Home >  Sports >  Notebooks

Sunday, December 16, 2001

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

For all Jaromir Jagr's natural talents -- and they are voluminous -- hiding his emotions is most assuredly not one of them.

When he is up, everyone in the room shares in the buzz.

And when he is down ... well, he is doing pretty much what he is doing in Washington these days.

No goals in nine games before netting two against the porous Thrashers last night. No smiles off the ice. No light in the tunnel.

Check out his response when the Post-Gazette asked him Tuesday morning in Odenton, Md., about playing in Coach Ron Wilson's conservative system:

"It would be tough ... how would I explain ... if I still wanted to score 50 goals or 130 points. That would be tough to do. But you've got to try to get used to that style, and you have to understand that you're not going to be getting that many scoring chances because you play much safer than in Pittsburgh. That keeps you from making turnovers but, on the other side, you don't have many opportunities to score goals."

It wasn't quite "dying alive," but neither was it unbridled joy.

Less than two months removed from signing a new contract with the Capitals worth $78 million over seven years, he is having trouble fitting in. Or even appearing to try.

He is standing off to the perimeter of the rink for entire games, failing to dart to the net in trademark style or challenge defensemen one-on-one. This was evident Tuesday in the 2-2 tie with the Penguins, who had a remarkably easy time knocking him off the puck.

Also, most troubling for some in the organization, he has remained aloof from his new teammates despite their efforts to get to know him and make him feel welcome.

What is Washington to do?

Ted Leonsis, franchise owner and the man who made the bold decision to invest his franchise's top three prospects and a boatload of cash in an attempt to push for a Stanley Cup, remains steadfast that acquiring Jagr was not a mistake. And he has stayed close to Jagr to continue encouraging him.

History is on Leonsis' side.

A flip through the "Total Hockey" encyclopedia provides hearty evidence that once teams acquire a superstar such as Jagr, they don't lose them quickly. Of the NHL's all-time top 25 scorers:

Five -- Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Alex Delvecchio, Stan Mikita and Gilbert Perreault -- stayed with one team their entire careers.

Two -- Gordie Howe and Guy Lafleur -- changed teams twice without being traded.

Four -- Raymond Bourque, Bryan Trottier, Jean Ratelle and John Bucyk -- were traded once and retired with the teams that acquired them.

And the other 14 were traded and remained with their second teams an average of 5.43 seasons. Longest stretch with a second team was Marcel Dionne's 12 years with the Kings, the shortest Luc Robitaille's 46-game season with the Penguins in 1995.

Still, it will have to be production, not precedent, that keeps Jagr in Washington.

No matter what he's saying now, the goals do matter to Jagr. Always have, always will. And once they start flowing for him, they will flood.

Then, as if by magic, the MCI Center will look that much more inviting, his teammates that much more familiar, and this whole nasty spell will have been an insignificant footnote in a lengthy, legendary career with the Capitals.

But if those goals don't come ...

Ask Jagr how he is doing on the ice, and he is wishy-washy.

"Right now, it's up and down," Jagr said. "Sometimes, it seems good, and bad things happen."

And off the ice?

"I'm happy. Everything is good."

Why, then, did he look as if he had just swallowed a fish bone when he said so?

Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@ post-gazette.com.