Jaromir Jagr makes major career announcement

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Liam McCormick
September 19, 2024 (11:03)

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The morning, hockey icon Jaromir Jagr officially confirmed that this will be his final season with Kladno Knights before retiring.

Jagr is now 52 years old and has played the last 8 years with the Kladno Knights, a Czech Pro Team that he owns. According to a statement from his agent, this will be his final year before retirement.

The Pittsburgh Penguins took Jagr 5th overall in the 1990 NHL draft, and he went on top become a top 5 player in hockey history. He won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins in his first two years, and then went on to torch the NHL offensively - even in eras where it was hard to score. He scored over 50 goals three times in his career, twice in the 2000s. Jagr was a reliable scorer late into his career, scoring 27 goals at age 44 with the Florida Panthers in 2015-16.

In his later years Jagr became an NHL journeyman, but throughout his career he was always this way. He had left the NHL to play in the Czech Pro League and the KHL multiple times in his career, which only makes his career offensive totals even more impressive. Jagr played 1733 NHL games, scoring 766 goals and 1921 points. Had he not left to play overseas in the middle of his career, Jagr may have threatened Gretzky's goal record.

It was fantastic to see Jagr properly honoured by the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, as the new team leadership mended an old grudge with their legendary player. There is no doubt he's one of the NHL's greatest players of all time and he deserves that kind of reverence. Now that he's offficially retired he'll be eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame, and it's a certainty he will be a first ballot inductee.