the Lemieux retirement years and for all those reasons he should have his jersey hanging next to his idol and mentor # 66.
There is more to jersey retirement than stats. I'm a die hard Pens fan and I hope Jagr NEVER gets this honor here.
If Bure had his jersey retired in Vancouver and Roy his in Montreal then it's only fair Jagr has his retired in Pittsburgh.
It's not only stats, it's the fact that he brought fans to the arena and out of their seats on consistent basis, he was as exciting a player as they came and outside of his one season (2000-01) where he still won the Art Ross mind you, he was a great player who gave his all for the city.
1 bad year (where he was still a dynamite player) should not spoil 10 great years he had in Pittsburgh.
Some upset Penguins fans act like he killed their mothers or something. The NHL is a business and Jagr made a business decision when he left Pittsburgh.
The Penguins felt that if they were going to resign Jagr for a minimum of 10 million, there was no way they could have kept Lang, Straka and Kovalev.
If Penguins fans were expecting Jagr to sign for less than he deserved then they should also expect the same from Crosby.
He won 5 Art Ross trophies, 1 Hart, 2 Pearsons, 2 Stanley Cups and scored numerous "Big" goals for the Penguins. That team wouldn't even be in Pittsburgh if not for Jagr. He kept them competitive and exciting enough for Lemieux to come in and save them financially.
I don't care who else retires somebody's jersey. The Pens should have more sense than trying to honor a former star who has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't give a **** about the organization since he left them. He'd probably no show his own jersey retirement anyway.
I don't care who else retires somebody's jersey. The Pens should have more sense than trying to honor a former star who has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't give a **** about the organization since he left them. He'd probably no show his own jersey retirement anyway.
It's not Jagr who doesn't care about Pittsbrugh, it's the other way around, and quite frankly I would feel the same way about a team that basically **** on you and boos you everytime you touch the puck when you basically gave it your all for that same team for a decade.
The most upsetting thing for me in this whole lockout is I probably will never see Jagr live again. I went to the thanksgiving weekend game @msg last year but he was hurt
If Penguins fans were expecting Jagr to sign for less than he deserved then they should also expect the same from Crosby.
He did.
Jagr is also not a shoe-in to be the second best Penguin player ever. Some already put Crosby ahead of him (which I disagree with). Jagr left on bad terms, stayed on bad terms, attempted to come back, and then essentially said "no" to the Penguins on bad terms.
He'll probably have his number retired here eventually, but it won't be for awhile. The Penguins can show as much respect to him as he has to them. At this point, that's very little.
I was hoping not to sidetrack this thread, but it was/is clearly headed in that direction.
