Few players in any sport will have a career as long and fulfilling as Jaromir Jagr. In his 27-year pro hockey career, Jagr has seemingly done it all.
From being in the Triple Gold Club (winning Olympic gold, the Stanley Cup and the IIHF World Championship) to taking multiple scoring titles and MVP honors, there are few things left for Jagr to achieve on the ice.
While it is uncertain if the timeless Jagr will retire soon or play on, his career provides more than just a look back at the history of hockey. His story, right up to its currently uncertain next chapter and how he is articulating it, shows just how much the world has changed since he was drafted by the Penguins.
For starters, let’s look back at Jagr’s draft year: 1990. During this year, the Iron Curtain was falling, allowing Jagr to become the first Czechoslovak player to be drafted without having to defect. (Petr Nedved was already a Seattle Thunderbird when he went second overall that year, and would later play as a Canadian national.)
Going at No. 5, Jagr immediately came to North America to start playing for Pittsburgh. In his ensuing career, he has since gone back and forth between the continents four times, not counting five Olympic appearances.
Speaking of the Iron Curtain, communication sure has changed during Jagr’s career, as he himself has attested through his activity. At the onset of his NHL career, even without the Iron Curtain hampering the process, options for talking to the world at large were still limited.
Now think about the modern era. And granted, Jagr is not the most prolific presence in the Twitterverse. As the Washington Post‘s Matt Bonesteel noted on June 30, the eve of free agency, “Jaromir Jagr has tweeted exactly six times in 2017. Two of them were sad/funny messages issued Thursday asking why no teams are inquiring about the 45-year-old future Hall of Famer and current free agent.”
Though Jagr has not posted anything new since then, his last visit to Twitter was such a hit that Brandon Schlager of The Sporting News revisited it on Day 11 of free agency. Schlager added, “The NHL is much better when Jaromir Jagr is both happy and playing hockey.”
That is what Jagr has consistently been since 1990, even when the NHL has been locked out. But in one of his highly cited tweets, Jagr himself acknowledges the vast change in the times between the last two decades.
FA 1994- all GMs called , FA 2017- 0 calls pic.twitter.com/7uLJm95CAB
— Jaromir Jagr (@68Jagr) June 29, 2017
This marks more than a shift in what people say to each other, it shows a complete change in how people communicate and how broadly.
This is what makes Jagr’s career so fascinating. It has coincided with one of the biggest shifts in human interaction. While Jagr was winning Art Ross Awards and setting longevity records, modern necessities like computers, smartphones and the Internet found there way into the daily routine.
If the Internet and social media had proliferated sooner, Jagr would have been trending, in English and Czech, at such moments as when he scored the overtime goal that ended Wayne Gretzky’s final game. That kind of recognition was not to be at the time, 18 years ago.
About the only consistent element during the three decades spanning Jagr’s career has been, well, Jagr’s career. While the world changed constantly, Jagr just kept plugging along.
Jagr’s face, phone habits and freedom to cross ponds have changed over the years, but not his desire to play the game. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
He even freely took off for Russia for three seasons, then just as freely returned to the NHL in 2011. The longer it takes for the hope of a team on this continent to seek his services, the more one might speculate that he could try the KHL again.
Even just looking at how much the NHL has changed since 1990 is staggering in it’s own right. In Jagr’s first year, there were 21 teams. Now with the Vegas Golden Knights, for whom Schlager calls Jagr an ideal “marketing darling,” the total sits at 31.
And then there have been the five franchise relocations around North America. To say the NHL has changed is an understatement.
It is unknown if Jagr will be able to make it to 30 years playing in the NHL or its European equivalents. If he decides to hang up the skates sometime in the next three years, he will forever have one of the most fascinating careers for any player in any sport.
When you look at how the world changed while Jagr played through his career, it’s hard to imagine how he made his stay in the game so long. But whatever is next, you may want to stay tuned to @68Jagr to find out.
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