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At 50, Ex-Flyers RW Jaromir Jagr Forced to Play for Team He Owns

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Jaromir Jagr, Philadelphia Flyers, courtesy of Flyers
Jaromir Jagr is shown during his one season with the Flyers. Jagr, 50, played for the team he owns Sunday. Photo: Flyers.

At 50, virtually all athletes have finished their playing careers.

Some have gone into broadcasting. Some have retired and are living comfortably. Some have settled into “normal” jobs.

Jaromir Jagr is playing professional hockey with players less than half his age.

Jagr, who played with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2011-12 season — he was one of the funniest and approachable athletes I have ever covered — had to suit up Sunday for the team he owns, the Kladno Knights of the Czech Extraliga League.

Oh, and he’s still got it.

Extenuating circumstances

Jagr played because an illness left his team short of players. He contributed a pair of primary assists and played 15-plus minutes. Kladno lost to HC Bili Tygri Liberec, 7-3.

It was his first game since April.

After the game, Jagr told reporters Kladno was down to 12 skaters from the previous day and could have faced league discipline if another game was postponed.

So he laced up his skates.

By playing, it means his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame will be delayed until at least 2026.

During his fabled 24-season NHL career, Jagr collected 766 goals and 1,921 points in 1,733 games. In his one season with the Flyers, the then-39-year-old Jagr had 19 goals and 54 points in 73 games.

He spent 11 seasons with Pittsburgh and won a pair of Stanley Cups with the Penguins. In the NHL, Jagr also played for the Rangers, Washington, Florida, New Jersey, the Flyers, Boston, Dallas, and Calgary.

At many of his NHL games, the right winger was supported by the “Traveling Jagrs,” a group that dressed in jerseys of his former teams and wore long black wigs, many of which had mullets. They traveled around North America to his games.

Last March, Jagr made news when he moved Kladno’s season finale from a 5,200-seat venue to Prague’s 17,383-seat O2 Arena. Proceeds from the ticket sales went to Ukraine refugees in the Czech Republic.

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