Good News: Jaromir Jagr Pretty Much Promises That He'll Play Until He's At Least 50
NBCSports - Jaromir Jagr’s hockey journey will come to an end at some point, but right now the 48-year-old legend isn’t ready to retire.
Appearing as a guest of honor during the 70th anniversary celebration of KHL side Avangard Omsk, the team he played for during the 2004-05 NHL lockout and later from 2008-11, Jagr said he still wants to play.
…“I can’t say how long I want to keep playing. The game is getting more difficult. I think I kind of lost the drive when I wanted to prove that I’m still capable of getting better. I feel a lack of motivation to keep playing, though this year is definitely not the last in my career.”
…One reason why Jagr says he wants to keep playing? Kladno is scheduled to take part in an outdoor game in Dec. 2021.
“This year we had to play in the Winter Classic game, but it was [postponed, from Dec. 2020],” Jagr said. “So I can’t retire now. I promised that I’ll play that game.”
Advertisement
Unfortunately it sounds like we're going to have to start preparing to live in a world in which Jaromir Jagr is not playing professional hockey somewhere at some point in the near future. Jagr played his first NHL game on October 5, 1990. I was not born for another 2 years after that, so I've quite literally never known a world without Jagr playing anywhere. Whether it be in the NHL, the KHL, or back home in Kladno, Jagr has always been saucing it up. So seeing him say that the game is more difficult and that he's losing motivation to play, well it's kind of like watching your dog struggle to accomplish simple, everyday tasks.
But we'll save the tears for when it's actually time to say goodbye. Because as of now, the show goes on. Jaromir Jagr ain't going nowhere. At least not until after next December when Kladno plays in their postponed outdoor game. And if he's going to be playing through December of next year, he might as well finish out that season. He'll turn 50 in February of 2022, so it only makes sense to at least keep going through then.
And then who knows from there. I mean Gordie made his return to the NHL when he was 51 or 52. And that was in the 70s when dudes in their late 20's already looked like they were in their 50's. So maybe Jags will get his agent on the line and see if he can land himself a final one-year contract. Get a couple more sheets in that bank account before hanging up the skates for good, ya know?
He might be getting older, he might be losing some motivation, but the man is still part God.
Give us at least 2 more years, big fella. You know you want to. Just as a treat.