All-purpose hockey thread...

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Um, neither. And I didn't say either was. Read closer.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

And you didn't...shit. Dooley/duly noted.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

I think you're too obsessed with dangles. ;D

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Jagr and His Czech Compatriots Are Leading a Rangers Revival

By LEE JENKINS
Published: November 3, 2005

Eighty-seven years to the day after Czechoslovakia declared its independence from Austria-Hungary, it was time for Jaromir Jagr to really cut loose.

At practice, he shot goals with no helmet. At lunch, he licked salad dressing off his knife. In the Rangers' dining room, he watched football on television. In the administrative offices, he bellowed, "The coaches here are really bad - just kidding."

The Rangers' Jaromir Jagr, 33, is skating with the exuberance of a 23-year-old. "When I'm not happy I can't play," Jagr said. "That's just the way I am."

It was unclear whether Jagr was celebrating his country's liberty or his own. He is finally free to skate unencumbered and speak uncensored. He has been emancipated, oddly enough, by a franchise that did not always maximize its superstars and by a league that used to oppress talents like him.

If the National Hockey League is to make a full recovery, it could use an assist from the big-market Rangers, and if the Rangers are to make a recovery, they will need goals galore from Jagr. He remains, even after two trades and a lockout, strong enough to carry the team to contention and graceful enough to ease the sport back into the public consciousness.

Almost one month into this season, Jagr leads the N.H.L. in goals and has provided the league with its first postlockout comeback story. How the Rangers and the N.H.L. got Jagr into open ice was indeed a dual effort. The league's new rules, which limit obstruction and discourage defensive play, have re-energized Jagr. And the Rangers' off-season moves, which surrounded Jagr with countrymen and friends, have comforted him.

"I feel free now," Jagr said last Friday, Independence Day in the Czech Republic. "They're letting me have fun here. They're letting me play my way. I can joke around again. I can smile."

He is 33 but looks 23, with his rosy cheeks and fair skin. For most professional athletes, a positive outlook is a bonus. For Jagr, it is a necessity. Keeping a smile on his face is one way for the Rangers to fill Madison Square Garden.

"When I'm not happy I can't play," Jagr said. "That's just the way I am."

Because Jagr arrived in New York in the middle of the 2003-4 season, and because the lockout wiped away last season, much of the metropolitan area never really got to know him. He was portrayed in Washington and Pittsburgh less as a high-scoring superstar and more as a high-maintenance diva who dated Miss Slovakia, racked up speeding tickets and incurred gambling debts.

By the time Washington decided to trade Jagr, the Rangers were among the only teams interested. He joined a losing team and could not reverse its course. Perhaps no player needed a year away from the N.H.L. more than Jagr. And perhaps no team needed a year to regroup more than the Rangers. The franchise that traditionally accumulated as many big names as possible realized it had to pick one and build around him.

"There are some special players out there who have certain needs to be at their best," Don Maloney, the Rangers' assistant general manager, said. "We felt it was important to get players to complement his style, players he likes to be around."

It is unusual that an organization would admit making certain acquisitions to appease a star, but the Rangers seem to understand the importance and the sensitivity of this particular star. In Pittsburgh, Jagr once said he was "dying alive" during a bad spell. In Washington, he attributed some of his uninspired play to a breakup with his girlfriend, the beauty queen. Jagr's penchant for melodrama made him a perfect fit, it seemed, for New York.

(CONT.)

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

New York reminds Jagr of European cities, and his preponderance of Czech teammates makes him feel almost at home.

His roommate on the Upper West Side is the Czech rookie Petr Prucha. His car pool to practice includes the Czech veterans Martin Rucinsky and Martin Straka. Jagr usually sits in the back, sipping a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. The group chats exclusively in Czech.

The car pool has grown this season. The Rangers now have six Czech players on their roster and three players who used to be with Jagr in Pittsburgh. "It's all by design," Rangers Coach Tom Renney said. "You can tell they enjoy each other's company."

Not only are the Rangers in first place in the Atlantic Division, but Jagr also leads the N.H.L. with 12 goals and Straka has complemented him with 13 assists. During games, Jagr and Straka continually gesture to each other, flashing the same sort of hand signals they used to give with the Penguins.

"We had this situation in Pittsburgh with a lot of Czech guys around him," said Michal Rozsival, a Rangers defenseman from the Czech Republic who played with Jagr in Pittsburgh. "He was always happy, always upbeat. He looks the same right now."

Jagr set the mood two weeks into this season, when the team was staying on Long Island for a game against the Islanders and their hotel was evacuated because an unidentified liquid had been tossed into the lobby. As Jagr emerged, he wore a makeshift mask and pretended to dry heave into a garbage can.

"This is the worst-case scenario for opposing players," said Keith Jones, a former N.H.L. player who is now a studio analyst for OLN, the N.H.L.'s new TV home. "Jaromir Jagr is smiling again."

Washington rarely got to see the playful side of him. In one year, Jagr went from 52 goals with the Penguins to 31 with the Capitals. He felt shoehorned into a conservative offense and muzzled whenever he tried to protest. "For me, it's all about respect, about how you're treated," Jagr said. "If you feel the organization doesn't respect you, then you won't respect them. If you feel like they are nice to you, you give more for them. You die for them on the ice."

During the lockout, Jagr rediscovered his desire and renewed his commitment. He went back to the bar he owns in Prague and his family's farm in Kladno. He played 17 games for HC Rabat Kladno in the Czech Republic and scored 11 goals, feeding off the sellout crowds that made him forget about the half-empty MCI Center in Washington.

"He played one game in my hometown and everybody told me, 'There is a big difference between this guy and everybody else in the N.H.L.,' " Straka said. "You know, they were right."

The ultimate sign of Jagr's growth came not at home, but in Russia. Through most of his life, Jagr held a grudge against the Soviet Union for the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, and he still wears No. 68 in memory. But last winter, Jagr played for Avangard Omsk in Russia, and last week, he said he would probably return. "As soon as my contract is over, I'll go back there to play," he said.

It was a startling revelation for someone whose grandfather died as a political prisoner during the Soviet invasion. Jagr, born four years later, was so opposed to communism that he carried a photograph of former President Ronald Reagan in his school textbook, then in his wallet.

"I think I've changed in a lot of ways," Jagr said. "Things still upset me, but not as much. I've got more patience. I don't get frustrated as easily. Nothing seems like it's so big a problem."

(CONT)

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

As Jagr relaxed in the Rangers' dining room, he watched the videotape of a famous National Football League game, Dallas Cowboys versus San Francisco 49ers in the 1982 playoffs. Football and hockey are his two favorite sports, yet he can grow weary of each.

He hates how structured they sometimes get. He despises the constant game planning and play-calling. But he loves the final minutes, when it is all up to the athletes, and the best ones generally prevail. Jagr was asked if he would ever become a hockey coach. "Yes," he said. "But I'd only coach little kids."

Jagr still fashions himself a youngster, even at 6 feet 3 inches and 245 pounds. He loves arcade games and used to keep a Ping-Pong table in his house. Many fans cannot help but remember him in his mid-20's racing wildly around the rink, his long mane of thick black hair flying behind him.

While he looks and acts the part of a superstar, he does not talk about himself as such. He did not want to be the Rangers' captain this year even though he is obviously their premier player. He apologizes for his English even though he speaks it fluently. He insists that he is not a goal scorer even though he has the second-most goals of any European player in N.H.L. history.

"I have a nice car," Jagr said. "But I don't drive fast anymore."

The Rangers would freeze this moment if they could. The team is winning. The superstar is grinning. The new rules and the new roster seem almost tailored to him. Even the offense, fun and free-flowing, looks snatched from an old Pittsburgh playbook.

"You can tell from playing against him that he's got his pride back," Devils center John Madden said. "I don't think he ever really lost anything. I just think he lost his focus. Now, he's the best in the business again."

The only question is how long it can last. How he will react to the Rangers' first prolonged losing streak or his first extended scoring slump? Will he sulk in the corner or step to the fore?

"I will be very upset if we don't make the playoffs," Jagr said. "It is my responsibility. It is my job."

In many ways, he and the N.H.L. have traveled the same course over the past 15 years. They experienced identical mood swings: the prosperity of the mid-1990's, the decline in the early part of this decade and now, perhaps, the rebirth.

They are tied together, an alliance for the freedom of hockey.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

The Rangers will collapse. They always collapse.

They're like the first little pig's house that way.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

A pretty good story, except for where Jenkins duplicated the "when I'm not happy" quote.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

that is very nice work by jenkins.

jagr is an interesting guy, by all accounts. during the world cup, he agreed to a sit-down with cbc where the reporter (a friend of mine) just roasted him a couple of times. I asked my buddy how jagr was about it, and he said, "the guys amazing. ive done several sit-downs with him where there have been tense questions, but he always handles it well and never carries a grudge."

jagr is a big kid, not at all malicious and sufferer of peter pan syndrome. same friend told me he first met jagr in pittsburgh during training camp for the 1997-98 season. jagr got out of the shower, went to his stall, and saw his shirt on two wire hangers. naturally, the guy put the shirt on with the hangers still inside. then, he refused to do any interviews on-camera unless they showed him dressed that way.

but, he is immature. his former coach in washington, ron wilson, had a rule that players had to be in shoulder pads for morning skates. jagr liked it without them, and they feuded over it. coaches have to leave him alone, he cannot be micromanaged, or he'll pout and sulk. and he cannot be your number one leader. he's more of a do-your-own-thing kind of guy.

but he's a very decent person. apparently, he donates a ton of money to children's causes in his native czech republic.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Sirs, Madames,

Re: Jagr

One story to tell. Back in 96, when the Pens were deep in the playoffs, maybe against Florida in E-Con final, coach Eddie Johnston gave players an optional on an off-day (Mario maintenance). EJ then told us that there was a flu bug going through the team, bunch of players knocked down. We inquire: Who? He offers the big guy (66 of course), Zubov, Nedved (I think) and, of course, Jagr. We are amused because it seems the bug goes after only star talent--being Chris Tamer or some plug would immunize you better than a flu shot. Anyway, into the dressing room a little bit later strolls JarJagr ... shirtless ... and sunburned. Took off his shirt on the ride into downtown in his convertible. Everyone expressed concern about his well-being and of course he said he felt good. When advised that EJ said that he had the flu 68 said: "If EJ says I have the flu, I have the flu ..." He looked at his sunburn. "... really it hurts all over."

A big kid, he used to be a lot of fun and I don't think he has a malicious bone in his body.

YHS, etc

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Mr. Miler,

'Tis a great Jagr story. And while Chris Tamer didn't suffer from a May flu, he was blessed with a complete lack of talent.

YHS.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

If I owned "Future Pro Goalie School", I wouldn't post a picture of Garth Snow on my website.



http://www.futurepro.com/index.html

Clearly, Snow doesn't abide by the site's subhead: "No rebounds."