#Jagrwatch2021 (Kladno)

It’s that time again. Well, not quite exactly. This isn’t your older brother or sister’s #JagrWatch. This is just to catch up with the legend and not speculation about where in the NHL he might play. He is still playing hockey, but for the first time perhaps not with the love he’s always had for it.

"Do you know why I'm still playing?" Jagr told The Hockey News. "I have a responsibility to the club, otherwise I wouldn't fly here and I wouldn't be making a fool of myself. But if I quit, the partners and sponsors would leave and the club may be done. I have no choice. People don't understand it, but I don't care. Only God will judge me. I expect much more from myself, and I also believe that I have it in me."

Jagr talked about how his father kept the team going for all the years he was still playing in the NHL and how disappointing it would be if the team folded under his guidance while his father was still alive.

"At the same time, people still expect it from me, and that's probably the worst feeling, when people think I can but I know I can't. Plus, I can't even tell them. I just know that I will do my best to help the club. I don't know if anyone can understand my role. I don't even want to be in such a position, but I have no choice. As long as my father breathes, I take the club as my responsibility. He held it for 20 years. As a son, I would be embarrassed if I left."

It is kind of sad to see on two levels. The first is the inner drive to keep what he believes is a family obligation going. He knows and feels like everything about this team will live and die based on what he does. That’s a lot of pressure for anybody and for most it is a different kind of pressure than just playing in the NHL. You are talking about providing employment for people and keeping something going for the community. However, we are talking about Jaromir freaking Jagr who actually saved an entire NHL franchise in the 1999 playoffs while playing on a shredded groin and it should never be forgotten.

I remember that like it happened yesterday,… Jagr said. “I pulled my groin in the first game. We were losing 3-2 in the series and if we would lose the first round I think the team would move to Kansas City because they had no money. We had to make the second round to get the (money) for the payments.

Jagr continued: “I came back and I tied it with a minute-and-a-half to go and then I scored in overtime. That was probably my best game ever, I would say. My most important for sure. I’ll probably never score a goal that important.

“Probably if I hadn’t scored that goal the team wouldn’t be in Pittsburgh right now. (Sidney) Crosby would be in Kansas City.…

"It's not easy anymore, believe me," Jagr said. "Because mostly during my career, I felt that if I wanted to score a goal, I would score. But suddenly, this doesn't work. …

I can’t help but laugh at that quote because for most people it would be ludicrous to go about things like that. Except, Jagr is third all-time in NHL goals and if not for the lockouts and his departure to the KHL would definitely be in second. There is a very real chance he could have been sniffing at Wayne Gretzky’s goal record he is 128 goal shy of.

It can’t be easy for a hockey lifer to let go when the body is finally telling him to. Just for fun Jagr’s last year on this chart is age 44 with the Florida Panthers. Unlike some, he wasn't just hanging on to hang on. He was still legitimately good. Marleau is currently 41.

I always wish the best for Jagr. I hope he’s able to eventually find a healthy balance moving forward as he enters his fifties. He has done so much for so many over the years. He deserves to take his foot off the gas pedal if he wants to.

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