All 50-year-olds – do you still play sports at a high level? Because there’s a good chance you’re definitely not at the level of Jaromir Jagr.
Jagr turned 50 on Tuesday as he continues his quest to become one of the oldest professional hockey players in the history of the sport. And with 19 points in 35 games in the Czech Premier League with the team he owns, Ritter Kladno, he still plays at a high level.
Last season, Jagr helped Kladno return to the Czech top league through a promotion system. But this season they are now 14th in the league with 15 teams, despite former NHL player Tomas Plekanec finishing fourth in the league, scoring 48 points in the same number of games.
Three other O-40 players are in the Czech league this season: 43-year-old former Washington Capitals prospect Victor Hubble, 42-year-old and former Los Angeles forward Tomasz Zizka and 40-year-old Martin Sevc. Only Hubble (21 points) has more than Jagr (19), despite the fact that Jagr played 12 games less and was seven years old.
So, relative to everything Jagr still plays very well for his age. Jagr showed no interest in retiring any time soon. His professional career began more than 30 years ago in the Czech Premier League, and then only Plekanec (1982) and Jakub Suhanek (1984) were alive in Kladno when Jagr (1988) started.
A reliable member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, when he retires – if it really is – Jagr scored 1921 points in 1733 games for an incredible 24-year career in the NHL. He played with the Czechs at five Olympic Games, 10 World Championships, two World Championships and had 18 points at the 1990 World Junior Championships. Simply put, Jagr has been a force for decades, and is still producing at this point in his career.
Will he ever stop? Who really knows?
In his 50s Jaromir Jagr is still strong
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