For the past seasons in the NHL a select group of fans took it upon themselves to band together to create the famous group known as the Travelling Jagrs, a group of men who dress up as the ageless Jaromir Jagr. Each person wears a different jersey who Jagr played for in his 24-year NHL career, complete with a black mullet wig to top off the look. The jerseys that are worn consist of teams such as the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, and the Florida Panthers. Jagr himself is a fan of the group and loves to see that kind of fan involvement in the league, but as this year’s offseason stretched on, it looked as if the Travelling Jagr’s days were about to come to an end.
As the 2016-2017 NHL season came to an end, the contract with the Florida Panthers of NHL legend Jaromir Jagr also ended. Many wondered where the Czech would land during the offseason, but as the months rolled by, Jagr still remained unsigned. In fact, people were starting to get nervous that Jagr wouldn’t be signed. Even Jagr himself tweeted, “I didn’t think getting a job in the NHL would be this hard.”
But it looks like the Travelling Jagrs and Jagr himself will have at least one more year as the Calgary Flames signed the free-agent right winger to a one year 1 million dollar contract with 1 million in bonuses.
Many teams had inquired about Jagr, but were hesitant due to his old age; they wanted to keep going with their youth movements instead.
The 45-year-old sits second, below the NHL’s greatest Wayne Gretzky, in scoring with 1,914 points and is soon to pass Gordie Howe in games played with 1,767 games. Jagr also sits on top of stats like 765 goals in his career, 1,149 assists and many more.
Jagr has yet to make his debut in a Flames jersey yet this season. Flames head coach stated that Jagr still “needs a couple more days to get up to game speed.” With young, speedy players like Johnny Gudreau and Sean Monahan along side Jagr, it’s seems logical that he would need time to get back to his normal playing self again after having no offseason training.
So, the Travelling Jagrs will be adding another man into their bundle wearing a Calgary Flames jersey next season, can Jagr help the Flames this season after a total remodel of their team in the offseason?
