#to win back Jagr ...

[icedbatik]

I'm sure this one took Mario by surprise ...

[annieqattheperipheral]

OK OK OKAYYY COME THRU matthew's disaster love life/ dream cgi holographic current stars & still alive alums matchup:

Matthew Tkachuk: I would think it'd be a lot of fun to go back in time and play with my dad. I think my brother and I would both want to play with him and throw him at centre. I don't know, that'd be a crazy line to play against so I think if I had to go back in time and play with one guy, it'd definitely be my dad. Wouldn't pass to him though.

Leon Draisaitl: Jaromir Jagr. Just always fascinated by the way he plays. Someone that I idolized growing up, loved the way he played.

Aleksander Barkov: Go back in time like three years [to 2017] and play with Jagr again.

And yes, there IS a third boyfriend team based off of this vid for the winning trio to go up against. But that's to be revealed once these results are in... aaah i want your voting reasons in the tags! It is your hrpf enthusiast civic duty. probably.

[crosbyism]

Next Generation’s Best | Four

An essay on generational talents, gender, and the NHL in six parts.

<Previous | Masterpost | Next>

Part Four: Long Live

The early 2000s were a chaotic time for the NHL: hockey had turned out to be a team sport after all, and while generational talents still existed, they were few and far in between. It was becoming somewhat of a consensus that the generational diva wasn’t worth it. Eric Lindros, who dramatically refused to go to the team he was drafted to, never won a Cup for the Flyers. Jagr, the best-paid player in the league, couldn’t win a Cup without Lemieux, and worse, he couldn’t save the Penguins from looming bankruptcy. He had to be begged by ownership to let them trade him: without his salary on the books, they might be able to keep the team afloat.

Curiously, Cups were being won by team efforts instead of simply the team that had the best player. Wayne Gretzky’s retirement in ‘99 had left an eerie hole in world. There were whispers of some incredible talent coming out of Europe; and in 2004, the first two overalls were both Russian— unheard of.

But Russians as cornerstone generational players? Who knows if they can hack it in the big, tough NHL. Most of them are too soft.

Right before the 2004/2005 lockout, it seems that the consensus stands: the generational player is dead. 

2005

—Wait, wait, here’s another one, might be the next big thing since Gretz, but god, isn’t he too small? I swear Gretz was taller; this guy must be smaller. He must be. Fat lips, chubby cheeks; he doesn’t look enough like a man— looks more like something you’d like to see on its knees when you get home, haha, am I right fellas?

Aren’t I right? He looks like he doesn’t hit, right? He must not. He must not have over a hundred penalty minutes as a rookie. He must not; he’s too skilled. He’s too fat-lipped. He complains to refs too much. He must not be able to hit at all. It’s been more than five years since Gretz retired, so my memory might be a little blurry, but I swear he wasn’t this small, this conflict-avoidant. Almost like a girl.

What’s his name? Sidney? Barely a man’s name; and how much he whines? May as well be a girl. Almost sounds like Cindy.

Boy, isn’t that clever enough to put on a poster.

—

Sidney Crosby’s biggest crime was debuting in the mid-2000s. I wish I was joking more than I am, but that’s the long and the short of it. Homosexuality had just about been legal long enough that it was a viable option to publicly admit to without fear of the death penalty or imprisonment. The first celebrities had come out and were living like they were normal people and not ostracised freaks. Elton John was still rich despite living with a man, and his songs still slapped. Britney was three years out from getting hounded so much by paparazzi that she would shave her hair off live on camera.

Enter Sidney Crosby, the NHL’s newest golden goose. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but he’s smaller than he should be. His hands are soft and skilled, he’s been outshining everyone since age 12 and earlier. Can see the ice like no one else. But can he really make it at that size? People suspect the game’s gonna be more physical than he can handle.

He’s… pretty. In a different way to the blond twink that walked into the oilers’ rink in 1979. Back then thin, blond and skinny was hot; Twiggy was still shaking up beauty standards. In 2005, doe-eyed brunettes with fat lips are everyone’s wet dream. Angelina Jolie is all the rage.

Hockey is televised now. it’s a big deal: Wayne Gretzky made it so. Gary Bettman used him to make it so. And Bettman wants to make the game even bigger. The easiest way to do that is to use a star player for it, the way the NBA has successfully done with the likes of Michael Jordan. Bettman needs to bring the generational player back.

The problem with that plan is he's run out of those. Gretzky’s retired; Yzerman’s about to be, and Mario Lemieux is un-retired, but hanging on by a thread. Bettman needs new blood. There’s a Russian that seems marketable too, but that doesn’t sell to the US. he needs a North American. He needs The Next One. He needs Sidney Crosby.

Sidney Crosby suffered very publicly well-known avenues of verbal abuse. I barely need to list them here. Being guilty of being drafted in the mid-2000s, he heard every type of slur on and off the ice. He sure wasn’t the first; Eric Lindros can attest to that. But he might’ve been the first to suffer at this scale. It’s a whole different type of harassment when you can use social media for it.

More than that, he had a tough time on his own team. Here was this kid whose name was held like gold in everyone’s mouths; what the fuck was this snot-nosed brat gonna do? What if he was a diva, like Lindros, or enough of a gold-digger that it could bankrupt the team, like Jagr? So the big, burly hockey bruisers that were raised in the NHL of the late nineties didn’t like Sidney Crosby very much, especially the ones who had to reckon with him being groomed into their future captain.

It all culminated in a perfect storm in terms of publicity. There’s a lot of irony in how much of a raging spitfire Sid was in his first couple of seasons. It didn’t matter a lick in anyone’s eyes, but by god did he try for them to have eat their words by calling him soft. It seemed he couldn’t do anything in a way that would stop people from talking about him like that. By which I mean:

His mouth. His ass. Too small, too soft. A whiner, like a little bitch. Too uptight. Too much of a goody two shoes. A robot. There's a stick up his ass.

They talked about him in a way that’s most succinctly summarised as: as if he were a young woman too close to the “virgin” end of the virgin-whore spectrum within the early 2000s pop culture definitions of womanhood.

And Alex Ovechkin made the perfect other end.

He didn’t go by Sasha, he went by Alex. He didn’t need a translator; he spoke English. He was loud, flashy, exuberant. He liked American cars and food and clothes. He wasn’t like the Russians that defected in the nineties.

It made for a perfect rivalry. More than that, it made for a perfect raunchy teen comedy. The slut and the virgin. In American Pie terms, Sidney Crosby kept talking about band camp and Alex Ovechkin was the hot foreign exchange student whose webcam everyone wanted to hack.

The weirdest part was that no one could stop talking about them like that.

<Previous | Masterpost | Next>

[mahkwebbah]

hockey asks! 5. favorite piece of hockey memorabilia you own; 10. favorite hockey siblings; 22. are you superstitious during the playoffs?; 23. create your own hockey awards what would the first award be and who would you give it to?; 26. if you were gm of your favorite team for a day what would you do?

5. favorite piece of hockey memorabilia you own;

The two bruins jerseys I bought while I was overseas. They’re hanging above my bed

10. favorite hockey siblings;

The Van Reimsdyks purely bc TVR hmu ye

22. are you superstitious during the playoffs?;

bruh this year the bruins won a game while I was at therapy and I tried to bake another appt days later to make sure they won.

23. create your own hockey awards what would the first award be and who would you give it to?;

the Young Jagr: for the player who served the most cunt in the season. Pasta and his starsign hat would win.

the statue would look like this

26. if you were gm of your favorite team for a day what would you do? make a law that don Sweeney isn’t even allowed to breathe near the bruins. and then get hallsy back.

Hockey asks

[professionallydeadinside]

#6 with guy and Jagre if you can :D

-Tostoa

6. blushing “why are you looking at me like that?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Jagre growled. Guy shook his head, having not realized that he had been staring. It’d felt like his eyes had just lingered for no longer than a second. 

The two men had found themselves on break at the same time and decided to relax in the bar with a drink and a game of chess. Guy had planned to leave twenty minutes earlier to retire to his quarters, but after winning three games in a row, Jagre had kept him for rematch after rematch. 

“My apologies Lieutenant, I didn’t mean for it to come off like I was staring with mal intent.” Jagre scoffed, his tail swishing as if he was irritated. However, the fur peeking out from his collar was sticking straight up, giving Guy the impression he was more flustered than angered. 

“Lieutenant Signe? Is something wrong?” 

“Nothing’s the matter besides the fact I’m going to break your hand if you win again.” 

Guy snorted but did nothing to stop himself as he moved his bishop into a position where Jagre’s king was completely vulnerable. Jagre hissed and slammed the table, only quieting his temper when Minye shot him a look. 

Wide pupils. Piloerection. Tail twitching. Something was still on Jagre’s mind despite him telling Guy otherwise. 

“Lieutenant Signe, are you sure nothing’s the matter? We can have another rematch if it would please you.” 

“No.” Jagre pouted and took a sip of his drink. Some type of sweet juice that Guy had stolen a taste of but couldn’t stand to drink more of. 

“It’s fine. I wouldn’t want to keep you any longer than I already have.” 

“Very well, I’ll be in my quarters if you need me.” Guy stood up from the metal chair, tensing his legs a bit as he did to get the blood flowing once more.

“And Lieutenant?” Jagre turned at the sound of Guy's voice, seeing him already in the doorway. 

“I was only staring because, as a Starfleet officer, I find it hard to look away from ethereality.” 

Guy didn’t stick around to see his reaction. But going off of both Libitina and Minye nearly pouncing on him the second he stepped back on the bridge, it seemed everything was going just fine.

[hauntedppgpaints]

Talk Hockey To Me

tagged by @captainbradmarchand, thank you beloved!

Tell me about:

The thing that got you hooked on hockey: i honestly think The Post is what got me started. Y'know. the jagr/gretzky makeout post that's a mile long at this point. i hyperfixated for a week, then let it go, then it came back to bite me in the ass this past june.

Your first ever fandom friend: @hard4softthings <3

The jersey you would most like to own: i would love to have the old black flyers jersey for giroux, or a penguins flower jersey, or a bruins rask jersey

YOUR player (you only get ONE so choose wisely): marc andre fleury <3

A pairing that deserves more fic: any goalie/goalie pairing tbh.

Your favorite on-ice moment: any time a player realizes someone on the opposing team is hurt and goes to help. tyler bertuzzi recently did this- realized someone was hit by the puck up high(?) and crouched down next to them to make sure they were okay. i also really, really love watching teams win their stanley cup. it doesn't matter the team, if your win was in color, i've probably watched you win it. the pure, unfiltered, unrestrained joy is infectious. the gloves and sticks flying up in the air, the skaters sprinting down the ice to pile onto their goalie- priceless. If I have to pick a single moment? Goalie Goals. mike smith specifically, since he got it with less than a second left in the game

THEN

link someone else's art/fic/etc that you love & think everyone should check out: too hard to pick a fave, so I'll pick a fic that has a criminally low amount of love from my bookmarks. The Zoo of Toronto by bellsastuff. Such an interesting idea, so well executed. Phil Kessel my most beloved.

AND

link something you made & are proud of & want people to see: my first attempt at writing smut! The Sweetest Taste!

tagging: anyone who'd like to give this a go!

[best1spor1player]

The Pittsburgh Penguins have had numerous players represent the team throughout their history. While it is not possible to list every player who has ever played for the Penguins, here are some notable players who have made significant contributions to the organization:

Mario Lemieux - Hall of Fame forward and one of the greatest players in NHL history. Lemieux played his entire career with the Penguins and is the team's all-time leading scorer. He won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins as both a player and an owner.

Sidney Crosby - Current captain of the Penguins and widely regarded as one of the best players in the NHL. Crosby has won three Stanley Cups with the team and has numerous individual accolades, including two Hart Trophies as league MVP.

Jaromir Jagr - Legendary forward who played for the Penguins from 1990 to 2001. Jagr was a key part of the team's back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 1991 and 1992.

Evgeni Malkin - Russian forward who has been a dominant force for the Penguins since joining the team in 2006. Malkin has won three Stanley Cups with the Penguins and has won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Ron Francis - Highly skilled center who played for the Penguins from 1991 to 1998. Francis was known for his playmaking abilities and leadership on and off the ice.

Paul Coffey - Offensive-minded defenseman who played for the Penguins from 1987 to 1992. Coffey was a key contributor to the team's Stanley Cup victories in 1991 and 1992.

Marc-Andre Fleury - Goaltender who played for the Penguins from 2003 to 2017. Fleury was instrumental in the team's Stanley Cup win in 2009 and established himself as one of the franchise's most beloved players.

[sergeifyodorov]

13, 14, 18, & 26 for the asks thing please?

sorry it took so long to get to this omg ok

13. a player you know you wouldn’t vibe with

most of them let's be real. i am going to pick an out of left field option and say mitchie marns. look i love the guy. worlds sweetest sweetheart. best hockey player in the world WHO is connor mcdavid. but he is so LOUD im sorry i have sensory issues T_T

14. a player you would get along with

i could stitch n bitch with igor shesterkin all day . also ken dryden but he is an old man (literally not hockeywise) so i feel as if he doesn't count.

18. who would be on your dream hockey team

SERGEI FEDOROV!!! ok my dream hockey team can resurrect everyone from the dead and plunk them back into hockey at peak form. forward positions only kind of nebulously count. salary cap means nothing. i am trying to win obviously but also not including some guys because we can't have everything. for our 12 forwards we are going:

slava kozlov/igor larionov/sergei fedorov (larionov and sons)

paul kariya/steve yzerman/mitch marner (babygirl line)

connor mcdavid/auston matthews/elias pettersson (gay centres line)

alexander ovechkin/gordie howe/jaromir jagr (indestructible line)

for our 6 defencemen let's have

quinn hughes/luke hughes (i think the connection here is obvious)

morgan rielly/erik karlsson (get sillay with it)

slava fetisov/vladdy konstantinov (complete the russian 5)

and now GOALIES.

vladdy tretiak (we dont talk enough about him.)

ken dryden (come back from law school we need u)

juuse saros (i am allowed to pick 3 goalies. in fact)

26. if you were gm of your favourite team for a day what would you do?

unfortunately a day is not a lot of time but we are OVER the cap and i need to get us UNDER THE CAP. let's make use of those ELCs folks! i am getting rid of lafferty and reaves (sorry ryan...), seeing if i can get picks back for them. probably not much for reavo he's ancient and has a terrible contract (might have to do a pick exchange. heyyyy chicago you can have our third AND this mentor/protector for your sacred child if you give us a fifth or something in return.) but lafferty is oooh speedy and a leaf i could probably squeeze a second out of him if i threw in a fringe marlie or something. icing connor timmins as a forward. bringing up holmberg and nicky bobby. We Ride.

[chanelfunnell]

A mail bag

Not too much no drama (yes in message box but not puckbunny type)

A)anon I don't think Ovechkin will even with his empty netters reach Howe's record. Not like he is not good enough but the rules were different then and Ovi is ,veteran, player

B) his first name is Kris not Alex letang. No osing together nonstop does not mean The Letangs are not together lol. Crosby Interesting runs Toews Kane Interesting and so similar bs about Amanda and Kaner . Amanda is pregnant . I still miss to see BrinCat in Chicago. Goals and fun Not certain wags.

C) Marketa was an ice hockey boss of Tomas Hertl, in her tender age back in Prague years back. 15 years back and so. The man with a winning goal against Canada in Nagano was a coach of her team HC Slavia Prague. They tanked financially when she has left for UK and so any other ice hockey club with that ice hockey coach later on. If not bankrupt so at the bottom with no results , say Filip Hronek's home team where the coach's 2nd wife a pole dancer and 25 years his junior has sent her naked photos to the ice hockey players and cheated on him. The coach wanted a money from the parents for minor players to be on the roster and it is apparently typical for young Czech ice hockey. Nepotism, destroyed potential talents with serfdom and bad campaigns, stops and methods and tactics stuck in Stone age, big wigs in their association shopping with their wives in designer boutiques of Czech Madison Avenue. No shock Markle has found her soundboard. The other coach who was young and promoted as a modern expert sucked all enthusiasm fromCzech star NHL team but problems with anybody from their national League and a scoring Czech player. With Canadian scoring player, young players were lazy and not training enough like Jagr with his squats, older players were not in touch with his modern methods, Czech NHLers too primadonnas. They knew M and her development, tips, strategy. It's her ice hockey idea frame what they play now even she has no input in. Marketa was a sport journo as a teenager, keen to write anything and so any small feature or cover female basketball players in Brno. She got up to the ladder gradually, so other female sport journos. I don't mean this one in this outfit but yes she is beautiful and so other girls.

M was always very strict and she is very strict with taming David J now and his ventures how she calls it from New Foundland and Ohio to Florida to have stupid manners of communist pensioners about little helpers when he is not good with his puck handling and no cupped blade of stock or two hands on during scoring. Compared to old structures she supports their brain and play intelligence learning from mistakes . Their national teams were not obedient to listen to their coach unless it was a former star ice hockey player, even voracek has a problem to do it in 2019. All their junior teams were arguing cliques and so with Zacha. Then a lot of things changed. They became a great team despite having not an ice hockey player coach who trolled them on the top. Not good with quick dangles, dekes on the way to the net or quick puck handling for scoring so the goal keeper is able to prepare for the shot but their ice hockey is 3D and very attractive, modern ice hockey. Hertl was a top scorer not ages ago. I would type the last post with M's photos today and I close this topic for next and following year(s). How get an entry to army and be relevant female biz leader lol

D) Brown shoes of Jonathan Toews on New Year day.!!!!! I analyzed them.

[bllsbailey]

The 'Great One' Freaks Out Canadians, Social Media Wimps by Showing Up at Trump Election Eve Celebration

There’s great, and then there’s GREAT. Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky owns so many records that it’s almost hard to comprehend his utter dominance in the sport. Many of his achievements will likely never be broken, and he is an absolute legend in Canada and among NHL fans worldwide.

Winning four Stanley Cups (1984, 1985, 1987 ,1988), Gretzky set records in both regular season and post-season play, holding the record for most career regular season goals (894), assists (1,963), points (2,857) and hat-tricks (50). The next closest player in total points for the regular season is Jaromir Jagr at 1,921,[1] thus he had more career assists than any other player has total points.

Despite his legendary status, he set the internet on fire by appearing at a victory night party for President-elect Donald Trump. Sending leftists further into angst, he wore a white Make America Great Again cap at the Mar-a-Lago soiree. Oh, the horror!

Gretzky joined a long line of pro athletes who rejected the Harris-Biden-Walz vision for America. And why not? Winning at sports requires excellence, discipline, and commitment—it’s a meritocracy, and favors aren’t handed out for how you “identify”:

Gretzky joined several athletes who have outwardly supported Trump on his way to defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election last week. Athletes like Nick Bosa, Harrison Butker, James Winchester, Brett Favre, Danica Patrick, Jake Paul, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and a slew of UFC fighters have come out in support of Trump over the last few months.

Of course, the snowflakes were butthurt:

Oh, poor baby. But have you noticed “Perspective Canada,” what your Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has wrought on your country?

Tru D’oh: Pure Gold: Steelworker Doesn't Hold Back, Tells Leftist Justin Trudeau Exactly What He Thinks of Him

Canada's Government Considering Jailing People Who 'Might' Commit a Hate Crime

Socialism, Eh? Trudeau Orders Podcasting Platforms to Register With Canadian State Regulator

Canada under Trudeau has gone down a path that Biden-Harris-Walz could only dream of. He’s the answer to every one of their beta-male, censorious, socialist dreams. No wonder the Great One and his family have no interest in seeing that here.

But the wokesters gonna cry:

Yeah, whatever. Good for the Great One and his family, and for all the haters, get over yourselves. He’s right, and you’re wrong.

Meantime, in case you’ve forgotten just how great he was or weren’t around for it, here’s a reel that will take your mind off politics for a minute and remind you of just how completely he dominated the sport. Enjoy, despite the degraded footage:

[anthonybialy]

Crossing the Blue Line Insufficient for Buffalo Sabres

The championship isn’t won after one round, which harms the self-esteem of perennial outcasts.  Making the playoffs is not the only goal.  You’re supposed to win four rounds.  The Buffalo Sabres are only four short.  It’s tough to get to the elite eight without making the tournament.  Cinderella stories are charming for colleges nobody but attendees have heard of, not for slightly better paid supposed professionals.

This isn’t the semi-amateur tournament.  Finishing in the sweet 16 is a rather minor athletic achievement if you’re in the NHL and an alleged pro.  The Sabres would struggle to find NIL money.  Yet there will be much rejoicing from fans who’ve been conditioned by sinister ownership to accept the most marginal achievements as Cup equivalents.  Hoping for the Sabres to get vaguely close brings to mind the Freaks and Geeks episode where the latter celebrate getting an out while disregarding the game’s still going on.  There are many outs to go.

The Sabres succeeded in lowering expectations if you thought they had no achievements.  The percentage of fans who’d be thrilled just to appear in the postseason is the only thing that’s increased.  Captives are sympathetic to the plight of their captors.  Stockholm syndrome is now called Sabres syndrome.

The nonchalance astounds.  It took a lucky 13 misses to get serious about hiring someone who knows how to get this team to the playoffs, and the transaction featured a soft reboot.  Never forget the names of duped fans who viewed Don Granato as the messiah when the team was teetering on the edge of finally falling into the playoffs.  Those who thought he was capable of lifting the Stanley Cup should be required to state such in their Twitter bios.

Terry Pegula should aspire to more than an awards show invitation.  Oscar nominees claiming they’re happy just to be nominated are flaunting their acting skills.  The difference between the Academy Awards and the NHL is that one can succeed at filmmaking without taking home a trophy.

Starvation leads to Subway sounding appetizing.  It’s sadistic how long this franchise has deprived its fans of energy.  Lindy Ruff’s primary mission is to make KeyBank Center livelier than a bank branch in a morgue.

Appearing could be a nice start.  This scrappy group of resistance warriors will finally make it around the time cyborgs are piloting flying Ubers.  But a low seed would be framed as a victory in itself when they’d merely be as competent as any random mediocre team who’s managed a top-half regular-season finish.

Improvement doesn’t have to be incremental.  A qualifier could advance multiple times when they finally end the worst playoff miss streak in NHL history, an ignominy that should be emphasized in every single discussion regarding the the side that has not managed to grab a single increment.

Don’t clap for a cameo.  It would be disappointing if they lost that first appearance in about a generation.  In election cycle terms, the Sabres haven’t won one since the George W. Bush administration.  No matter who you vote for, there’ll be another term before they even get a chance.

Life was way more social back then before social media.  You may have been one of a handful of people who’s ever tweeted about a Sabres playoff series triumph considering the last time it occurred was about the time Twitter had around 50,000 active users.  You just had to have been a very early social media adapeter.  There are maybe 30 tweets around the time of finishing off a Rangers team captained by Jaromir Jagr, so there aren’t that many options.

Perennial outcasts don’t need to limit themselves.  There’s a sense they’d be satisfied with one round.  Such a limited mentality keeps even that modest tier from being reached.  An appearance would virtually guarantee retaining a coach for a decade or so.  Their own sunken standard leads to low hopes.

There’s a world outside their unparalleled lousy consistency.  The Sabres will build a statue of the coach who loses a series next to the French Connection.  The presently conceptual honorary structure will be much larger and definitely cast a shadow over present monument.  Ownership would hire a sculptor for their savior before building a Dominik Hasek or Rick Jeanneret one.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single stride.  It’s one the Sabres never take.  They should not be happy with merely appearing even though exiting that particular zone would mean advancement in the technical sense.

This kind club doesn’t want to get greedy and take chances from others by hogging conference finals slots.  The champion is a personal standard, according to those who never win a real one.  Four playoff losses would be an improvement for Buffalo.  Don’t treat it as enough.

[icedbatik]

Penguins to retire Jaromir Jagr’s No. 68 during pre-game ceremony on Feb. 18

By Pittsburgh Penguins

November 10, 2023

The Pittsburgh Penguins will raise two-time Stanley Cup Champion Jaromir Jagr’s no. 68 jersey to the rafters at PPG Paints Arena on February 18 versus the Los Angeles Kings as part of a pre-game celebration, it was announced today by the club.

As part of the ‘Celebrate 68’ festivities, all fans in attendance that night will receive a replica Jagr No. 68 banner. In addition, a commemorative Jagr bobblehead has been added as a giveaway to all fans in attendance on Thursday, March 14 versus the San Jose Sharks.

Jagr, whose NHL career spanned over two decades, is one of the most accomplished players in NHL history and a member of the league’s ‘100 Greatest Players.’ In 1,733 career regular-season games, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound winger scored 766 goals, 1,155 assists and 1,921 points. He ranks fourth all-time in games played and goals, fifth in assists, and only Wayne Gretzky (2,857) has recorded more points than him. No player in NHL history has more game-winning goals than Jagr’s 135.

Drafted by Pittsburgh in the first round (5th overall) of the 1990 NHL Draft, Jagr spent the first 11 seasons of his 24-year NHL career with the Penguins, appearing in 806 regular-season games notching 439 goals, 640 assists, 1,079 points, 78 game-winning goals and was plus-208. He is in the top-5 in franchise history in games played (5th), goals (4th), assists (4th), points (4th), plus/minus (2nd) and game-winning goals (4th). He was one of 13 captains in team history, serving in the role from 1998-01. 

Jagr was an instrumental piece of Pittsburgh’s back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 1991 and ’92 – his first two seasons in the NHL. In that two-year span, Jagr suited up for 45 postseason contests, notching 37 points (14G-23A), which was sixth in the NHL over that stretch. Jagr shined during the 1992 Stanley Cup playoffs, recording a playoff career-high 24 points (11G-13A) in 21 games. In total, Jagr has dressed in 208 Stanley Cup Playoff contests, accumulating 201 points (78G-123A). He is one of just six players in NHL history with 200 or more playoff points. 

The 10-time NHL All-Star has won a plethora of awards over the course of his NHL career. He is a five-time Art Ross Trophy winner (NHL Scoring Leader – 1995, ’98, ’99, ‘00, ’01), three-time Ted Lindsay Award winner (Most Outstanding Player – 1999, ’00, ’06), and was the recipient of the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) in 1998-99 and Bill Masterton Trophy (Perseverance, Sportsmanship, and Dedication to Ice Hockey) in 2015-16. Jagr was named to the NHL’s First All-Star Team seven times (1995, ’96, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’06), the Second All-Star Team in 1996-97 and was a member of the All-Rookie Team in 1990-91.

Throughout NHL history, only Chris Chelios (26), Gordie Howe (26) and Mark Messier (25) have played more seasons in the NHL than Jagr’s 24. Of his 24 seasons, he notched 20-plus goals 19 times and 30-plus goals 15 times, which both rank third in league history. He’s also hit the 100-point plateau five times, and was the sixth-oldest player in NHL history to accomplish that feat during the 2005-06 season at 34 years and 31 days old.

The native of Kladno, Czechia has multiple accolades on the international stage. He’s won a gold medal (1998) and bronze medal (2006) at the Olympic Games, two gold medals (2005, ’10) and two bronze medals (1990, 2011) at the IIHF World Championship and a bronze medal at the 1990 IIHF World Junior Championship. Jagr is one of just 30 players in history to join the Triple Gold Club, which includes winning a Stanley Cup, an Olympic gold medal and an IIHF World Championship gold medal. He and Jiri Slegr are the only two players of Czech descent to accomplish this feat. 

Jagr currently owns Rytiri Kladno of the Czech Extraliga and has been majority owner of the team since 2011-12.

[vintagehockeycardsreport]

Phil Esposito's First New York Rangers Hockey Card

Phil Esposito's performance during the 1975-76 NHL season is split between two teams: the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers. He joined the Rangers on November 7, 1975, as part of a trade involving Carol Vadnais, Brad Park, Jean Ratelle, and Joe Zanussi.

Although Esposito never quite matched his previous goal-scoring prowess with the Bruins, he managed to score at least 34 goals per season while playing for the Rangers until his final year in 1980-81. Unfortunately, that season proved to be a challenging one for him, as he played only 41 games for the Rangers and scored a mere seven goals before retiring.

On the back of his card, you'll find mention of his remarkable 76-goal season in 1970-71. During that year, he netted 76 goals and provided 76 assists, accumulating an impressive total of 152 points. Esposito held the record for most goals and points in a single season in the NHL until Wayne Gretzky surpassed him. Gretzky set a new record of 92 goals in 1981-82 and later cemented his dominance with an astonishing 215 points in 1985-86.

Over his NHL career from 1963-64 to 1980-81, Esposito played 1,282 regular season games and 130 playoff games for the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers. In recognition of his achievements, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984. Esposito's five or more Art Ross Trophy wins place him in an elite group of players, including Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Connor McDavid.

1976-77 O-Pee-Chee 245 Phil Esposito Hockey Card [YouTube Shorts]

[crosbyism]

Next Generation’s Best | Two

An essay on generational talents, gender, and the NHL in six parts.

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Part Two: Detroit and Pittsburgh

1983

There’s another guy. Born and bred Canadian; I swear there ain’t a red thing about him this time. Five years after the Great One storms the Big Leagues, this little shit cracks the roster and works his way up to becoming captain. A real hard-working kid.

Here’s the catch: his records say six foot but he just about cracks 5’10”. He’s enough of a pretty little thing that they don’t call him Steve, they call him Stevie. He’s so good they can’t justify sending him down for a conditioning stint, but he’s small— the Red Wings wanted a bigger guy, this one was the consolation prize.

A year later, a big, hulking guy with soft hands gets picked first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins. 6 foot 4— now that’s a real hockey player. Big and strong and tall, and yeah— he’s mostly skill, but you definitely want a real man that can take a good hit, you know? Anyone would love to have picked Mario Lemieux.

The Oilers are still winning their Cups, and Gretzky’s still in the middle of winning every Hart for almost a decade straight, but the big guy in Pittsburgh and the little guy in Detroit are about to do their damndest to fight him for it.

1989

A couple of funny things happened in the late eighties and early nineties.

First, the little fat-lipped pretty-boy captain in Detroit insists two years into wearing the C that team management should be drafting some Soviet players over. So much for a non-Commie-loving Canadian. Hey, the iron curtain is looking shaky, sure, but the big men from the front office are gonna have to give him a stern talking to to make clear who’s really in charge before they admit to little Stevie Y that he’s right.

They start with Sergei Fedorov, the twenty-year-old wonder, and Vladimir Konstantinov, then known as one of the best defencemen in the world. They’ll end up acquiring three more Russians by 1993.

The critics, at the time, wonder if a team with so many Russians isn’t too soft to win a Cup. Together, the Russian Five will make them eat their words and bring Detroit back-to-back Cups in ‘97 and ‘98— an increasingly difficult feat to achieve since the decline of the dynasties of the eighties— and another in 2002 with the by-then remaining two of the Russian Five, still led by little Stevie Y.

It’ll take almost twenty years for another team to achieve back-to-backs again.

—

Detroit wasn’t the only team snapping up players from behind the by-then shaky Iron Curtain. Jaromir Jagr got spared the ordeal of having to defect by a literal hair, but it was enough of a point of contention during the preparations for the 1990 draft that he could successfully ward off any unwanted suitors by lying that he wasn’t going to come to North America. In truth, there was only one team he wanted to play for, and it was the team whose captain he’d been carrying a picture of in his wallet since he saw him at the World Cup in Prague in 1985.

It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that Jagr rigging the draft in his favour handed the Pittsburgh Penguins their Cups in ‘91 and ‘92. Jagr and Lemieux were phenomenal together, and an already good Pittsburgh team was catapulted into the stratosphere by their play. Over the next ten years, the Art Ross was won by Wayne Gretzky once. Every other win went to either of the guys in the Penguins jerseys.

So Detroit and Pittsburgh are shaping up and buzzing, but there’s rumblings of something big coming.

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[icyhotheartwritings]

The All Star games are getting worse by the year. More of a spectacle than a competition and somehow less fun. They had to put up a $1 million bribe to get people to take it seriously and Kucherov just proved even that won’t work. I hope skipping 2025 will mean it’ll come back better in 2026 but I’m not holding out hope.

Like, it doesn���t even have to be a serious event. Anyone remember when Burns and Pavelski took their kids? The fake argument with Schneider and Luongo to let the kids score? Subban dressing up as Jagr? All in the same event? Where the fuck did the fun go. Now we get to watch everyone sit down until McDavid wins and Kucherov continues to not give a fuck.

Sorry for posting a hockey take but if Nikita Kucherov hates the All Star Games so badly he should go the fuck home. He deserved every ounce of booing he got.

And that side eye from McDavid.

I would say let someone who wants to go and who the fans want to see take his place, but we all know how that went for John Scott.

[professionallydeadinside]

I remember when I was doing an ask thing and you said you thought it would be funny if guy has had like the most previous partners lmao, I think it’d be rly funny if the ship had to go some far away planet for a mission and like at least 8-9 of his exes are all just there (also jealous Jagre times maybe)

-Tostoa

WKSNWKSKDNSJ ALL OF GUY’S EXES ARE THERE AND TRYING TO WIN HIM BACK AND JAGRE IS TRYING TO NOT KILL THEM