PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – There was a calmness, maybe it was a relief. A sense that Jaromir Jagr was finally welcomed back home. He sat at a podium after a whirlwind weekend Sunday to try to put his 11 years with the Pens in perspective as his number was retired.
“It’s a happy day, exciting day,” Jagr said on Sunday. “To see the fans, celebrating together. To see my teammates, the boys from the ‘90s. We won the Cup together.”
Jagr and his teammates shared a dinner together on Saturday night. Mario Lemieux was there, first time they had seen each other in years. He admitted he was tired and a bit jet lagged after the series of events he’s attended since Friday.
Asked right off the bat if he considers himself a Pittsburgh Penguin given he had played for several other rival teams over this career.
“Yes I do and I always did,” Jagr said.
“When you ask anyone in the world or in Czech or in Europe and you say Jaromir Jagr, they are going to say Pittsburgh Penguins no matter where I played after that.”
Getting to this day was never a given. This is was not why he played the game.
“I never pay attention to what I can do,” Jagr said. “What I can accomplish. What I can win. Retiring a jersey was never in my mind. I always played for love. I love the game and I still do.”
“This is an extra bonus. When you do the job you love to do and you see the appreciation from other people. That’s something that not many people can feel or understand.”
He may not have always been loved here. Jagr joked he still might get booed given he played for the Flyers, Devils, Rangers, Caps, Bruins, Panthers. He said he understands now why he was booed, but it wasn’t easy to hear it.
The jeers were intensified after he decided to sign with the Flyers in 2011 amid reports he would come back to the Pens. Jagr didn’t deny that was a possibility, but on Sunday tried to explain why he went with Philadelphia over a decade ago.
He was coming off a good World Championships and after being in the KHL a few years wanted to come back and prove he could still play in the NHL. Jagr said if he signed with the Pens it would be a one or two-year situation. Also, he’d be joining a team with Sidney Crosby running the top line and Evgeni Malkin on the second. He felt like he would be a third-line player and that he was better than that.
Jagr thought he could still be a star and called the situation at the time in Philly ‘a perfect fit’. He said he wasn’t sure if it was the right phrasing but that it was a ‘selfish move’ in that he was better for him. It wasn’t personal or any bad feelings he had for the Penguins.
He hopes today and what has happened this weekend has closed the door on all of it. Jagr is back as a Penguin.
“It’s a huge honor,” Jagr said. “Not many guys were that lucky to do something and work at what you love and get a trophy for that. It’s an honor the organization decided to retire my jersey.”
Sid talk
Jagr skated with the Pens during warmups before a practice in Cranberry at the facility named after his idol and teammate Mario Lemieux Saturday. Afterwards, he spent time talking to Crosby as he wanted to get caught up on the latest in the NHL. How the game had changed since he played it last.
Jagr complemented Crosby on scoring 30 goals again, now as a 36-year-old. He would have a keen awareness of how difficult that is.
“He is having the best season he’s had,” Jagr said of Crosby. “I’m happy for him. I think he can play another five-six years if he really wanted to. I always felt Sid was the guy who wanted to be the best. He wanted to be tomorrow better than he is today. That’s what you need if you are going to play long.”