By the time most pro hockey players reach their late forties, they’re happily retired and enjoying charity golf tournaments. Maybe—maybe—they’re slipping the pads back on for a low-key beer league tournament or a nostalgic, old-timers’ matchup at the Winter Classic.
That’s what makes it all the more remarkable to happen across recent footage of 47-year-old (!) NHL legend Jaromir Jagr still doing his thing abroad in the Czech elite league. Jagr, the NHL’s second highest scorer of all-time (trailing only Wayne Gretzky), last played in the NHL for the Calgary Flames in 2018. The Flames waived him in January of that year, prompting Jagr to return home and sign on with Czech club HC Kladno—which wasn’t too difficult, seeing as it’s the team he partly owns.
Apparently, Jagr is doing very literally everything in his power to protect his investment: In a critical game last week, Jagr scored four goals to help his team achieve a promotion to the most competitive league in the Czech Republic, the Czech Extraliga.
47-year old Jaromir Jagr scored 4 goals in Kladno’s promotion clinching game today….. 👀 pic.twitter.com/8rbhRztSUx
If you watch the clip, you’ll realize these aren’t flukey, “get-the-boss-a-garbage-goal” types of plays, either. Jagr’s first goal was a laser-targeted wrist shot from the top of circle, the precise spot from which he scored the majority of his 766 goals in the NHL. In his fourth and final goal of the game, Jagr appears to simply outmatch his much younger and less experienced defender, using his consideable 240-pound frame to his full advantage.
Vintage Jaromir Jagr today…… 👀 pic.twitter.com/agNWVZdRuw
This isn’t some anomaly, either: A week earlier, another highlight reel showed Jagr picking up the puck from a teammate in full stride, barreling through the neutral zone, splitting the defense, and finishing the play with a perfect deke to slip the puck past the goalie.
Extraligový, extraligový, Kladno je zas extraligový! 🤩🤩🤩 #Kladynko to dokázalo a díky famóznímu 👑 Jaromíru Jágrovi staví postup do @telhcz. #CEBvKLA
📝 REPORT 👉 https://t.co/OkAOJZdfCU pic.twitter.com/Vfse8d07gX
It begs the question: How the hell is Jagr still doing this at age 47? For one thing, Jagr, who has said he doesn’t drink and lives a relatively clean lifestyle, has always adhered to a strict training regimen, which is thought to include doing up to 1,000 squats per day. (In a New York Times interview, Jagr said he started the routine at age 7.) He also incorporates interval training, towing, and sometimes does sprints while wearing a 35-pound weight vest, the Times story revealed.
Jagr certainly isn’t alone when it comes to players of his era showing surprising longevity, either. Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Chelios also continued to play until he was nearly 50. Diminutive Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis won the Art Ross trophy—given out to the league’s leading scorer—at age 37, and played into his early forties. Goaltender Martin Brodeur retired in 2015 at the age of 42.
Much like those athletes, Jagr is a clear lock for the Hall of Fame once he retires from playing hockey—at this rate, however, that’s still a big “if.”
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