52-Year-Old Jaromir Jagr Has To Hurry Back To Czechia After His Jersey Retirement Because He Has A Game
Jaromir Jagr is one of the greatest hockey players of all time, and I think there's a compelling case to be made that he's the best European player ever.
However, he's not in the Hockey Hall of Fame because the man — who turns 52 today, February 15 — can't bring himself to hang it up.
How long has he been at it? Well, the oldest player in the NHL is Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano. He's 40 now.
He was 6 years old when Jagr was drafted.
This weekend Jagr — the seemingly-ageless wonder that he is — will do something few if any players have ever had to do: haul ass across the Atlantic after his jersey retirement ceremony because he has a game to gear up for, according to the Associated Press.
The Pittsburgh Penguins — the team with which Jagr kicked off his NHL career and had the most productive years of his career — will retire his iconic No. 68.
It's a long time coming, but you've got to think that has less to do with the Pens being wishy-washy about whether to go ahead with retiring it — which is a no-brainer — and more to do with them twiddling their thumbs waiting for him to finally retire.
Jagr is taking some time off from the Kladno Knights, his hometown team which he also owns, to jet off to the Steel City for Sunday's festivities. Those will take place before the Pens take on the Los Angeles Kings.
Personally, I would've thought it would make more sense to hold the ceremony the next Sunday when the Pens play the Philadelphia Flyers, another one of the nine NHL clubs Jagr suited up for, but that's just me.
The idea of retiring an active player's number seems so unusual in and of itself. Maybe it's less weird since Jagr has been playing in Czechia since 2018.
But it got me wondering if a team had ever retired an active player's number. One instance that I found was when the Philadelphia Phillies retired Robin Roberts' No. 36 in 1962. In fact, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame, they did it following a Spring Training game against the Yankees in which Roberts started for the Yankees.
Jagr's number should be hanging in the rafters of at least one or two more clubs in the near future — the Rangers would make the most sense — but who knows when that could happen if he keeps playing.