Musings on the Rangers and Jagr

I probably shouldn’t admit this, but Jaromir Jagr is probably my favorite hockey player of all time. Paul Coffey’s skating originally got me intrigued by hockey (I was five then), but when Jagr arrived in Pittsburgh (I was eight), I took an immediate liking to how he played the game. Sure, I’ll admit as a young girl and teenager, I liked the flowing hair and Jagr’s goofy grin, but most of all, I just liked the way he played the game. Jagr was aggressive on the ice. Jagr didn’t dive when players tried to pull him down; he just skated with two and three people on his back during the years in the mid to late nineties when obstruction fouling ruled in the NHL. Early in his career, Jagr dipsy-doodled over the ice, always strong on the puck, and danced around defenders. As he developed more strength, he learned to plow through defenders while still doing some dipsy-doodling. And when Jagr finally became Jagr—the player who’d win multiple league scoring championships and play on an injured groin and lead his team to a playoff victory series—well, wow, I just loved to watch Jagr play.

Jagr’s last season in Pittsburgh soured many people on him, but not me. I guess it’s probably because I had too many fond memories of Jagr and all that he had done in a Penguins uniform for me to get really angry and bitter with him. Jagr had always been a little moody and neurotic—not that his neurotic moodiness really affected his on-ice production much at the peak of his career—and I accepted his personality as part of what it meant to love Jags the player. I still loved Jagr the player even in a Capitals uniform and even though he certainly wasn’t performing like the Jaromir Jagr I knew and loved. And last year, when I watched my Penguins team fall flat, I cheered from a distance for a rejuvenated Jagr. Because Jaromir Jagr playing at the peak of his game is good for the NHL and great for the game of hockey.

However, Jagr’s great season didn’t end so great. He fell short of capturing the league scoring championship and injured his shoulder in the first round of the playoffs, an injury from which he’s had to recuperate all summer. A recent issue of The Hockey News informed me that questions still abound about the Rangers, as they should. The Rangers are still seeking "respect," according to the article.

But respect has to be earned, and as I mentioned earlier this summer, I’m concerned about the Rangers this upcoming season. Recent events have only made me more concerned. Jagr claims he hasn’t been able to work as he would have liked this summer due to his injury, and I believe him. I also believe that if Jagr believes he hasn’t been able to work out as well as he wants to and Jagr believes he’s not ready for the season, that’s a huge problem. Because as Jagr’s mind goes, so goes his fate, and as goes Jagr’s fate and fortune, so goes the fate and fortune of the Rangers season. Likewise, while I understand why doctors and coaches are keeping Jagr out of preseason games in order to ensure his shoulder can withstand the pounding that will no doubt come when the season commences, Jagr has always been a player who believes scrimmages are important to be in game shape. Whether Jagr can just step on the ice and pick up where he left off before his injury last season is moot point. If Jagr believes that he isn’t ready or capable of picking up where he left off last season, he and the Rangers will have a huge problem on their hands.

A sluggish start by Jagr could lead to a slow start overall for the Rangers, and I’d be lying if I said—given Jagr’s past history (keep in mind that I still love Jags)—that shouldn’t concern Rangers partisans. Because a slow start in a New York market where fans and media expectations are going to be amplified given the renaissance that occurred during the regular season last year, well—just look out.

I don’t even know that I have advice for Tom Renney or Glen Sather or Rangers fans about what to do if Jagr gets off to a slow start or if the team starts out the season at a sluggish pace (saying, winning at the same rate as they lose, or perhaps even slightly worse than that, to begin the year). But given the experience of loving and cheering for Jagr for the better part of 16 years now, have patience until he gets to the point where he believes the shoulder injury and off-season won’t affect him. Sure, if you can work the mind trickery to get him to believe that before the start of the season, bravo and terrific for you.

But when it comes to Jagr, believing he can do it—at this stage of his career—is what matters the most. Pouncing on other players with doubt might be the right way to go, but for Jags—just as a warning for fans, media, et. al—it’s generally not the way to go.

Yet, seriously, I’m hopeful. Hopeful to see Jagr again play like the player who was the best player in the world. Even in a Rangers uniform. Because, as age and injuries show, best player in the world lasts for a finite amount of time.

So here’s to wishing Jags and the Rangers a great season in the window of time still left, while I cheer for my team, hopeful that our window of time in Pittsburgh remains long after Jagr’s hung up his skates for good.