A few Jaromir Jagr Penguins jerseys were in the crowd during a December game of the Kladno Knights, the team he owns and still plays for, in the Czech Republic, according to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The news outlet sent a reporter to Europe last month to watch the Penguins great skate in his last season at a rink that holds 5,200, but fans stood several rows deep around the top to watch. Most fans in the arena wore the 52-year-old Jagr’s variety of jerseys from teams in the NHL and his current club.
The Pittsburgh Penguins last year retired Jagr’s No. 68.
He started with the team in 1990 and helped the team win two Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992.
Jagr was traded in 2001 and spent the next 16 years bouncing among NHL teams, including one season with the Philadelphia Flyers. He returned to the Czech Republic after being released in 2018 and continued playing with Kladno.
Jagr has said he plans to retire at the end of this season, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
“To get to play with a Hall of Famer, it’s not very often that you’ll have that chance,” said Kladno forward Mitch Hults. “… It doesn’t matter where in the world, everyone knows who the guy is, right? He’s like the Wayne Gretzky of Europe, is what I like to say.”
Jagr made sure to give the fans at the Kladno game a show by scoring his third goal of the season. He is the NHL’s second-leading career scorer with 1,921 points.