Jaromir Jagr
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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|
| Position | Right Wing |
| Shoots | Left |
| Nickname | Jags |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 245 lb (111 kg) |
| NHL Team F. Teams |
New York Rangers Washington Capitals Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Nationality |  Czech Republic |
| Born | February 15, 1972, Kladno, CS |
| NHL Draft | 5th overall, 1990 Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Pro Career | 1988 – present |
Jaromír Jágr (IPA: ['jaromi:r 'ja:gr̩] , born February 15, 1972 in Kladno, Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic) is an NHL player and current captain for the New York Rangers. Jagr wears the number 68 in honor of the Prague Spring rebellion that occurred in Czechoslovakia in 1968, also the year in which his grandfather died while in prison.
Contents |
[edit] Career overview
Jagr currently plays with the New York Rangers. He still resides in the Czech Republic during the off-season. His father, also named Jaromír Jágr, is prosperous and owns a chain of hotels. The younger Jagr began skating at age three. At the age of 16, he was playing at the highest level of competition in Czechoslovakia.
Jagr was the first Czechoslovak player to be drafted by the NHL without first having to defect to the west.[citation needed] He was taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins with the fifth overall pick in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. He was a supporting player with the powerhouse Penguins that won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992. He was the youngest player in NHL history, at 19 years of age, to score a goal in the Stanley Cup finals.
Before he had a clean grasp on the English language, he could be heard reading the daily weather forecast on Pittsburgh radio station WDVE in his broken, thickly accented English. He and teammate (and fellow countryman) Jiri Hrdina were promoted as the "Czechmates", a play on the term "checkmate" from chess. Some Penguins fans realized that the letters in his first name could be scrambled to form the anagram "Mario Jr", a reference to elder teammate Mario Lemieux.
In 1994-1995 NHL season, despite having tied Eric Lindros for the league scoring lead with 70 points, Jagr would win his first Art Ross Trophy based on his 32 goals to Lindros' 29 goals. In the 1995-1996 NHL season, Jagr set a record for most points, 149, by a European-born player. Both his 62 goals and 87 assists from that season still stand as career-highs. Following Mario Lemieux's retirement, Jagr was awarded the captaincy. From 1997 to 2001, Jagr would win four straight NHL scoring titles. In 1999, Jagr would win the Hart Trophy, as the NHL's most valuable player as well as the Lester B. Pearson Award. In 1998 he led the Czech Republic's team to a gold medal at the Nagano Olympics.
In the 2000-01 season, Jagr was struggling to find his scoring touch and faced criticisms about his relationship with coach Ivan Hlinka.[1] With the return of Mario Lemieux from retirement, the Penguins had two superstars but friction developed between the two; Jagr held the captaincy but many fans regarded Lemieux as the talisman of the team. Also the struggling, small-market Penguins could no longer hope to meet Jagr's massive salary demands. Thus in 2001 they traded him to the Washington Capitals for three young prospects.
Later that year the Capitals signed Jagr to the largest contract ever in NHL history - $77 million over 7 years at an average salary of $11 million per year, with an option for an eighth year. However, Jagr did not live up to expectations, as the Capitals failed to defend their division title and missed the playoffs in 2002. Even when the Capitals reunited him with linemate Robert Lang during summer 2002, Jagr failed to finish among the league's top scorers or make the postseason All-Star Team during his time with the Capitals. In 2002-03 Washington managed to finish 6th overall in the Eastern Conference, but lost to the upstart Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs despite winning the first two games.
This prompted Capitals to unload much of their high-priced talent in order to save money — not just a cost-cutting spree, but also an acknowledgement that their attempt to build a contender with high-priced veteran talent had failed. Disgruntled, the Washington ownership spent much of 2003 trying to trade Jagr, but a year before a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was to be signed, few teams were willing to risk $11 million on Jagr. Eventually he was traded to the New York Rangers for Anson Carter and an agreement that Washington would pay approximately four million dollars per year of Jagr's salary. Jagr also agreed to defer (with interest) $1 million per year for the remainder of his contract to allow the trade to go ahead.[citation needed]
However, due to the new collective bargaining agreement signed before the start of the 2005-06 season, Jagr’s salary was subsequently reduced to $7.8 million, the maximum allowed under the terms of the new salary cap.
During the NHL labor dispute in 2004-05, he played for Kladno in the Czech Republic, and afterward for the Avangard ice-hockey team at Omsk in Russia.
Jaromir Jagr led the Czech Republic to Gold at the 2005 World Hockey Championships in Austria; and was elected a tournament all-star in the process. He also became a member of hockey's prestigious Triple Gold Club, players who have won a Stanley Cup, a World Hockey Championship, and an Olympic gold medal.
He started strong during the beginning of the 2005 season and the return from the lockout of the NHL. He became only the fourth player in NHL history to score 10 or more goals in less than 10 games at the start of a season. His return to dominance helped the Rangers return to the Stanley Cup playoffs, but injuries to Jagr and others contributed to a quick Ranger exit in a first round sweep of the Broadway Blueshirts by the New Jersey Devils.
Jagr scored his 1,400th point on a power play goal against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 2, 2006, pushing him past Jari Kurri into second place all-time among European-born players. He later passed Stan Mikita to become the all-time leader.
On March 18, 2006 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jagr became only the sixth Rangers player in team history to break the 100-point barrier, and became the only Ranger right winger to score 100 points in a season.
On March 27, 2006 against the Buffalo Sabres, Jagr had a goal and an assist, which tied both the Rangers' single-season goal record of 52 (Adam Graves, 1993-94) and the Rangers' single season points record of 109 (Jean Ratelle, 1972-73). Two nights later, on March 29, 2006, Jagr passed Ratelle when he was the primary assist on Petr Prucha's first-period goal against the New York Islanders' Rick DiPietro. 9 days later, on April 8, against the Boston Bruins, Jagr scored his league-leading 53rd goal of the season, breaking the Rangers' single-season goals record.
After leading the league in points and goals for most of the 2005-06 NHL season, Jagr was passed by the San Jose Sharks duo of Joe Thornton (125 points) and Jonathan Cheechoo (56 goals), losing both the Art Ross and Maurice Richard trophies in the final week of the season. Jagr finished with 123 points, 54 goals, and 24 power-play goals, second in the league in all three categories. He finished third in the league in both assists, with 69, and +/-, at +34. Despite being inched out by Thornton for the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy (league MVP), Jagr won his third Lester B. Pearson Award as the league's outstanding player. However, just as in Washington, playoff success was not to be for Jagr, whose Rangers were swept four games to none by the New Jersey Devils. Jagr suffered a dislocated shoulder in the third period of the first game of the series, which kept him from playing at his top form for the rest of the series. Jagr had surgery on the shoulder after the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs.[2]
On October 5, 2006 before the first game of the 2006-07 NHL season, Jagr was announced as the new captain of the New York Rangers, replacing Mark Messier, who retired before the 2005-06 season.
On November 19, 2006 he scored his 600th career NHL goal on Tampa Bay goalie Johan Holmqvist, making him the 16th player in NHL history to do so. Powerplay linemate Brendan Shanahan had scored his 600th goal earlier in the season, making them the first teammates in NHL history to score their 600th goal in the same season.
On February 10, 2007 against the Washington Capitals, Jagr earned an assist on a goal by Michal Rozsíval to record his 1,500th career point. He is the twelfth player in NHL history to reach this mark.
Jaromir Jagr is arguably one of the best hockey players, ever.
[edit] International play
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's ice hockey | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 1998 Nagano | Team | |
| Bronze | 2006 Turin | Team | |
| World Championships | |||
| Gold | 2005 Vienna | Ice hockey | |
Jagr has represented his country many times, but his play has been hindered by injuries. In 1994 he and Martin Straka arrived in the middle of the World Championships. The fans' expectations were high as Jagr was an NHL star, but before they were able to integrate into the team Czechs lost their quarterfinal game and were out of the tournament. Jagr was also hurt in numerous other games.
The 1996 World Cup of Hockey also did not see Jagr at his best. His performance was hampered by the flu and it only underscored the poor play of the whole team. After losing 7-3 to Finland, 3-0 to Sweden and 7-1 even to relatively weak Germany, the team did not qualify for the playoffs.
All this was forgotten in 1998 when the Czech Republic won the gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. It was only the third gold medal for Czech or Czechoslovak sportsmen from the Winter Olympics and it is still fondly remembered.
Jagr did not play in the 1996, 1999, 2000, or 2001 World Championships where the Czech Republic won the gold medals. He was a member of the team on the 2004 World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic where the expectations were high, especially after the team won all the games in the group, but they lost in the quarterfinals game.
It was the 2005 World Championships that finally brought a gold medal to Jagr. Although he broke his finger in an early game against Germany, he played with it bandaged during the rest of the tournament and led his team to victory.
More injuries struck Jagr in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He was injured after a hit from Jarkko Ruutu in the game against Finland; he required stitches to his eyebrow. However, the injury was not as serious as it first seemed, and Jagr was able to play in the following games. He was unable to finish the bronze medal game due to muscle injury. Despite this trouble Jagr won the second Olympic medal in his life — bronze this time.
[edit] Off-ice incidents
Jagr has been the subject of several notorious off-ice incidents:
- Although he has repeatedly denied that he has a gambling problem, he admitted in 2003 that he settled debts totaling US$950,000 with two internet gambling sites between 1998 and 2002. The first of these incidents centered around Belize-based website CaribSports and its owner, William Caesar, to which Jagr owed US$500,000.[citation needed] Sports Illustrated reported that Jagr agreed to make monthly payments to Caesar to settle the debt, and Caesar leaked the story to the press when Jagr stopped making payments.[3]
- In 2003, the IRS filed a US$3.27 million lien against him for unpaid taxes for the 2001 tax year. Only a few months before, Jagr had settled a US$350,000 claim for taxes dating to 1999.[3] In the summer of 2006, Jagr sued his former accountant over a tax form that was supposed to be filed in 2003, claiming that the form could save him $6 million (USD).[4]
[edit] Childhood Idols
By his own admission, Jagr states that his main idol growing up was US President Ronald Reagan, whose "peace through strength" policy led to the fall of European Communism. Jagr kept a picture of President Reagan in his academic notebook, which if discovered would have led to certain punishment.
[edit] Awards
NHL:
- Stanley Cup Winner - 1991, 1992
- Hart Trophy (MVP) - 1999
- Art Ross Trophy (Leading Point Scorer) - 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
- Lester B. Pearson Award (Players' MVP) - 1999, 2000, 2006
- NHL First Team All-Star - 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006
- NHL Second Team All-Star - 1997
- NHL All-Rookie Team - 1991
Other:
- Olympic gold medal winner for the Czech Republic in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano
- Olympic bronze medal for the Czech Republic in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
- IIHF World Champion - 2005
- Golden Stick Award (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006) holder, which is the highest trophy an ice hockey player can get in the Czech Republic. When he won his 6th Golden Stick in 2005, he surpassed Dominik Hašek for the most such awards in Czech and Czechoslovak history; and in 2006, he won his 7th.
- Czech Sportsman of the Year 2005, a trophy awarded by journalists in the Czech Republic
- IIHF World Championship All-Star Team - 2005
- In 1998, while roughly at the midpoint of his career, he was ranked number 37 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. This made him the highest-ranked player to have been trained outside Canada[citation needed].
[edit] NHL records
- Most assists by a rookie in Stanley Cup Finals (1991) - 5
- Most regular season points by a right wing (1995-1996) - 149
- Most regular season assists by a right wing (1995-1996) - 87
- Most regular season points by a European-born player (1995-1996) - 149
- Most regular season points by a player born outside of Canada (1995-1996) - 149
- Most regular season goals by a New York Rangers player (2005-2006) - 54
- Most regular season points by a New York Rangers player (2005-2006) - 123
- Most regular season power play goals by a New York Rangers player (2005-2006) - 24
- Most regular season shots on goal by a New York Rangers player (2005-2006) - 368
- Most regular season game-winning goals by a New York Rangers player (2005-2006) - 9 [tied with Mark Messier 1996-1997 and Don Murdoch 1980-1981]
- Most regular season goals by a New York Rangers right wing (2005-2006) - 54
- Most regular season assists by a New York Rangers right wing (2005-2006) - 69
- Most regular season points by a New York Rangers right wing (2005-2006) - 123
- Most all-time regular season points by a player who started his career in Europe - 1519 (As of March 25, 2007)
- Most all-time regular season goals by a player who started his career in Europe - 617 (As of March 25, 2007)
- Most all-time regular season points by a European born player - 1519 (As of March 25, 2007)
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1984-85 | Kladno Jr. | Czechoslovak-Jr. | 34 | 24 | 17 | 41 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1985-86 | Kladno Jr. | Czechoslovak-Jr. | 36 | 41 | 29 | 70 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1986-87 | Kladno Jr. | Czechoslovak-Jr. | 30 | 35 | 35 | 70 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1987-88 | Kladno Jr. | Czechoslovak-Jr. | 35 | 57 | 27 | 84 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1988-89 | HC Kladno | Czechoslovak | 29 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 1989-90 | HC Kladno | Czechoslovak | 42 | 22 | 28 | 50 | -- | 9 | 8 | 2 | 10 | -- | ||
| 1990-91 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 80 | 27 | 30 | 57 | 42 | 24 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 6 | ||
| 1991-92 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 70 | 32 | 37 | 69 | 34 | 21 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 6 | ||
| 1992-93 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 81 | 34 | 60 | 94 | 61 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 23 | ||
| 1993-94 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 80 | 32 | 67 | 99 | 61 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 16 | ||
| 1994-95 | HC Kladno | Czech Rep. | 11 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 10 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | HC Bolzano | Euroliga | 5 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | Bolzano | Italy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | Schalke | Ger-2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 48 | 32 | 38 | 70 | 37 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 6 | ||
| 1995-96 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 82 | 62 | 87 | 149 | 96 | 18 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 18 | ||
| 1996-97 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 63 | 47 | 48 | 95 | 40 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 1997-98 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 77 | 35 | 67 | 102 | 64 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 2 | ||
| 1998-99 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 81 | 44 | 83 | 127 | 66 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 16 | ||
| 1999-00 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 63 | 42 | 54 | 96 | 50 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 6 | ||
| 2000-01 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 81 | 52 | 69 | 121 | 42 | 16 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 18 | ||
| 2001-02 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 69 | 31 | 48 | 79 | 30 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 75 | 36 | 41 | 77 | 38 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2003-04 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 46 | 16 | 29 | 45 | 26 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003-04 | New York Rangers | NHL | 31 | 15 | 14 | 29 | 12 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2004-05 | HC Kladno | Czech Rep. | 17 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 16 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2004-05 | Avangard Omsk | RSL | 32 | 16 | 22 | 38 | 63 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 22 | ||
| 2005-06 | New York Rangers | NHL | 82 | 54 | 69 | 123 | 72 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| CZE Totals | 223 | 201 | 170 | 371 | 30 | 19 | 13 | 9 | 22 | 0 | ||||
| NHL Totals | 1109 | 591 | 841 | 1432 | 771 | 149 | 67 | 88 | 155 | 125 | ||||
[edit] See also
- List of NHL statistical leaders
- List of NHL players with 1000 points
- List of NHL players with 500 goals
- List of NHL players with 600 goals
[edit] References
- ^ Super disappointment (2000). Retrieved on 2006-09-26.
- ^ Rangers' Jagr has shoulder surgery. ESPN.com News Services (2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-26.
- ^ a b Michael Farber and Don Yaeger (2003). Capital Losses. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved on 2006-09-26.
- ^ David Conti (2006). Jagr sues former accountant. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved on 2006-09-26.
[edit] External links
- Jaromir Jagr statistics
- Jaromir Jagr stats from eurohockey.net
- Fan site about Jaromir Jagr (in Czech and English)
- Jagr stats on BHSA
| Preceded by Dominik Hasek |
Winner of the Hart Trophy 1999 |
Succeeded by Chris Pronger |
| Preceded by Robert Lang |
Czech Golden Hockey Stick 2005, 2006 |
Succeeded by none |
| Preceded by Dominik Hasek |
Czech Golden Hockey Stick 1999, 2000, 2002 2001 - Jiri Dopita |
Succeeded by Milan Hejduk |
| Preceded by Roman Turek |
Czech Golden Hockey Stick 1995, 1996 |
Succeeded by Dominik Hasek |
| Preceded by Ron Francis |
Pittsburgh Penguins Captains 1998-2001 |
Succeeded by Mario Lemieux |
| Preceded by Mark Messier |
New York Rangers captains 2006 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Wayne Gretzky |
Winner of the Art Ross Trophy 1995 |
Succeeded by Mario Lemieux |
| Preceded by Mario Lemieux |
Winner of the Art Ross Trophy 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 |
Succeeded by Jarome Iginla |
Categories: Articles lacking sources from August 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | 1972 births | Art Ross Trophy winners | Czech ice hockey players | Hart Trophy winners | Hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics | Hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics | Hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics | Lester Pearson Award winners | Living people | Converts to Eastern Orthodox Christianity | National Hockey League All-Stars | National Hockey League 50-goal seasons | National Hockey League 100-point seasons | National Hockey League first round draft picks | New York Rangers players | Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic | Olympic gold medalists for the Czech Republic | Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks | Pittsburgh Penguins players | Stanley Cup champions | Triple Gold Club | Washington Capitals players | Winter Olympics medalists
