NHL legend Jaromír Jágr, 52, announces plans to finally retire from professional hockey
Jaromir Jagr skates during warm ups after having his number retired and banner raised to the rafters before the game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Los Angeles Kings at PPG PAINTS Arena on Feb. 18, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo b
We are seeing the end of a very, very long hockey era.
Jaromír Jágr, 52, has been playing pro hockey in his home country of the Czech Republic since 2018, right after he finished his 24th NHL season.
However, he says that this season will finally be his last.
Jagr hinted in an Instagram post earlier this week that this would be his final season. He confirmed that was the case in a phone call with The Athletic.
Jagr made his NHL debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990 after being the fifth overall pick in that year's NHL Draft. Before that, he was a pro for what was then known as Poldi SONP Kladno.
Today, he owns, and plays for, that team, now known as the Kladno Knights.
Jagr played in the NHL in each season from 1990 to 2004 and then played overseas during the league's lockout. After the 2007-08 season in which he dressed for the New York Rangers, he played three seasons in the KHL in Russia.
Jaromír Jágr skates during warm-ups after having his number retired and banner raised to the rafters before the game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Los Angeles Kings at PPG Paints Arena on Feb. 18, 2024, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Joe Sar
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He returned to the NHL in 2011 to play for the Philadelphia Flyers, and played seven conseucitve seasons there before going back home.
In all, the 2024-25 season will mark his 37th in professional hockey.
Jagr appeared in just 15 games last season. It was the first season he ever played without scoring a goal, but he did manage to hand out four assists.
His 1,921 points in the NHL are the second-most in league history, behind, of course, Wayne Gretzky. He won the Stanley Cup in both 1991 and 1992 and has also won Olympic gold and a World Championship.
Jaromír Jágr of the Pittsburgh Penguins warms up prior to the start of an NHL Hockey game against the New Jersey Devils, circa 1990 at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Jágr's playing career went from 1988 to 2020. (Focus on Spo
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Jagr holds the NHL records for most game-winning goals, most goals and assists by a right wing in both a season and a career, and most consecutive 30-goal seasons (15, tied with Mike Gartner and Alex Ovechkin).
His 21 season-gap between Stanley Cup appearances is also the largest ever, while he's also the oldest player to ever record a hat trick in the NHL, doing so at 42 years and 322 days old.