from Tom Gulitti of Fire & Ice,
The 42-year-old future Hall of Famer has no plans for this to be his final season.
“I don’t think that way,” Jagr said today after taking his training camp physical. “I love the game. What I want to tell you is I don’t know if it’s going to be the last year in the NHL. If I stay healthy, it’s not going to be my last year in hockey. I want to play until 50, maybe more. But I want to play in the NHL if I’m good enough. I don’t want to just be here just to be here.
“But the longer you play in the NHL, the better challenge you get for yourself. You’re facing the best players in the world. So, if I’m good enough to play in this league, I want to do it. If I’m not, I’m going to play somewhere else. But you have to stay healthy and you have to stay motivated and you have to love the game. So, that’s what I do. That’s what I love.”
Jagr, who is tied for sixth in NHL history with 1,755 points, ranks seventh in goals with 705 and eighth with 1,050 assists in 1,473 regualar season games, sees no reason to stop playing simply because of his age.
“(Just) because I’m over 40, there’s no rules that you have to stop playing,” he said. “There’s no rules. It’s tougher because there’s a lot of young guys.”
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