a couple of good articles the last few days.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Jaromir Jagr will play his 1,500th NHL game Monday night when the Devils face the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena, but he will admittedly not be at full strength.
http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/...ts_on_his_1500th_nhl_game_and_his_health.html
Among JaromÃr Jágr’s greatest attributes as a hockey player is his ability to create that space.
When he was younger Jágr didn’t create space, he took it– by force. When his power as a skater combined with his incredible reach, he could take whatever space he needed from whomever he wanted. In this way Jágr was, as sportswriter Michael Farber accurately described him, a self-reliant hockey player. Now at 42 he asserts this quality less often. While that aspect of his game has changed, another aspect, one equally as effective at finding space, has not changed. As Glenn Healy noted, Jágr likes to hold on to the puck:
He won’t give it up until there is absolutely no other play, which isn’t often, because he has the ability to make something out of nothing, even a one-on-three.
http://thehockeywriters.com/jaromir-jagr-spacemaker/
In the 1,500th game of his NHL career, Jagr scored his 710th goal and assisted on Adam Henrique’s power play goal. The two points moved Jagr past Marcel Dionne into sole possession of 5th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,772 points.
“I didn’t feel very well. I talked to the coach before the game. At 4 o’clock I saw him and I told him, ‘Don’t play me a lot. I don’t feel very well. No energy,’ ” Jagr acknowledged.
“With one hour to go, I started to feel more excited about the game. The last few days I was kind of sad with no energy.”
http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/...s_coach_pete_deboer_before_his_big_night.html