A connection to a Pittsburgh Penguins icon can be made for every Stanley Cup Final since 1980.

PITTSBURGH – For the 44^th consecutive year, the Stanley Cup Final will feature a special connection to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Every year since 1980, at least one teammate of Jaromir Jagr (or Jagr himself) has appeared in the Cup Final.

The 2024 Stanley Cup Final is set to kick off between the Edmonton Oilers and one of Jagr’s former teams, the Florida Panthers. Jagr played with the Panthers for over two seasons, starting in 2014-15. His last year in Florida came in 2016-17 when he played all 82 games at the age of 44 and scored 46 points.

Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad were on the Panthers for the entirety of Jagr’s tenure. Dmitry Kulikov was a feature in the previous two seasons.

The Oilers aren’t without former Jagr teammates, as defenseman Brett Kulak has his own connection. Kulak shared a locker room with Jagr during his 22-game stint with the Calgary Flames at the tail end of his NHL career.

Jagr's teammates' streak started in 1980 with four straight appearances by Bryan Trottier and the New York Islanders. Jagr entered the league in 1990 and immediately made two consecutive Cup Finals.

The only hitch in the stream is in 2022, where there needs to be a bit of a stretch made. Between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning, no one played with Jagr at the NHL level.

Lightning forward Ondrej Palat, however, skated with Jagr during the 2014 Olympics representing Czechia, and that tournament feels like enough to keep the streak alive and allow Jagr’s legend to grow.

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