CHICAGO — Back on the biggest stage in hockey for the first time in more than two decades, Jaromir Jagr looked like a younger man.
The 41-year-old Boston Bruins winger arrived at United Center without the salt-and-pepper beard he’d sported in previous playoff rounds and acknowledged to sportsnet.cathat he’d decided to dye his facial hair darker.
Jagr also shaved away the grey patch on his chin to leave behind a Fu Manchu moustache.
“You’ve got to look tough,” he said Tuesday with a laugh.
It was perhaps the ultimate sign of respect that his teammates elected not to chide him about it.
Instead, they chose to try and build Jagr up with encouragement on the eve of his first Stanley Cup final appearance since 1992.
“Whatever works for him I guess,” said Bruins centre David Krejci, a fellow Czech. “You don’t want to chirp him too much. You want to make him happy; you want to make him feel comfortable.
“So we just go with it, you’ve got to tell him he looks good, you know?”
Jagr seemed to be in great spirits after returning to Chicago. The second of his two Stanley Cup titles with the Pittsburgh Penguins was won against the Blackhawks, although he was quick to note that much had changed in the 21 years since then.
“I remember it was a different arena,” he said. “It was the old Chicago (Stadium). You got tired before you went to the game because you have to go through the steps (to get to the ice from the dressing room).
“You almost fall when you go went down to the dressing room.”
Despite the passage of time, he was able to recall details of the series with amazing clarity. Jagr talked about a key goal he scored in Game 1 that helped the Penguins erase a 4-1 lead.
“It was such an important series and such an important playoffs for me because we won,” said Jagr. “I remember almost everything.”
It is amazing how many current NHLers grew up idolizing him.
Blackhawks winger Brandon Saad was born in Pittsburgh after the Cup victories, but was a massive Jagr fan. Teammate Michael Frolik is from Jagr’s hometown of Kladno, Czech Republic, and is in the same camp.
Even Chicago captain Jonathan Toews said he wore No. 68 while playing summer hockey as a kid in Winnipeg.
“I had his Koho Jagr stick and all that,” said Toews. “I looked up to him when I was a really young kid, I was probably nine or 10 at that (stage), and here I am getting a chance to play against him in the Stanley Cup final.”
Jagr is far from the impact player he once was — he has no goals and seven assists in 16 post-season games so far — but the Bruins speak glowingly about the leadership and experience he’s brought to the dressing room.
It has been a unique and unexpected marriage.
Jagr acknowledged that he was “shocked” after being approached about the potential deal from the Dallas Stars at the trade deadline and indicated he had some trepidation before eventually waiving his no-movement clause.
“I asked (the Bruins) like three times: `Are you sure you want me?”’ said Jagr. “They said ‘yeah’ and here I am. I just wanted to make sure. I didn’t want to go somewhere where they don’t want you.
“I don’t want to be somewhere where I’d be kind of useless — I’d rather to not play at all.”
There is no second-guessing the decision now.
Jagr truly looks like he’s having the time of his life and displayed his trademark sense of humour while speaking with reporters at the Stanley Cup media day.
Among his more memorable statements? Jagr believes the mullet he once famously sported in the 1990s will eventually be back in style.
“When I had the long hair, I wouldn’t say it was the style but I wasn’t the only one who had it,” he said. “Maybe not that long, but there was a lot of guys who wear long hair. Now it’s a different style, but it’s going to come back.
“It’s just coming back. In 10 years later we’ll see. There’s going to be a lot of guys with long hair.”
What goes around comes around — just like Jagr skating in the Stanley Cup final.
Throughout the stops in Washington, New York, Philadelphia and Dallas (not to mention the three-year hiatus in Russia), he claims that he always believed he would get another chance to play for a championship.
“You’ve got 30 (NHL) teams and they all got one goal — to win the Cup — and they all do the maximum for that,” said Jagr. “Obviously, only one can do it. The next season you start again and everyone has the same goal again and again and again … and 20 years later, I’m here.”
And still one of a kind.
Photo: AP
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