Penguins to Retire Jagr’s Number

The Penguins have announced that Jaromír Jágr’s iconic No. 68 will be retired in a pre-game ceremony on February 18.

Personally, I couldn’t be happier for “Jags.” With all due respect to present Pens greats Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, he’s arguably the second greatest player ever to don the black-and-gold. Or at the very least, the second most talented.

The numbers speak for themselves. An astounding 1921 points (including 766 goals) tallied in 1733 NHL games over a remarkable 24 seasons. His stats with the Pens are equally dazzling…1079 points, including 439 goals and 640 assists, during a magnificent 11-season run in the ‘Burgh.

His list of honors is equally amazing. Five Art Ross Trophies, a Hart Trophy, three Lester B. Pearson (Ted Lindsay) Awards and seven First Team All-Star berths. Not to mention two Stanley Cups.

Heck, there are teams that haven’t collected that much hardware.

To my eye, Jágr was one of the most singular talents ever to play the game. Former Pens coach Scotty Bowman likened him to Montreal great Maurice “Rocket” Richard. Instinctual, wholly unpredictable and totally brilliant.

The mullet-topped genius scored two of the greatest goals I’ve ever seen. The first occurred at 8:52 of overtime in Game 2 of our opening-round series against the Devils in 1991. “Jags” fought through a check by John MacLean while maintaining control of the puck with one hand on his stick before cutting through the slot and beating Chris Terreri.

The second took place a year later at 15:05 of the third period in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, when Jágr literally skated through the entire Blackhawks team before torching a mesmerized Ed Belfour on the backhand. Setting the stage for a brilliant last-minute goal by Mario Lemieux to cap a scintillating comeback and propel us to our second Stanley Cup.

I could go on and on.

Personally, I’d love to see us actually sign Jags for a game and plug him in on the second power play for a shift or two. PPG Paints Arena would go absolutely bonkers.

With his magic hands and that massive 6’3” 230-pound frame? Who knows, he just might set up a goal.

Anyway…I’m rambling. Needless to say, I’m thrilled FSG’s decided to do this.

Now if they can just find a way to mend fences with Mario.