Why was Jagr so underwhelming in the playoffs?

[wetcoast]

Absolutely, the biggest stain in his career are his sub par playoff performances for his own standard. He had good years, but he had many underwhelming ones, too. 2001, 1993 and 1996 particularly come to mind. In all of these years Pittsburgh reaches the Cup final if Jagr doesnt disappear.

It's almost like 15 other teams aren't trying to reach the SC finals eh?

this thread is just such a bad take, Jagr was very very good in the playoffs and if every player was given the same exact scrutiny, Jagr still ends up in what the 95+ % of all players during his time in the league in the playoffs and since expansion.

How is that underwhelming?


Seems like unless he was better than Gretzky some people will just wanna cast blame here on him.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i can’t say i was a close follower of the early round playoff series of jagr’s peak but to me, his signature playoff series was round two of 1992, when adam graves bobby-clark-ed mario in game two and we got the first glimpse of what jagr really was.

facing the presidents trophy-winning rangers, with hart messier and norris leetch (richter let in a few laughers and was replaced by beezer, who wasn’t exactly great himself), twenty year-old jagr:

• set up troy loney's the third period tap-in to send the game into OT, which also tied the series 2-2

​

• scored two of pittsburgh three goals, including the late third period tie-breaker to take a 3-2 series lead

​

and these weren’t just important points, they were jaw-dropping, best player on the ice taking over plays.

less dramatically, he also got the GWG in the deciding game six. it was a mid-second period go-ahead goal that eventually stood up as the game-winner. they got another one shortly after, then iced it with two empty-netters at the end of the third.




(and for good measure, his penalty shot in game 5)

 

[frisco]

i can’t say i was a close follower of the early round playoff series of jagr’s peak but to me, his signature playoff series was round two of 1992, when adam graves bobby-clark-ed mario in game two and we got the first glimpse of what jagr really was.

facing the presidents trophy-winning rangers, with hart messier and norris leetch (richter let in a few laughers and was replaced by beezer, who wasn’t exactly great himself), twenty year-old jagr:

• set up troy loney's the third period tap-in to send the game into OT, which also tied the series 2-2

​

• scored two of pittsburgh three goals, including the late third period tie-breaker to take a 3-2 series lead

​

and these weren’t just important points, they were jaw-dropping, best player on the ice taking over plays.

less dramatically, he also got the GWG in the deciding game six. it was a mid-second period go-ahead goal that eventually stood up as the game-winner. they got another one shortly after, then iced it with two empty-netters at the end of the third.




(and for good measure, his penalty shot in game 5)

I've mentioned this before, but Jagr in 1992 was likely the best playoff performance ever in an age-19 season. Also, Jagr in 1991 probably the best age-18 season for a playoffs ever, too. Very underwhelming.

My Best-Carey

 

[bleedgreen]

He’s tied for 5th all time in playoff pts. With Crosby ironically. The four ahead of him are Gretzky and his Oiler teammates.

Again, aside from Gretzky’s Oilers Jagr is tied for the most playoff pts in NHL history.

That doesn’t line up with the word underwhelming.

 

[K Fleur]

Actually “any caps fan” might be the best group to ask about Jagr in the playoffs. Since he scored 52 points against the Caps in his playoff career. Roughly 26% of his career playoff points were scored against them.

I imagine the answer would be something along the lines of “yeah he used to f***ing kill us”

 

[PistolPete]

I've watched almost every playoff game of his career, being a fan since his draft year. And he CAN have a higher gear of effort, grit, physicality and play-through contact that defines playoff hockey. But not enough times.

I loathe Detroit but admire Yzerman's play even in losses. I love Marleau and cheered his Sharks but haven't often been satisfied with his play in the losses.

So you're saying he's an exceptionally talented player who can score at a higher pace in the PO without even really trying?

 

[VanIslander]

So you're saying he's an exceptionally talented player who can score at a higher pace in the PO without even really trying?

An exceptionally talented player who can't really try to score when it matters most.

In too many loses he left too much effort in the tank.

 

[PistolPete]

An exceptionally talented player who can't really try to score when it matters most.

In too many loses he left too much effort in the tank.

Makes me wonder what a breakdown of his scoring would be with regard to round and game number

 

[Michael Farkas]

Makes me wonder what a breakdown of his scoring would be with regard to round and game number

One of our all star contributors, @overpass , did work on this here: Playoff Scoring Late in Series Games 5 7 vs Early in Series Games 1 4

Jagr fell into "not much change" category....

 

[PistolPete]

One of our all star contributors, @overpass , did work on this here: Playoff Scoring Late in Series Games 5 7 vs Early in Series Games 1 4

Jagr fell into "not much change" category....

I was referring to Patrick Marleau....another poster mentioned him

Know his stats for that?

 

[Michael Farkas]

Sorry, I didn't track the whole convo. My apologies. When I saw "exceptionally talented" I really didn't think it was going to be Marleau out of the two main players in the thread haha

Anyhow, I'd invite you to be entertained by this thread: Scoring in playoff elimination games - which is about scoring in elimination games. Not exactly the same scale, but it paints a picture.