If you think former NHL superstar Jaromir Jagr is finished making his mark on the sport, think again.

Jagr, 53, is not just staying active within the game as a minority owner of Rytiri Kladno in his native Czechia. This past weekend, the icon continued his on-ice career for an incredible 38th season of pro hockey when he played twice for Kladno. He averaged just under 11 minutes of ice time and recorded a shot.

In continuing his playing career, Jagr may have delayed his entry into the Hockey Hall of Fame, which has a waiting period of three seasons before inducting any elite player into its august halls.

It was once possible for someone like Jagr to have the waiting period waived. But the Hall of Fame's board of directors eliminated the right of the selection committee to waive the waiting period except for humanitarian circumstances after Wayne Gretzky virtually went straight from the NHL to the Hall in 1999.

That said, if anyone deserves to have the waiting period waived – even if it requires the board of directors to give that right back to the selection committee – it’s a living legend of Jagr’s stature.

Many thought Jagr’s on-ice days had come to an end last season. He said before the 2024-25 campaign that it would be his last season in Kladno "for sure." He played 39 games for Kladno, generating five goals and 16 points.

But hockey fans should be happy to see him get another kick at the can as a player. As he sneers in the face of Father Time, Jagr has now eclipsed all-time great Gordie Howe, who played regularly until he was 52 years old – although of course, he played 80 games for the NHL's Hartford Whalers at that age. (Howe also played one shift for the Detroit Vipers of the now-defunct International Hockey League in 1997 at 69 years old.)

Howe was one of 10 players who didn't have to wait three years to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Some others are Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr, Jean Beliveau and Maurice 'Rocket' Richard.

Jagr deserves to be among those names as a top-10 player of all-time. If the HHOF's board of directors can’t allow the selection committee to waive the waiting period for Jagr, all you’re doing is delaying the inevitable for him. No one will argue he’s not a Hall of Famer, so why not acknowledge his special status sooner than later?

In 1,733 regular-season NHL games, Jagr posted 766 goals, 1,155 assists and 1,921 points. He has the second-most points, fourth-most goals and games played and fifth-most assists in NHL history.

He’s been a superstar for multiple teams – most notably, the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers – and even fairweather hockey fans know his surname. When you think of hockey fame, there are few players with a stronger brand than Jagr, so the sooner he’s rightfully inducted into the HHOF, the fairer the hockey universe will be.

For years, Jagr’s youthful buoyancy was his hallmark. But at a time when most pro players retire at age 40 or sooner, Jagr has now played more than 13 years after his 40th birthday. That’s simply astonishing, and that makes him all the more special.

Of all his many on-ice feats, Jagr’s longevity may stand out as the feat no other hockey icon will ever match, let alone improve on. Jagr has defied the tolls of time, and that makes him all the more deserving of being honored – sooner than later – as one of the best to ever do it, and certainly, as the best to do it the longest.

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Correction: Gordie Howe played for Hartford at 52.