Practicing with Jaromir Jagr a Thrill for Penguins

The Penguins players had heard rumblings that Jaromir Jagr might practice with them on Saturday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex as part of the ‘Celebrate 68’ festivities. When they got to the rink in the morning, they were thrilled to learn his participation was confirmed.

“It’s pretty special, I think, for all of us to be part of this weekend and to have an opportunity like this today,” Sidney Crosby said. “I think we're just trying to enjoy it and trying to make it the best experience for him, it's well-deserved. He's done so much for the team, the city, the organization. So, we just hope that it's the best celebration possible for him.”

When Jagr entered the Penguins locker room to say hello and start getting dressed, he went right to the captain.

“The first thing he said when we came in was, ‘I came to see this guy – he keeps getting better with age!’” Kris Letang said with a smile.

The same can be said for Jagr, with the guys marveling at how he looks at age 52, celebrating his birthday here in Pittsburgh this past Thursday. Even Letang, known for his elite conditioning, finds it tough to process that Jagr is still playing for his hometown team, Kladno of the Czech Extraglia.

“That is crazy,” Letang said, adding with a laugh, “I thought at (that) age, I would be like, I don't know, in my wheelchair or something. And you see he's passionate, you know? It's fun to watch somebody that passionate and somebody that brought so much for this city and this organization. Like, he was sitting down, and him and Sid were just chatting about hockey.”

It was truly surreal to see Jagr’s stall set up right next to Crosby’s, just a pair of Penguins legends. ‘Talking shop,’ as Crosby put it, consisted of discussing the game, equipment – “just what he’s going to do here while he's here. So, just trying to catch up a bit.”

Jagr then took the ice in front of a packed house, as the stands had quickly filled up in anticipation of watching a “legend on ice,” as Malkin said. “It’s like, crazy. I’m excited to skate today with him. Great memory for myself. Growing up, I watch how he play. It's a great day today. He looked great. Nice speed, stickhandling. You see his shot, his wrist shot is probably like 100 miles.”

Alex Nedeljkovic got to experience that shot – honed through countless hours of work with former Penguins assistant coach Rick Kehoe during Jaromir’s early days in Pittsburgh – firsthand. “It was fast. It was heavy. It's different. There's a difference between like, hard shots and heavy shots. And he has a heavy shot,” Nedeljkovic said. “He can really put some heat on it.”

“I think his first shot, he goes post and in, he made it look pretty easy,” Crosby grinned. “That’s just what legends do, they find a way to score,” Nedeljkovic said. “It was pretty cool. It's pretty cool to be able to be on the ice with him and take a couple shots. He’s obviously an incredible hockey player. So, it was a lot of fun.”

Seeing the respect and admiration for Jagr from the players, particularly the Big Three, was so special. Letang even donned a mullet wig in honor of Jagr’s famous haircut, skating up to his hero and taking the opportunity to share that he wore No. 68 growing up, and ask for a signature on Sunday’s commemorative jersey.

“I think we all grew up watching him and just being in awe of some of the stuff that he accomplished,” Crosby said. “His strength, his hands, the scoring ability – he brought people out of their seats. He’s the reason why people came to a lot of games. He had a unique style with the hair, just his personality. I think that was something that people liked about him.”

Then, when that group got to Pittsburgh as young players, Letang remembers looking up at the pictures of Jagr with Mario Lemieux, who led the organization to their first two Stanley Cups in franchise history in 1991 and ’92.

“The type of guys that these guys are and the work ethic they brought every single day, and the way they carried themselves on and off the ice – there's a way of doing things here in Pittsburgh, and these guys were the staples that we had to follow,” Letang said.

While they are still carving their own legacies in Penguins franchise history, having the chance to pay homage to Jagr’s is an absolute privilege.

“When you look at just the history of hockey, he's somebody that you're always going to think about. And the fact that he played here and had the impact that he did here and what he was able to accomplish over his whole career, it's incredible,” Crosby said.

“I think we all feel pretty fortunate to be able to be a part of this. You don't know when you're going to have opportunities like this. There's a lot of pride that comes with playing for this team for a lot of reasons, and he's one of them.”