2024-06-08 00:41:51
It could sound unusual, however earlier than the finals of the hockey Stanley Cup, the title of Jaromir Jagr is heard abroad. The hard-to-believable streak of the Czech 1968s remains to be alive.
Since 1980 within the NHL, not less than one hockey participant who shared the staff cabin with Jaromír Jágr performs within the closing sequence.
44 lengthy years in the past, this sequence was began by Canadian ahead Bryan Trottier, who captured the Stanley Cup a complete of six occasions. He labored with the Czech legend at the beginning of her profession in Pittsburgh, collectively they celebrated the league triumph in 1991 and 1992.
Different well-known names comparable to Mark Messier, Mario Lemieux, Brandon Shanahan or Chris Drury additionally seem within the distinctive statistics. The Czechs Pavel Kubina and Petr Sýkora are additionally current.
The wire was damaged in 2022, however solely in look. Within the then Stanley Cup closing between Colorado and Tampa, Ondřej Palát began on the facet of the defeated Florida membership.
The latter didn’t play with Jágr within the NHL, however they jumped collectively within the jersey of the Czech nationwide staff on the Olympics in Sochi 2014.
As well as, Jágr additionally is aware of Pavel Francouz from the nationwide staff, particularly from the 2014 World Cup in Belarus, who contributed to Colorado’s triumph instead goalkeeper.
On this yr’s finals between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers, Jagr “has” heart Aleksander Barkov and defenseman Aaron Ekblad, with whom he as soon as labored in Florida.
He even began on the identical line with Barkov, who’s now among the many candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy for probably the most beneficial participant of the playoffs.
They acquired alongside effectively with winger Jonathan Huberdeau within the 2014/15 season after Jágr’s trade from New Jersey to Florida, the place the Czech veteran revived.
“I assumed it could be my final season within the NHL. However I used to be fortunate that New Jersey traded me to Florida,” Jágr instructed the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti through the previous WC in Prague and Ostrava.
“I performed the final 20 video games of the season with the then younger Barky and Huberdeau. We acquired alongside immediately. Due to them, I performed one other three years within the league,” he added.
In the mean time, the 52-year-old Jágr remains to be not accomplished with hockey, he’s energetic within the extra-league Kladno, which he additionally owns. Nevertheless, he talks concerning the upcoming yr as his final.
Nevertheless, he’s nonetheless being mentioned within the NHL, although he left it in 2018 after his engagement in Calgary, Canada, didn’t work out. Jagr’s teammates within the Stanley Cup Finals are talked about yr after yr.
“You may see what number of generations of gamers Jaromír Jágr influenced as a teammate. I had the prospect to watch him extra intently within the battles for the Stanley Cup… The man is unreal, merely an ageless miracle. At some point he’ll most likely be buried in hockey gear,” he instructed the Day by day web site Faceoff former linebacker and now analyst Colby Cohen.