After picking up an assist in the opening contest of his 37th professional hockey season, former Pittsburgh Penguins legend Jaromir Jagr will reportedly retire after the 2024-25 season with Rytíři Kladno in Czechia.
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As the owner and one of the Kladno’s star players, Jagr aims to play all 52 games this year to give fans one more chance to see him skate before heading off into the sunset.
Jaromir Jagr will play his final season of professional hockey this year for Kladno of the Czech league, per his agent.
If this is really it, what a career it’s been 🐐 pic.twitter.com/rf1UiyrR7j
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) September 19, 2024
In February 2024, the Penguins welcomed Jagr home by retiring his No. 68 jersey, just the third sweater to be raised to the rafters in PPG Paints Arena. Historically, the 52-year-old is the NHL’s second all-time leading scorer with 1,921 points, behind Wayne Gretzky’s 2,857.
Jagr began his NHL career by helping the Penguins win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 1991 and 1992. During the 1990s, he was the decade’s leading scorer with 958 points, winning five scoring titles and three MVP awards in a Pittsburgh sweater.
Had Jagr opted to play his entire career in the NHL, he would have been a lock to reach 2,000 points, but he departed at 32 to play in Russia in the KHL for three seasons.
Returning to the league in 2011, he completed his mission to score 700 goals, 1100 assists, and 1,900 points and won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 2016.
When discussing Jagr’s place among the all-time greats, his longevity, and outstanding statistics in the early part of his career make him one of the best to play professionally.
The Hockey Hall of Fame has a mandatory three-year waiting period for eligibility. There is a case in which Jagr could join his former teammates Mario Lemieux and Gretzky as exceptional cases in which the Hall of Fame would waive the three-year wait period.
Although inclusion into hockey immortality is all but a certainty, when he becomes eligible for induction is a topic for another day. For now, hockey fans globally should follow Rytíři Kladno and track Jagr’s progress one last time.
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