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Nearly 34 years after making his NHL debut, Jaromir Jagr is back playing hockey at 52 and breaking records by virtue of it.
Jagr went back to what he does best on Thursday, April 18, playing in a hockey game (this time in Europe) for the first time since February.
Having turned 52 years old on February 15, playing earlier this week meant that Jagr is now the oldest player to appear in a professional hockey game, according to the Associated Press.
Jagr surpassed another legend of the sport, the late Gordie Howe, whose record had stood since 1980. Howe, who died in 2016, was 52 years and 11 days old when he played his final NHL game.
Jaromir Jagr, 52, Played With the Kladno Knights in the Czech Republic
Jagr, who is in his native Czech Republic playing for the Kladno Knights, scored a goal nearly two minutes into Game 2 of a playoff relegation series against Czech team Vsetin. Jagr also owns the Knights.
Jagr got the puck in front of the goal and helped it kiss the net in what amounted to be his 16th game in his 36th professional season across all leagues he’s played in. He later added an assist to complete his 2-point game in Kladno’s 7-2 win over Vsetin to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, the AP reported.
Between his last game from early February and his mid-April appearance in the Czech Republic, Jagr took a break and spent time in Pittsburgh so the Penguins could retire his No. 68 on February 18.
“It’s a huge honor,” Jagr said, according to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. “Not many guys are that lucky to do something you love and be appreciated by other people. It’s a big honor for me that the organization decided to retire my jersey.”
The Post-Gazette reported that “for a brief moment,” it appeared as though Jagr might take the ice as a member of the Penguins for the first time since 2001. After leaving Pittsburgh as a free agent, Jagr played for eight different teams over the next 13 seasons.
Jaromir Jagr Is a Pittsburgh Penguins & NHL Legend
Although Jagr didn’t play exclusively for the Penguins throughout his extensive NHL career, he spent 11 seasons with the Penguins, winning the Stanley Cup titles in 1991 and 1992.
Jagr debuted with his nation’s club Kladno as a teenager before joining the NHL and he later returned home in 2018 to play for the club he now owns.
Between the fall of 1990, when he entered the NHL, and New Year’s 2018, when he retired, Jagr amassed a ridiculous 1,079 points through 1,733 games, the second most total points in NHL history.
Jagr wrapped up his career scoring 1 goal and 6 assists for the Calgary Flames that year in 22 matches. Before joining Calgary, Jagr also spent time with Pittsburgh (11 years), the New York Rangers (four), Washington (three), Florida (three), New Jersey (two), Philadelphia (one), Boston (one), and Dallas (one).
In winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh, Jagr became one of the youngest players in NHL history to score in a Stanley Cup game at age 20, something he would do an endless amount of times during his career on his way to finishing with 766 goals in 1,733 regular-season games and 78 goals in 208 playoffs contests.
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