Jagr discusses hockey future in home country before NHL Global Series

PRAGUE -- Looking like an aging rock star, clad in dark jeans and a leather jacket, Jaromir Jagr strolled into O2 Arena here. The all-time NHL great, who owns a team in Kladno, Czech Republic, was there for the 2022 NHL Global Series, which has brought the NHL to his native country, a chance for the NHL's past to meet the NHL's present.

Because, it seems, playing hockey may be in the 50-year-old Jagr's past.
Or, maybe not.
Jagr recently told iSport, in an interview in Czech, that his motivation for the game was waning, that the stress of running the team he owns in Kladno was preventing him from being the player he might want to still be.
So is this it?
"It's not it," Jagr said Thursday, one day before the
Nashville Predators defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-1
in the NHL regular-season opener. "But to be an owner and to be a manager and everything and have other business -- because my dad is not feeling good anymore, he's 80 years old -- I don't really have the time to practice.
"I still love the game. I still believe in my ability to be good. I know I would be good if I would have a chance to practice. Because the game doesn't change anymore and the thing about me is, I was always able to adjust, any style. When I lose the speed, doesn't matter. I use my power. I use my experience.
"But the thing is, you have to have time to practice, to compete against the other players, and I don't have that."
It hasn't been a fully formed decision, necessarily, Jagr said. It's just what's needed to be done right now, for his team.
"The thing is, I'm more important right now for my team as an owner than as a player," Jagr said. "So it might change in a week, might change in a month, and I start practicing. But it was more important for me because we built a new arena. I didn't have time to do it.
"I played last season, not all the games, I got injured, but most of the games. If I wouldn't take the break for six months, I wouldn't have no problem. But in my age, when you do nothing for six months, to jump on it, it's hurting."
Jagr did say that he had practiced with the team recently because it was missing an injured player.
"We had only 19, so I had to go," he said. "It's not easy."
Jagr never got the chance to play for the NHL in his native country, missing out on an opportunity when the New York Rangers played the Tampa Bay Lightning in Prague to open the 2008-09 season. Jagr had gone to the Kontinental Hockey League that season to play for Avangard Omsk.
When asked if he would return to the NHL to play in the Czech Republic, he said, "No, no I wouldn't. It's too hard for me."
"I never really had an opportunity to play in front of my home, Czech fans, an NHL game," Jagr said. "I played World Championships, that was the best thing to happen to me, but I never had a chance (in the NHL). I was very close with the Rangers, but I went back to Russia, so I didn't sign with the Rangers."
What would that have been like?
"Back then I was still pretty good, so I think it would be unbelievable," he said.
While Jagr said he doesn't get a chance to follow the NHL much anymore -- the games are usually on at 1 a.m. or later -- he appreciates being able to see what is new in the League.
"It's nice to see it, how they practice," he said. "Because it's even important for me [to see] how the game has changed, so I'm happy to be here."
Jagr turned 50 on Feb. 15, the age he had always said he wanted to reach while still playing hockey. He has played 35 seasons of professional hockey, including 24 in the NHL, racking up 1,921 points (766 goals, 1,155 assists). He ranks second all-time in points, to Wayne Gretzky (2,857) and fourth in goals, behind Gretzky (894), Gordie Howe (801) and Alex Ovechkin (780).
When asked about which players could play until they turn 50, Jagr mentioned Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Ovechkin, who is 104 goals behind Gretzky for the all-time lead.
"I think Alex Ovechkin, if he's going to be close to the record with Wayne Gretzky, I think he would play until 45 because he can," Jagr said. "He can do it because he's strong and he wants to be the best. Sid is the same way."
Whether he's still playing at 45 or not, will Ovechkin pass Gretzky?
"I think so," Jagr said. "He's got all the tools to do it."