Jagr focuses on rehab, fortunes of his Czech team

Jaromir Jagr is focusing on getting healthy and helping Kladno, the team he owns, to earn promotion to the top league in the Czech Republic. However, he admitted Thursday that there remains an outside chance he could return to the Calgary Flames this season.
Jagr, 45, was reassigned by the Flames to Kladno on Monday after he cleared NHL waivers. He had signed a one-year contract with the Flames as an unrestricted free agent on Oct. 4.

He is continuing to rehabilitate a knee injury that sidelined him for 27 NHL games this season and hopes to get healthy enough to play for Kladno in the string of playoff series that will lead to promotion to the Czech First Division (Extraliga).
"The chance is still open, even though it now looks minimal, that I could come back to play for Calgary, in case [Kladno] would have finished the season here earlier than we expect," Jagr said. "But my current goal is to get healthy and get back in shape to help Kladno advance to Extraliga."
Jagr's first game in for Kladno could be Saturday against HC Benatky nad Jizerou. Former NHL player Petr Nedved, a teammate of Jagr's with the Pittsburgh Penguins, is expected to dress for Benatky. Nedved, 46, retired from the Czech league in 2014. The game was to be moved to Liberic to meet the demand for tickets; Benatky is the home team
Jagr needs to appear in the game Saturday because he wants to play in the relegation-promotion round of the Czech league playoffs.

"I always saw it the way that everything happens for a reason," he said. "I'm trying to stay positive. The biggest goal for me now is to get healthy, get back to full practices and start enjoying hockey as I want to enjoy it. Because it's not possible without practicing. If I'm healthy and able to practice again, I will have my motivation and desire back.
"These things were not there for me. I've had games I've been really looking forward to and after two or three shifts I just sat there in pain and told myself: 'Do I really need this, such pain?' But I believe all this is over and it will only get better now."
If Kladno is eliminated in the playoffs, Jagr said he would explore other playing options to finish the season.
Jagr said he could play for Trinec, a first-division club in the Czech Republic.
Jagr last played Dec. 31 against the Chicago Blackhawks. He said he has been dealing with knee issues since November.
"I've had a lot of troubles with my groins in the past, and I know what I had to do with it and how to heal it," Jagr said. "But I think it was the game in Philadelphia [on Nov. 18] when I first saw my knee get swollen and then the big problems started. It was something I didn't have any experience with, I didn't know how to manage it, how to practice, if I should have gone through the pain ..."
"The uncertainty was worse than anything else. I stopped practicing because I thought that it might heal when I rested it. But it didn't. Just the pain was a bit lower maybe, but it did not heal."
He is being treated by Dr. Pavel Kolar, a noted Czech physiotherapist. Jagr said he received an injection of liquid, containing his own blood and special herbs, to the injured knee.
"It was a very painful procedure and I got quite sick for a moment," Jagr said. "But we believe it will help."
Jagr's time with the Flames was limited to 22 games; he had seven points (one goal, six assists). However, he had nothing but good things to say about his time with the team.
"In Calgary, I've experienced exactly what I had expected from playing in Canada; warm welcome, great fans, best treatment," he said. "Therefore, I regret I couldn't stay longer and did not show the performance that I wanted to. The fans have been great to me, and the management treated me excellently."