Penguins, Jagr a connection worth chasing
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A sampling of the week's entries on the DK on Pittsburgh Sports blog, available on PG+, the Post-Gazette's premium site:
Connecting the various dots, it would appear that the Penguins are interested in mending fences with Jaromir Jagr, and that Jagr is interested in returning to the NHL. Add into that his hat trick Wednesday against the United States in Slovakia and, man, that sure sounds to me like a connection worth making.
In fact, it sounds like a win-win-win.
But let me start with this: No, this would not be an Alexei Kovalev type of situation. Jagr long ago adjusted his game away from beating guys one-on-one to more of a stationary shooter. He started that with the Rangers and carried it over to Russia. And, from watching him up close in Vancouver last winter at the Olympics, I can offer that there is absolutely no question he would continue to be an impact player in the NHL, even if he is not the mullet-headed, stickhandling wizard so many of us recall. There were many hockey executives there shaking their heads that he was wasting his time in Russia rather than adding to his points and legacy in the NHL.
Please don't tell me that there wouldn't be a spot on the top two lines -- or, for that matter, the miserable power play -- for Jagr.
And as for his "dying alive" exit, I don't think there would be an issue there, either. Jagr has made his tens of millions (gambled a lot of them away, too), and he has had his individual glory, but it has a been a long time since he raised the Cup. And it has been more than a decade since he was cheered in the place he still calls the site of "my greatest years." I've always found Jagr to be a child in some ways and, if you ask me, the only thing he would enjoy more than a bookend championship to his career would be to find a way to be loved again in Pittsburgh.
First Published May 14, 2011 12:00 am
