From one Pittsburgh Penguins captain to another, Sidney Crosby speaks on the jersey retirement of Jaromir Jagr.
After years of waiting, the Pittsburgh Penguins are officially honoring franchise icon Jaromir Jagr and retiring his jersey No. 68.
Jagr is 51-years-old and still playing professional hockey in his native Czechia, but the Penguins are ready to put his number in the rafters once and for all.
For many playing n the NHL right now, they grew up idolizing Jagr who grew into one of the greatest hockey players of all time.
For a handful of years when Mario Lemiuex was retired, Jagr was the Penguins captain; their current captain Sidney Crosby spoke about Jagr’s legacy in Pittsburgh.
“He had some great years here and an amazing career,” Crosby said. “He’s still going! It’s pretty rare that someone is still going and they get their jersey retired. He’s an exception.”
Crosby played against Jagr quite a bit over the years and there’s always been a repsect between the two.
“Everything I saw as a fan watching him, then up close playing against him,” Crosby said. “Really strong on the puck. Unbelievable shot. Big body, he was hard to contain.”
Jagr played with nine different NHL teams over his 24-season career, but his most successful run came in his 11 years with the Penguins.
Stanley Cup championships in his first two seasons, followed by five Art Ross Trophy’s as the NHL’s scoring leader and a Hart Trophy as league MVP, Jagr was one of the greatest of all time even then.
“He came in at a young age and was able to win back-to-back in his first couple of years,” Crosby said. “To be that big a part of it at that age, it was probably a good sign of what was to come.”
Some years down the line, Crosby will have his No. 87 hanging in the same rafters as Lemieux and Jagr, but that’s not something he’s focused on quite yet.
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