from Craig Custance of ESPN,

It's been so cool to witness a legend in real time.

Messier's last season was in 2003-04, so it's been a dozen years since we've been able to go to a rink and actually see a player at the very top of the scoring record books. It's almost to the point where I want to take my kids to a game so they can say they've seen him play in their lifetime, even if they'd be more interested in Dippin' Dots or something.

It was really neat to talk to Mark Howe a couple weeks ago about Jagr and his father, Gordie, and how they compared. They were both so big and strong at such a young age, he pointed out. They both have a passion for the game and he said both men were energized by playing with younger players,

in Gordie's case, his sons. Jagr is clearly one of the all-time greats and we owe an assist to guys such as Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau for providing the assist in keeping it fun for Jagr to come to the rink every day.

more on Jagr from the ESPN hockey guys...