Jagr to have No. 68 retired by Penguins on Feb. 18

Jaromir Jagr will have his No. 68 retired by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 18 before they host the Los Angeles Kings at PPG Paints Arena.

Jagr will join Mario Lemieux (66) and Michel Briere (21) as the only Penguins to have their numbers retired.

"Feb. 18? OK, I'll be there," Jagr said Friday in one of two videos posted by the Penguins on social media. "Pittsburgh, I'm coming home."

Selected by Pittsburgh in the first round (No. 5) of the 1990 NHL Draft, Jagr is second in NHL history with 1,921 points (766 goals, 1,155 games) in 1,733 games, behind Wayne Gretzky (2,857 points; 894 goals, 1,963 assists in 1,487 games). He is fourth in goals and games played, fifth in assists and his 135 game-winning goals are the most in NHL history.

The right wing played 11 seasons for Pittsburgh from 1991-2001 and had 1,079 points (439 goals, 640 assists) in 806 games, fourth-most in Penguins history behind Lemieux (1,723 points), Sidney Crosby (1,516) and Evgeni Malkin (1,243).

"I was the first guy from Europe ever to play for Pittsburgh. So they were treating me like I was their kid," Jagr said in another video. "I had so much fun. I never had that much fun, ever. I lived the life in Pittsburgh. It was just perfect."

Jagr helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992, their first two championships. He had 147 points (65 goals, 82 assists) in 140 postseason games with Pittsburgh.

"He's one of the greatest players of all-time," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Saturday. "I think he's certainly one of the best players of his generation. He was a huge part of the Stanley Cups that the Penguins won in the early '90s. Those teams were dominant teams. I can speak to that personally for having played against them. 

"I think it's a well-deserved honor for Jagr. He was one of the dominant players of his generation. His size, his skill level. He was one of the toughest guys on the ice, I think, to get the puck off of. ... So for someone like myself that had the privilege to play against a guy like that in those times, I have a certain appreciation for how good those teams were in the early '90s. It's pretty cool for someone like me to witness that when that does take place."

Voted to the NHL First All-Star Team seven times, the 51-year-old played 24 NHL seasons for nine teams. With the Penguins, he won the Hart Trophy as NHL most valuable player in 1998-99 and the Art Ross Trophy as scoring leader five times (1994-95, 1997-2001).

On July 11, 2001, Jagr was traded from Pittsburgh to the Washington Capitals, with whom he would play 190 games during three seasons. He also played for the New York Rangers (277 games), Philadelphia Flyers (73 games), Dallas Stars (34 games), Boston Bruins (11 games), New Jersey Devils (139 games), Florida Panthers (181 games) and Calgary Flames (22 games).

Jagr last played in the NHL on Dec. 31, 2017 with the Flames at age 45.

"It'll be cool to be a part of that, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said Saturday. "There was a lot of talk, so I was hoping that it's something that I would be able to be a part of. Had some great years here and an amazing career. I don't even know, he's still going, so it's pretty rare that someone's still going and they get their jersey retired. But he's an exception. He's had an amazing career. I think we're all excited to be a part of it."

A native of Kladno, Czech Republic, Jagr has been majority owner of Rytiri Kladno of the Czech Extraliga since 2011-12 and has played for them since Feb. 3, 2018. He had 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 26 games last season, his 35th straight participating in competitive hockey.