There probably isn’t vocabulary — in any language — to fully explain what took place Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.
Honestly, a gently affectionate 78-year-old lady from Czechia who speaks limited English probably did the best to illustrate the emotions that flooded the venue.
She cried.
Bawled, really.
And her tears prompted the embrace of her son.
Jaromir Jagr, in the midst of having his iconic No. 68 retired and raised to the rafters by the Pittsburgh Penguins after a gulf of nearly 23 years away from the team, departed the lectern at center ice during his speech, walked to his left and embraced his sobbing mother, Anna Jagrova.
The titanic power of that moment — understandable to anyone in any corner of this earth — punctuated what was one of the most remarkable hockey nights ever in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh had waited so long to see her son again — as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins — because he was the city’s son over the course of 11 spellbinding seasons a generation or two ago.
That chasm of time also was outlined by Jagr’s trademark wit as the 52-year-old thanked his — not 52-year-old — girlfriend, Dominika Branisova.
“She’s too young to remember I played in Pittsburgh,” Jagr quipped. “But I told her all the stories.”
The stories of Jagr’s time in his second home — his NHL home — are the stuff of legend.
From when he forgot his work visa and offered his ATM card to a customs agent in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as a rookie for a road trip in Canada to his mother hanging up on President Ronald Reagan’s office as it tried to arrange a phone conversation between the two opponents of communism, tales of Jagr have become folklore over the decades.
One matter Jagr tried to set a record on is how he wants to be remembered in Pittsburgh.
Jagr's return:
• What they're saying about Jaromir Jagr's jersey retirement
• 'You say Jaromir Jagr, they’re going to say Pittsburgh Penguins'
• Jaromir Jagr dazzles the current Penguins in practice
• Jaromir Jagr's reunion with Penguins celebrated as 'really important to this franchise'
• Jaromir Jagr's return to Penguins sparks flood of memories from teammates
As a player and a person.
“You know what, those two kind of (don’t) go together when I was thinking about my hockey life,” Jagr said during a news conference before the ceremony. “If you want to accomplish something in this sport or any business, it’s tough to be a nice guy. I don’t know if I explained that right, but there’s something what everybody wants. To be the best, to score the most goals, win the Stanley Cup. That’s my job.
“When I had the drive, I didn’t think I was a nice guy. That’s what (drove) me. I wanted to be the best. After a while, when I hit 30, all of a sudden, I still loved the game, but to win something, it (didn’t) mean that much for me. Or it wasn’t that important to me. All of a sudden, I wanted to be remembered as a great person. Somebody that could help other people. That’s what I wanted to be remembered (for). The hockey is going to be good. You scored a lot of goals, a lot of assists, you win the (Stanley) Cup, win the (Olympic) medals. But what did you do for the others?
“That’s the question before you die. God is going to ask what you did here. I want to be remembered as a good person. Maybe I’m far away from that, but I’m going to try my best.”
Jagr is among the best of all time in NHL history as he is the league’s second-leading career scorer with 1,921 points.
As such, he became only the third player in franchise history to have his jersey retired by the Penguins.
Those who have received this honor by the club have done so because of extraordinary circumstances.
The No. 21 of Michel Briere, a promising rookie who died in 1971 as a result of an automobile accident, quietly was taken out of circulation after his death and officially retired in 2001.
Poignantly, Briere’s son, Martin, trekked from Montreal to participate in Sunday’s ceremony.
The other was retired twice.
Mario Lemieux’s No. 66 initially was placed in the rafters in 1997 after his first retirement, only to be summoned in 2000 when Lemieux — also a participant in Sunday’s ceremony — returned as an active player. When he stepped away from the game for good in 2005, No. 66 returned to its elevated status.
Featured Local Businesses
No. 68 joined them Sunday.
Those digits did make one last appearance on the ice, however.
Before they hosted the Los Angeles Kings, the active Penguins all took to the ice in No. 68 jerseys.
So did Jagr.
Still an active player with the Kladno Knights, a team he owns in his native Czechia, Jagr warmed up with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, all of whom are likely to have their own numbers assigned to the roof.
At the end of warmups, Jagr glided to center ice and raised his right hand, thanking a smitten audience with which he has had a complicated relationship with over the past two-plus decades.
Upon the occasions he would return as a visiting opponent with rivals such as the Washington Capitals, New York Rangers and — perhaps, worst of all — the Philadelphia Flyers, Jagr was routinely the target of boos.
“It was understandable. I was playing for different teams,” Jagr said during his news conference. “It’s going to mean a lot (to be cheered) it’s just, it’s a little extra bonus. It’s huge. You play the game with love. You play to make you happy. But it’s an extra bonus. When you do your job, and you do (a) job you love to do and you see appreciation from other people, that’s something that not many people can feel it or understand.”
Of Jagr’s various jobs with the Kladno Knights, he is an occasional right winger for that club that plays in Czechia’s top league.
Jagr suggested retirement as an active player could be around the corner. And after Sunday’s reunion, he could become a more regular presence with the Penguins for functions such as alumni games or championship reunions.
“I have to retire from playing,” Jagr said. “That’s the first step. I’m getting there pretty soon, there’s no question about it. I’m going home on Wednesday. So, we are going to have some talk about that and see what’s going to happen. I’m going to finish the season and see what happens next year.”
During Sunday’s ceremony, Jagr formally was welcomed to the ice with a recording of beloved public address announcer at the Civic Arena, John Barbero, who died in 2010.
“Number sixty-eight. Jaromir Jagr!”
Jagr joined teammates from his Stanley Cup seasons of the early 1990s — Lemieux, Ron Francis, Ulf and Kjell Samuelsson as well as others — along with those he skated with later in his tenure with the club such as Matthew Barnaby, Jiri Slegr and Jean-Sebastien Aubin.
Also mentioned were executives and coaches who guided Jagr, including Scotty Bowman, Greg Malone and Craig Patrick, the general manager who drafted Jagr in 1990.
Jagr even thanked those in absentia such as Paul Coffey, Bryan Trottier, Martin Straka and former broadcaster Mike Lange, whom he referred to as “the voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins.”
Before acknowledging all his teammates and others by name, Jagr offered another quip during the ceremony that lasted a little more than 45 minutes.
“I don’t know if we have the time or not,” he said. “But it’s my day, so I should make it (as long) as I want.”
Jagr invoked the name of another Penguins icon in explaining what happened Sunday.
The sentiment was universal.
“My first coach, Bob Johnson, always said, ‘Today is a great day for hockey,’ ” he recalled. “I’m going to use it, and I’m going to change it a little bit.
“I’m going to say today is a great day for me.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.