15 facts you probably didn't know about Jaromir Jagr

Jaromir Jagr is one of those hockey legends whose accomplishments far exceed the stats and awards he’s won over his nearly four-decade career. But do you really know everything about him? Here are fifteen facts about Jagr you probably didn’t know. 

With a career that spans 35 seasons and well over 2000 games across professional leagues in both North America and Europe, Jagr has probably played in more hockey games than any other professional player in any other league. 

You might think Jagr was poised to be the breakout star of his draft year but there were actually four other players drafted before him. Owen Nolan, Petr Nedved, Keith Primeau, and Mike Ritchie were all picked up before Pittsburg snatched Jagr. 

According to NBC Sports, Jagr has played for a total of 14 different professional teams across six countries, which include Canada, Russia, Italy, Germany, Czechia, and the United States. Pretty impressive for a guy who said he wanted to play until he was 50.

Jagr has been playing hockey for so long that he has played against national teams from the Soviet Union and West Germany during the 1990 IIHF World Junior Championship while he was playing for Czechoslovakia, a country that also hasn’t existed since 1992. 

Jagr only ever got into one fight during his NHL career according to The Sportster’s writing staff. It occurred during a 2000 game against the New York Rangers and Jagr’s target was defensemen Rich Pilon, though the exchange wasn’t much of a fight… 

Jagr was blackmailed in 2015 by an 18-year-old Czech model who snapped a selfie with him while sleeping together in bed. Jagr shrugged off the blackmail attempt, reportedly responding with only the word “Meh” according to The Hockey News. 

As Jagr became more of a hockey phenomenon in the 1990s, he got a lot of opportunities to start endorsing stuff. But did you know one of the first things he decided to put his name on was a brand of peanut butter? Here’s why he said he did it.

“I was injured for a month and doctors don’t know what to do with me. Then I get the peanut butter, rub on my groin, and all of the sudden I start playing again. Just like that.” Jagr said according to Hockey Feed. 

Jagr played 24 seasons in his NHL career in North America with 766 goals, 1155 assists, and a plus-minus of +322 in 1733 games according to Stat Muse. 

Jagr also took home two Stanley Cups as well as one Hart Memorial Trophy, five Art Ross trophies, three Lester B. Pearson awards, one Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, and he even has an Olympic gold Medal according to Yard Barker’s David Hunt. 

Jagr is still second on the NHL’s list of all-time point producers with a total of 1921 points, only being beaten out by Wayne Gretzky and his 2857 points. 

Some players may pick their jersey number at random but Jaromir Jagr’s 68 was chosen to honor his grandfather and Czechoslovakia’s 1968 Prague Spring according to The Sportster’s writing staff. 

ESPN’s Natalie Decker and Zachary Ingraham wrote in a 2018 article that Jagr has been doing 1000 squats per day since he was seven years old, which means he’s probably done upwards of 14 million squats in his lifetime… that’s gotta be a record. 

Decker and Ingraham also pointed out that only two other people had played in an NHL game after the age of 45, Gordie Howe and Chris Chelios. 

Even though he’s no longer playing in the NHL, Jagr is still playing professionally at the age of 51 in Czechia for Rytíři Kladno, better known as the Kladno Knights in English. 

Photo by Twitter @CompleteHkyNews

You might think a team owner was crazy for wanting to play a 51-year-old Jaromir, and you might be right if Jagr himself wasn’t one of the co-owners of the team. Jagr bought into Kladno in 2018 according to CBC and he’s been playing with them ever since.