I remember the online community being ecstatic when Jagr was traded. Beech had an amazing Corsi.
- YouMeAndDupuis9

haha F corsi

Jagr was my hockey idol. I got mad when he chose Philly over the Penguins but I'm OK with it now.

Jagr was a turd. The day he was traded was sad - sad because he had squandered so much in Pittsburgh and sad because his petulant trade demands put Patrick over the barrel and ensured that the return would suck. Sad because such a talented guy physically was a replacement level player mentally.

It's a cold November day in Boston. The Penguins are trudging through a miserable practice at the Fleet Center, 13 hours after losing to the Bruins.

Suddenly, the skating stops. All eyes turn toward team captain Jaromir Jagr, who is scolding linemate Jan Hrdina. Jagr is shouting in Czech, whacking his stick on the ice to emphasize his points. This goes on for several minutes.

You don't need to know Czech to know that Jagr has stepped way out of bounds - and that nobody is trying to stop him.

That fairly describes his final four seasons in Pittsburgh.

Everyone from the men who signed his checks to the men who chronicled his career to the boys who cleaned his jersey would look the other way when Jagr arrived late, left early or simply blew the whole thing off.

Certainly not his coaches. He undermined Constantine and his staff. By the end of Constantine's tenure, Jagr didn't even speak to them. Within weeks, he was driving Herb Brooks up a wall. He trashed Ivan Hlinka's system a month into the season.

Make no mistake, Jagr's attitude had plenty to do with the Penguins trading him. It was more than merely a financial move. Lemieux couldn't have known the extent of Jagr's spiral until he came out of retirement and re-established residence in the dressing room.

Had Lemieux found an exemplary captain, a player who wanted to finish his days in Pittsburgh, a player with the unmatched drive of a young Jaromir Jagr, he might have found a way to keep Jagr on the Penguins' payroll forever, as he once promised.

That is not what Lemieux found.

https://triblive.com/x/pi...564192.html#axzz3fbzGga8M

There is no nice way to put this: Jaromir Jagr has become one of the most pathetic figures in all of sports.

Maybe not sick pathetic like Mike Tyson, but pathetic nonetheless.

It has been almost two years since the Penguins traded Jagr to the Washington Capitals for Kris Beech, Michal Sivek and Ross Lupaschuk. At the time, Penguins General Manager Craig Patrick was widely skewered for giving away one of hockey's top talents for three marginal prospects. Today, he looks like something of a genius. That's not because Beech, Sivek and Lupaschuk have become stars. They're still prospects, at best. It's because of what Jagr has become.

A cancer in the locker room.

A coach-killer.

A grossly overpaid underachiever.

A symbol of everything that's wrong with the crumbling NHL.

Is it any wonder that the Capitals let it slip last week they would love to trade Jagr?

http://old.post-gazette.c...ts/20030610cook0610p1.asp

Jagr was a turd. The day he was traded was sad - sad because he had squandered so much in Pittsburgh and sad because his petulant trade demands put Patrick over the barrel and ensured that the return would suck. Sad because such a talented guy physically was a replacement level player mentally.





https://triblive.com/x/pi...564192.html#axzz3fbzGga8M



http://old.post-gazette.c...ts/20030610cook0610p1.asp
- hardnosed

If a guy like Messier, or Pronger, or Iginla rips a player for dogging it in practice, he's a great leader. If a guy like Jagr does it, he's a whiner.

Simon Despres has a tryout with Montreal. Great move for both. Always thought he was terribly utilized with the Pens and had way more to offer. Hopefully he can stay healthy and put together a career.

Simon Despres has a tryout with Montreal. Great move for both. Always thought he was terribly utilized with the Pens and had way more to offer. Hopefully he can stay healthy and put together a career.
- MacPatty

Its always the organizations fault when a player doesn't commit 100%

Simon Despres has a tryout with Montreal. Great move for both. Always thought he was terribly utilized with the Pens and had way more to offer. Hopefully he can stay healthy and put together a career.
- MacPatty

Yeah I agree. He will be guaranteed to join the AHL if not the big club (Especially with their savior Weber out)

Its always the organizations fault when a player doesn't commit 100%
- Murphy_Dump

I thought he did ok for a young defenseman for Pittsburgh. I was shocked when we was traded for Loveyjoy. That trade turned out pretty good

If a guy like Messier, or Pronger, or Iginla rips a player for dogging it in practice, he's a great leader. If a guy like Jagr does it, he's a whiner.
- jmatchett383

Except Jagr wasn't a leader like Pronger, and Jagr dogged it in practice all the time if he even showed up, which is the point of the blurb. And the chances of Jan Hridina dogging it in practice are slim to none, he was one of the hardest working Penguins at that time.

Didn't mention that Jagr had bad a groin injury and people didn't even know if he was going to play in Game 6.
- acdc1206

Yes. He basically played the game on one leg. He was fantastic.

Its always the organizations fault when a player doesn't commit 100%
- Murphy_Dump

I don't know what his level of commitment was. I do know that when he did get ice time he looked like he could be a legit top 4 d man. Just never seemed to get the ice time for whatever reason.

Except Jagr wasn't a leader like Pronger, and Jagr dogged it in practice all the time if he even showed up, which is the point of the blurb. And the chances of Jan Hridina dogging it in practice are slim to none, he was one of the hardest working Penguins at that time.
- hardnosed

I don't know. During his time in Philadelphia, he was a fitness fanatic and even asked for a key to the training facility so that he could work out before and after hours. He also was credited with helping Giroux go from star to superstar status and was a great presence in the locker room by all accounts. Granted, this is 10 years removed.

Maybe the fact that the Penguins penny pinching and icing half of an AHL roster at that time, basically wasting his prime, was extremely irritating and he didn't deal with it properly, I don't know. But I think the fact that the Penguins literally did not have the money that they were contractually obliged to paying him had more to do with the trade that his attitude.

You seem to have a bone to pick with Jagr, but if you look at his body of work, that guy gave everything he had to the Penguins, and was more or less the only reason to even watch them following Lemieux's retirement.

I don't know. During his time in Philadelphia, he was a fitness fanatic and even asked for a key to the training facility so that he could work out before and after hours. He also was credited with helping Giroux go from star to superstar status and was a great presence in the locker room by all accounts. Granted, this is 10 years removed.

Maybe the fact that the Penguins penny pinching and icing half of an AHL roster at that time, basically wasting his prime, was extremely irritating and he didn't deal with it properly, I don't know. But I think the fact that the Penguins literally did not have the money that they were contractually obliged to paying him had more to do with the trade that his attitude.

You seem to have a bone to pick with Jagr, but if you look at his body of work, that guy gave everything he had to the Penguins, and was more or less the only reason to even watch them following Lemieux's retirement.
- jmatchett383

What people don't get is that guys grow up. This is why Sidney Crosby will always and forever be labeled a whiner by NHL fans despite the fact that he doesn't talk to the refs any more than any other captain in the league at this point. Was Jagr a bit immature and self centered when he was in Pitt, sure, but for the second half of his career, there is no reason to believe he wasn't a consummate professional.

What people don't get is that guys grow up. This is why Sidney Crosby will always and forever be labeled a whiner by NHL fans despite the fact that he doesn't talk to the refs any more than any other captain in the league at this point. Was Jagr a bit immature and self centered when he was in Pitt, sure, but for the second half of his career, there is no reason to believe he wasn't a consummate professional.
- Victoro311

Although I'm not his biggest fan, the whole whiner/baby label on Crosby is totally unwarranted at this point in his career. Yeah, when he came in, he acted like a spoiled, entitled, petulant brat. He was also 18 with the weight of a league thrust upon him with every team in the NHL gunning for him. But right now, he's no more or less of a whiner/baby that any other marquee player.

I'm sure Jagr has matured over the years, but, were I in his shoes where I'm winning scoring titles and getting nowhere because ownership won't put a competent team around me (despite making the ECF is 2001 where they got crushed by NJ), I'd be pissed off, too, and doubly so when they can't financially pay me what we had agreed upon.

I don't know. During his time in Philadelphia, he was a fitness fanatic and even asked for a key to the training facility so that he could work out before and after hours. He also was credited with helping Giroux go from star to superstar status and was a great presence in the locker room by all accounts. Granted, this is 10 years removed.

Maybe the fact that the Penguins penny pinching and icing half of an AHL roster at that time, basically wasting his prime, was extremely irritating and he didn't deal with it properly, I don't know. But I think the fact that the Penguins literally did not have the money that they were contractually obliged to paying him had more to do with the trade that his attitude.

You seem to have a bone to pick with Jagr, but if you look at his body of work, that guy gave everything he had to the Penguins, and was more or less the only reason to even watch them following Lemieux's retirement.
- jmatchett383

The AHL roster didn't come until the year after he left. His last year there was a good bit of talent. Not the best Penguins roster ever, but not bad. And it was populated with his buddies like Robert Lang and Kip Miller. And that was part of it, too - the constant attempts to placate him (Hlinka) at the expense of team success.

And I freely admit that I hate Jagr like I hate Neil O'Donnell and Barry Bonds. Maybe it's because I'm a little older...lots of guys posting stories about being a kid when Jagr was traded - I was 26 and was over his diva routine when he went out the door.

There were also constant stories in and around Pittsburgh about him being a total jerkface.

Was Jagr a bit immature and self centered when he was in Pitt, sure, but for the second half of his career, there is no reason to believe he wasn't a consummate professional.
- Victoro311

Jagr was 29 when he was traded. It's not like he was a teenager whilst throwing his little fit.

Jagr was a turd. The day he was traded was sad - sad because he had squandered so much in Pittsburgh and sad because his petulant trade demands put Patrick over the barrel and ensured that the return would suck. Sad because such a talented guy physically was a replacement level player mentally.

https://triblive.com/x/pi...564192.html#axzz3fbzGga8M

http://old.post-gazette.c...ts/20030610cook0610p1.asp
- hardnosed

You kind of cherry picked some of the quotes in these columns to accent the bad stuff, you know that right?

Jagr was and likely still is a conundrum. I was mad at him (like you apparently still are) about some of what he did and said here, and then again after the whole Philly fiasco. I was 29 at the time he was traded but since then, enough stuff has gone on out in the real world in my life that holding a grudge against a hockey player that I've never met seems silly.

He wasn't always a great teammate, or a great representative of the team, but he remains one of the best hockey players of all time. Both can still be true. He shoulders the lion's share of the blame for his shortcomings, but it can also be said that the Penguins helped create the monster by feeding his ego and never reigning him in. Starkey mentions this in his column.

No matter what deal Patrick made, he wasn't going to get anything close to compensatory value back. You don't trade one of the all time greats and get back equal value. It was a dark day in Penguins history, but the deconstruction of the team was what lead to an eventual return to greatness. Hard to believe it was 17 years ago!

You kind of cherry picked some of the quotes in these columns to accent the bad stuff, you know that right?

Jagr was and likely still is a conundrum. I was mad at him (like you apparently still are) about some of what he did and said here, and then again after the whole Philly fiasco. I was 29 at the time he was traded but since then, enough stuff has gone on out in the real world in my life that holding a grudge against a hockey player that I've never met seems silly.

He wasn't always a great teammate, or a great representative of the team, but he remains one of the best hockey players of all time. Both can still be true. He shoulders the lion's share of the blame for his shortcomings, but it can also be said that the Penguins helped create the monster by feeding his ego and never reigning him in. Starkey mentions this in his column.

No matter what deal Patrick made, he wasn't going to get anything close to compensatory value back. You don't trade one of the all time greats and get back equal value. It was a dark day in Penguins history, but the deconstruction of the team was what lead to an eventual return to greatness. Hard to believe it was 17 years ago!
- Emperor Filonius

I linked to the full articles - and the good stuff in them was his on-ice performance. I've never criticized that, but there's more to hockey and life than scoring a lot of points. But Barry Bonds, even taking away the clean and the clear later years, was a great baseball player.

And I don't spend time thinking about Jagr, until he's the subject of another blog.

F the Hawks

F the Hawks
- 668710

Why even have a team in PHX if they are buying Hossa's contract just to do the bare minimum? Didnt they do that with Pronger too?

Why even have a team in PHX if they are buying Hossa's contract just to do the bare minimum? Didnt they do that with Pronger too?
- sammy87

And Datsyuk...

I don't know what his level of commitment was. I do know that when he did get ice time he looked like he could be a legit top 4 d man. Just never seemed to get the ice time for whatever reason.
- MacPatty

I liked him after he realized he was a big dude and started using that to a bit of his advantage. Looking as how his career has gone I think it’s safe that the people that study hockey for a living saw something we didn’t. That plus injuries.

I liked him after he realized he was a big dude and started using that to a bit of his advantage. Looking as how his career has gone I think it’s safe that the people that study hockey for a living saw something we didn’t. That plus injuries.
- Grinder47

Yeah Jags could have destroyed people, but instead he's playing pro hockey in his mid 40's. Ill never forget when OV destroy Jags in the olympics. Never thought someone could lay a hit like that on him. Even OV has scaled back on the physical play.

Kessel is the same way, he doesn't need to be physical so he can last an 82 game season. Players like Kunitz, Hornquest.....they dont have that skill set so being a bull dog is a requirement.

And Datsyuk...
- 668710

Is he still technically in their system?

Is he still technically in their system?
- sammy87

I think Dats contract is over......which opened up some more dumpster space for Hossa. I guess this is why the NHL keeps Zona around. League dumpster.

I think Dats contract is over......which opened up some more dumpster space for Hossa. I guess this is why the NHL keeps Zona around. League dumpster.
- madmike71

LMAO you guys are idiots.