A day after practicing with the team, Jaromir Jagr had his jersey retired by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Jagr’s number 68 was raised to the rafters at PPG Paints Arena shortly before the Penguins took on the Los Angeles Kings.
The full Celebrate 68 ceremony was streamed live on the Penguins YouTube channel.
Jagr, who was traded to the Washington Capitals in 2001 due to financial reasons, played for 10 different teams during his 24 years in the NHL, also spending time with the New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers, and Calgary Flames. Jagr scored the fourth-most goals in NHL history (766) and tallied the second-most points (1,921). But it was with Pittsburgh, the team that originally drafted him fifth overall in the 1990 NHL Draft, where the Czechia winger truly made his mark and became a household name. Jagr won two Stanley Cup championships with the Penguins and had four 100-point seasons, including eight with 94 or more.
The jersey retirement comes nearly 23 years after Jagr played his final game for the Penguins on May 22, 2001.
Jagr got a thunderous ovation from Penguins fans as he was announced to make his speech. Jagr, who was previously unsure if he’d have prepared remarks or speak from the heart, took out a piece of paper with words written down as he approached the lectern. He mixed a lot of his trademark humor.
“I gotta say what a weekend so far,” Jagr began. “It’s beautiful. I practiced with the team. I was pretty good. Let me tell you. I was pretty good. I had dinner with the boys. Thank you, guys. Today all the highlights, videos, goals, even the hair — great memories.
“I remember my first coach Bob Johnson always say ‘today is a great day for hockey,'” Jagr continued. “I’m going to use it and I’m going to change it a little bit. I’m going to say, today is a great day for me. To be here with you, hearing the cheers, I don’t even have to score, that’s beautiful. That’s never gets old.”
Current Penguins and Los Angeles Kings players sat on their respective benches during the ceremony. Jagr’s girlfriend Dominika Branisova and his mother Anna Jágrová were both in attendance. Special guests included Mario Lemieux, Scotty Bowman, Craig Patrick, Ron Francis, Matthew Barnaby, Robert Lang, Joe Mullen, Ken Wregget, Ulf Samuelsson, and Kevin Stevens.
Jagr briefly acknowledged his trade to Washington, where he was never fully embraced by Capitals fans due to his waning production and then-exorbitant salary.
“The fans in Pittsburgh since my first day when I got drafted here and the last day when I got traded,” Jagr said as the fans began to boo. “It happened. It happened… The whole 11 years here (in Pittsburgh) was amazing. It was probably the best years of my life so thank you for that. I’m proud to say Pittsburgh Penguins is my second home.”
Jagr went on to thank a who’s who of Hockey Hall of Famers and bit players that he played with in Pittsburgh, but made sure to let everyone know he didn’t care if he went over.
“I don’t know how much time I have but it’s my day so I’m going to make it as long as I want,” Jagr said.
He thanked his 29-year-old partner Dominika, a model, and made sure to acknowledge their 23-year age difference.
“She’s too young to remember I played in Pittsburgh but I told her all the stories so don’t worry about it,” Jagr said, eliciting huge cheers from the crowd.
Jagr also thanked his parents, moving his mother to tears.
“I gotta say thanks to my dad,” Jagr said. “He passed away last year but I know he’s watching in heaven. Thank you, Dad. He never played hockey but everything he said was right. I thank you for everything. And my mom, she moved from Czech when I was 19 to US. She was here for 10 years. I want to say thank you for everything you did for me. I really appreciate it.”
After he said his final thank yous, the Penguins raised Jagr’s banner as he watched along with his mom and girlfriend.
But Jagr’s special evening wasn’t done. The organization gave the future Hall of Famer an opportunity to join the Penguins out for warmups ahead of their game as Jagr still plays for the Czechia team he owns, Kladno. Several players wore fake mullets including Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
The entire team also made sure to take a photo with Jagr.
The legend did one more salute to Penguins fans before leaving the ice.
Once a pariah in Washington, Jagr’s dedication to the sport we all love and the class he’s shown in the later years of his career has washed away any bad feelings locally.
He truly is one of the greatest of all time. And, as he correctly pointed out, the Capitals would not have ended up with Alex Ovechkin without him.
Congratulations, Jaromir! And continued success from all of us at RMNB.
