from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,
Jaromir Jagr is one for the aged.
Jagr, who turns 44 in early February, is amazingly in the top 10 in NHL scoring in what is clearly a young man’s game, where if you can’t skate fast, you seemingly can’t play. Obviously, they forgot Jagr as part of that equation.
When Jagr’s Florida Panthers played the Buffalo Sabres and teenager Jack Eichel, he outplayed the hyped kid who went second in this year’s draft.
His feet may have slowed, but not his hands, the part of the anatomy that goes before the legs — just ask Guy Lafleur and Jari Kurri, Teemu Selanne and Mike Modano.
“What can I say? Jagr is a forget-about-it anomaly, like Chris Chelios, who was still playing 16, 17 minutes a night at the same age in Detroit,” said TSN’s Craig Button, who was scouting for the Minnesota North Stars in 1990 when Jagr was eligible for the draft and went fifth to Pittsburgh.
For Jagr, he’s defined by his job.
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