The Legend of Jagr grows...Incredible story

[frederixx]

And players like Lafleur and Iafrate drinking coke and smoking in between periods...

 

[Regal]

“He played with plumbers who smoked cigarettes, he was out of shape because fitness was invented in 2006 and his mother wears army boots”
- era adjusting crowd

You’re kind of telling on yourself for your lack of understanding with this joke.

 

[Demon Eyes]

it wasn't really a myth, there were videos and many little interviews.
I do remember the stick on a cable, might have been with the bruins, think some other players were trying it. but never found that video

 

[BB79]

Jagr is the man. I wish I appreciated him more in the 90s, after reading how he conditioned himself in the off-season later in his career I developed some serious appreciation for him. I think he rubbed off on Chara when he was with the Bruins too. Z is running marathons in his mid-40s and putting up respectable times to boot

 

[King'sPawn]

Hand strength with a chick? For this?

I'm not here to yuck anybody's yum.

 

[Dingo]

Gretzky-Lemieux had all distorted our expectation at the time.

its true. coupled with the fact that none of us (as far as i know) actually knew that goaltending and defence could alter stats so much.

to have an Art Ross winner with 127 points, at that time, for someone my age, felt like... "sooooo. he is like Pierre Turgeon?"

 

[brentashton]

Maybe this is when he decided to work on his hand strength?

By the look of that photo he didn’t have to worry about working on wrist strength.

 

[Chaos2k7]

Jason Demers confirmed a story/myth today on the Marek show.

Demers said that when he played with Jagr in Florida in 2016, Jagr wanted to challenge his workouts more during training camp. So Jagr got ankle weights and strapped them on himself to add resistance during drills, workouts and skates.

Apparently, Jagr felt so good during training camp and pre-season that he decided to keep the ankle weights on during regular season games.

Demers says that Jagr played with ankle weights on for at least 50 regular season games that year.

Jagr was 44 in 2016, played all 82 games and scored 16 goals.

Legend.

Demers also said that Jarg punctured a hole on the shaft of his stick so that he can connect it to a cable machine in the gym. He would then hook his stick to the cable and put the weights on something ridiculous like 150lbs. He would then pull the cables down by holding his stick as if he was puck handling and just lean on it for hours to develop hand strength on his stick.... ridiculous.

Jagr took a young Barkov and Huberdeau and showed them how to be professionals.

 

[sting101]

44 yr old Jagr led the Panthers in scoring in 2016.

The game has changed so much

 

[1specter]

Underrated comment

 

[AppreciateHockey]

I´ll take Jagr over Howe anyday. There, I said it.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

If these are ankle weights like I’m picturing then shouldn’t it be really easy to find pictures of him wearing them in games? I feel like if he really did that it would have been a huge story at the time and I don’t remember ever hearing about this. Those weights are super obvious.

 

[bleedgreen]

I’m calling bullshit on that

This isn’t a new story, they talked about the ankle weights then. It’s true. I didn’t know or forgot about the regular season games (it’s not surprising) but he was always doing things like this for training. He would make sure he had access to rinks so he could train late at night or early in the morning on top of whatever the team is doing. They were talking about him being obsessive a lot when he was in his first few seasons, they couldn’t get him off the ice. He would go out on the ice in slippers pre gaming before the pre game with a stick and puck “getting used to the ice”. They would show footage of it during the games.

 

[Summer Rose]

Hey, I still remember when Grant Fuhr won the Vezina while playing with his gloves on the wrong hands.

As a glove right goalie, I wish I could dislike this post.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

As a glove right goalie, I wish I could dislike this post.

Most of the other goalies in my regular group are right catch. Y’all fascinate me!

 

[Bradely]

The saddest part, I don't think enough people truly appreciated Jagr's greatness during his prime. Those late 90's seasons with the Penguins were epic performances and yet, people had the gall to compare him to guys like Sakic, Forsberg, and Yzerman when at the time, he was clearly a cut above.

I'm happy to see it come full circle and for the guy to get the love and appreciation he deserves.

I'm quite sure we as a hockey community, aren't worthy of what Jagr has given us.

I do think he was a great athlete, on another physical level etc... just had ALL great tools. But IMO Jagr played for Jagr....the crest on his sweater came way after!

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

If true one of the dumbest things I have ever read

 

[abo9]

He should have dropped the weights during regular season games after that year, would have loved to see more Jagr

From all I read about him, he was just obsessed with hockey. But not like any pro... his life literally is hockey. No wife, no kids (right?), trains in his free time, etc.

I wonder if some of his unorthodox training methods have been adopted by more players over the years. Seems like the young Panthers at the time did and found success

 

[SEALBound]

I do think he was a great athlete, on another physical level etc... just had ALL great tools. But IMO Jagr played for Jagr....the crest on his sweater came way after!

I think if you go listen to interviews about his time in Pittsburgh, you'll see that isn't the case.

 

[Summer Rose]

Most of the other goalies in my regular group are right catch. Y’all fascinate me!

It's a little weird. I throw right-handed so I'm used to catching a softball with my left hand (I even played catcher), but when I was trying out goaltending, it felt much more natural to hold the stick in my left hand, and felt just fine enough to catch with my right hand. It also got weird because I shoot left when I skate out, so I can barely handle the puck when I play in net.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

It's a little weird. I throw right-handed so I'm used to catching a softball with my left hand (I even played catcher), but when I was trying out goaltending, it felt much more natural to hold the stick in my left hand, and felt just fine enough to catch with my right hand. It also got weird because I shoot left when I skate out, so I can barely handle the puck when I play in net.

One of the things I like about it is that when we switch ends, they're always pulling the ice shavings to the post that I don't focus on as easily - so in the end it balances out.

 

[MadLuke]

its true. coupled with the fact that none of us (as far as i know) actually knew that goaltending and defence could alter stats so much.

to have an Art Ross winner with 127 points, at that time, for someone my age, felt like... "sooooo. he is like Pierre Turgeon?"

Not in that regard for me (scoring going down was evident enough), much more winning 5 Art Ross, still win without playing 70 games, yes that what the best player in the league do.... No it was still like before them something that almost no one will do and we had to wait until 2023 for McDavid to do it.

 

[Crease]

For a while Jagr was in the discussion of being #5 all time after the big four. He’s a living legend.

 

[Sentinel]

The saddest part, I don't think enough people truly appreciated Jagr's greatness during his prime. Those late 90's seasons with the Penguins were epic performances and yet, people had the gall to compare him to guys like Sakic, Forsberg, and Yzerman when at the time, he was clearly a cut above.

I'm happy to see it come full circle and for the guy to get the love and appreciation he deserves.

I'm quite sure we as a hockey community, aren't worthy of what Jagr has given us.

Offensively -- yes. But when you factor in two-way play, they are in the same tier.

 

[jetsforever]

Crazy how many wild Jagr stories there are from over they years
Glad we were able to have someone like that in the league for so long