Andrew Levengood, Spots Editor
For the first time since the 2007-2008 season, Jaromir Jagr will be playing in the NHL returning from his three-year stint in Russia (KHL). Jagr joins a new looking Philadelphia Flyers team that has burst into the spotlight early in the season. Coming into the past offseason, Jagr informed his agent Petr Svoboda that he wanted to return to the NHL.
At the start of the offseason, many analysts believed Jagr would return to Pittsburgh or head to Detroit. At one point ESPN even reported the Penguins had a deal in place with Jagr, but when his decision was announced, he surprised everyone by joining the Flyers. In the past Jagr has played on rival teams of the Flyers that have very different ways of playing than the rough and angry way the Flyers have always played. His choice to sign in Philadelphia was unexpected because of his past and because the Flyers drastically changed their roster, playing in 9 new players on opening day from a year ago, and looked to some as a rebuilding team.
Many Penguins and Rangers fans have lashed out against Jagr’s decision but as of the early goings of the season, it looks to have been a great one. Jagr has established himself as a scoring threat in the preseason and has shown that he is a key leader for the Flyers. Many of the Flyers young players have gone to Jagr for guidance and have been met with the utmost respect, Jagr has been holding his ritual of late night practicing and some of the Flyers youth have joined him.
Though scoreless in the first seven games Jaromir has shown no signs of tightening up or pressing to score, he now seems favorable to sharing the load and doing whatever it takes the team to win. He has proved that all the rumors of him being a diva and unwilling to pass the puck are not only untrue but completely opposite of his actual set of ideals. Jagr has put himself as a leader and a mentor for a very young team that is winning despite its vast changes in personnel.
