I'm back with the third installment of my ongoing analysis of the Rangers big free agent signings! Today I'm going to examine the effect these signings may have on Jaromir Jagr (The Jagr Factor). The first two installments were definitely positive. The Jagr factor is a little bit more complicated:
Jagr is the centerpiece of the NY Rangers. Period. Jagr re-emerged as a super star on the Rangers in large part because the team was built in his image. A large number of European players (especially players from Jagr's homeland- the Czech Republic) were brought into the mix. The European puck possession game that these players employed blended perfectly with Jagr. The Rangers roster was so heavily dominated by European players that the team actually adopted the European custom of saluting the crowd after home ice victories! Jagr was reborn and so were the Rangers.
Perhaps the most important member of Jagr's supporting cast was his centerman, Michael Nylander. These two players had such great chemistry that it was literally beautiful to watch them work the ice together. Apparently, they developed a personal friendship as well. The big question is: will the departure of Nylander and the acquisition of two North American players (who were brought in to play key roles on the team) disrupt the chemistry (i.e. Jagr's happiness) in New York?
No one knows the answer for sure. One thing we do know is that history is the best teacher. So let's take a look back at some of events that transpired throughout Jagr's career which may shed light on this issue and see what we can learn.
Jagr's Exodus From Pittsburgh:
The Pens were cash poor and unable to maintain their star players from the early 90's glory years. As is the case with so any struggling franchises, the Pens lost their top players one at a time. They did, however, hold onto Jagr. Perhaps they hoped that he could be Mario Jr. and singlehandedly make the team competitive. Guess what? no one could do that, not even Mario Jr. (which by the way, Jaromir was not). Jagr wanted help in the lineup and he wanted more money. The Pens could afford neither. It didn't take long for Jagr to sour on the Pens and Pens to sour on Jagr. All of a sudden, reports materialized that the once golden boy was now a chemistry killing gambloholic. Ultimately Jagr was dealt to the Caps. In the process, Jagr began to solidify his reputation as a temperamental superstar who could be more trouble then he's worth despite his incredible talent. But was that a fair assessment of Jagr?
The way I see it, the truth is somewhere in the middle. When guys like Messier, Coffey, Lowe, Anderson, etc.. left the Oilers because they wanted to make more money and win, no one vilified them. Their characters were not called into question. In fact, conventional wisdom said that it was their strong character and desire to win which prompted them to seek trades from a once formidable but currently floundering franchise. Those guys were North American and Jagr is European. In todays NHL, European players are slowly getting the respect they deserve. Ten years ago was different. At that point the NHL wasn't too far removed from Don Cherry's ridiculous rants. I think that to a certain extent, Jagr suffered from the misconceptions that existed regarding European players. Jagr's inability to say the right things at the right time didn't help his image much either.
On the other hand, the perception was that Jagr did seem to "quit" during his final months with the Pens. The aforementioned players (Mess, Coffey, Lowe, etc..) didn't do that. That certainly doesn't bode well for Jagr. If he really is a temperamental player, the Rangers could have a problem on their hands! At the end of the day, The Pittsburgh Exodus doesn't answer the question.
The Disaster In Washington:
So Jagr escapes to the Caps from the Pens. He signs a huge contract and then goes on to totally and completely flop! Once again he's painted as a temperamental player who is more of a distraction than he's worth. Yet, once again the truth is somewhere in the middle: Washington's management was reportedly split on whether or not to acquire Jagr. Supposedly, G.M. George McPhee was against the idea. However, he was apparently over-ruled by the team owner. That's not exactly the healthiest way for a team to make the biggest trade in its history. Was the rift palpable? Did Jagr get a sense that he wasn't fully wanted by all the members of his new employer? How would that make you feel? Remember when Gretzky got that same sense in St. Louis? Gretzky refused to resign with the club despite the fact that they gave up some good young players to acquire him. Was Gretzky vilified? The other problem in Washington was that the team didn't "open up" its playing style to suit Jagr. Some people are of the opinion that a player has to conform to the team, not vice versa. But was Mark Messier vilified in the early 90's in New York when he chased Roger Nielson out of town for employing a defense first system when that system didn't jive with Messier's style of play?
However, again we see a difference between Messier and Jagr: Mess played hard for Nielson all season. The perception in Washington is that Jagr quit. Again, if that's true the Rangers could have a problem on their hands!
Jagr's Ranger Revival:
Ultimately Jagr came to New York and was reborn. There are a bunch of points here so let's tackle them one at a time:
The Captaincy:
Jagr didn't want it at first. He himself said that he felt that the team would be better served with a North American Captain. I do not believe that Jagr was shying away from the responsibility of being Captain (he ultimately accepted the role with open arms). I believe that Jagr felt misunderstood as a European player. He felt that he had been unfairly portrayed in the media and was not given the same benefit of the doubt as his North American Counterparts. As such, it would only hurt him and the team were he to be captain. Once he saw that New York embraced him and the New York media did not display any anti-euro sentiments, he took the job. To me, this tends to show that some of the sting from the Pittsburgh and Washington fiascoes were the result of misperception.
The Shannahan Signing:
When the Rangers brought in Shanny I was concerned about the chemistry of the team. Shanny is the prototypical North American power forward and leader. Could he and Jagr successfully coexist in the same locker room? Would a rift be created? Would the team be split into two camps? In hindsight those fears proved to be misplaced. Shanny and Jagr thrived together. At the end of this season, Jagr lobbied hard for the resigning of Shanny. Jagr actually said that Shanny's presence takes a lot of the leadership burdens off of himself allowing him to focus more on the game. Wow! Who would have believed this! If this is the real Jagr, that same attitude should help smoothen the transition into the Gomez/Drury era.
Do As I Do , Not As I Say:
Unfortunately, Jagr has never mastered the skill of saying the right things at the right times. Add to that his off beat sense of humor and you've got a guy who is often hard to read. The one constant throughout his tenure as a Ranger, however, has been his commitment to excellence on the ice. He may say things that sound negative but on the ice, it's all positive. He's played through pain and injuries without complaining and he has looked very much like a dedicated winner here in New York.
The Blueshirt Bulletin recently posted an article based on some jagr quotes regarding the signings of Gomez and Drury that don't sound too positive. At this point, I'm not going to read to much into them. Jagr basically says that if he can't click with either centerman, the Rangers will have problems. Guess what? he's right! Furthermore, that's Jagr's style: he calls it as he sees it. He doesn't worry about saying the "right" things. Perhaps he should, but he doesn't. Don't forget that this is the same Jagr who declared that he will be spending this off season preparing to be the best player he can possible be.
So which is the real Jagr? Is he the guy that publicly questions the signings of Drury or Gomez? Or is he the guy that is dedicated to being the best player he can be? I don't know! Neither does anyone in the hockey world. What I do know is that Jagr now has an opportunity to prove his critics wrong: If he goes out and does everything in his power to make things work for this team then he is unquestionably a team leader and star. If he "quits" if and when the going gets tough, well you know how that ends. I am hopeful that he will seize this opportunity to redifine his legacy.
The bottom line for the Rangers is that if Jagr is the temperamental problem child some think he is, he would have never lead us to a cup anyway. Therefore, signing Drury and Gomez were the right moves as they make the team less reliant on Jagr The Problem Child. If, on the other hand, Jagr is the leader he can be, then the Rangers might be closer then some people would like to think to taking another victory march down the Canyon of Heroes. Time will tell.
Wow, I hope you're not nauseous from that crazy "spin" you just created!!!! Let me recap your post using more elementary wording:
Section #1
Blah blah blah blah blah... Jagr wants more money blah blah and Mario is not there and Jagr can't lead on his own so he quits on his team.
Section #2
Blah blah blah blah blah... Jagr gets that money he was seeking, but now feels unwanted and oh yeah he still can't lead so he quits on this team again!
Section #3
"Jagr feels misunderstood"
Uhh... What???
Bottom line is that Jagr is a temperamental. That is a polite sports synonym for the word baby. Having said that, he is a franchise talent who can dominate the puck at will. That is the key component "at will". As in, when he feels like it. When things are going well he's cracking jokes with the press. When things are not going well he's not even doing interviews. But please lets never confuse a player's talent with a player's character. They are not the same thing.
Posted by: thedirtyboy | July 10, 2007 at 09:22 AM
No spin buddy. I presented both sides of the argument.
Posted by: The Hockey Rabbi | July 10, 2007 at 09:37 AM
You cant blame a person for being a person. Yes Jagr can be a little tempermental at times. But if you think about it, he learned it from the best. The greatest player in the history of the game (not named Wayne) used to have 1 knock on his game- and that was mailing it in. Mario, too, was given a hard time for what seemed like half-hearted efforts, especially in losses. Yes its scary to think what kind of numbers he wouldv'e posted if this is true & he did in fact mail it in regularly. But the point is that there are few breeds of players who give '110%' no matter what. Jagr was exposed to Mario, who at that point was far and away the best player in the game & probably figured that its a star's rite to be a whiner. After all, Mario retired in '97 because he couldn't deal with the game. What does that say to the league? I do believe that we havent seen that side of Jagr because the team has generally been winning, but at the same time I really feel that Jags is at the point of his career where he really just wants to win another cup- without being in Mario's shadow. I honestly think he will be fine with the move, so long as theyr'e winning. Besides, if he is stupid enough to not realize what the team just got,in Drury especially, than he's a retard. The guy year in & year out is among league leaders in game winning & tying goals- regular season & playoffs. If you don't believe me, answer this trivia question- who scored the game tying goal in Game 3 in the first minute of the 3rd period & the game tying goal with 7.7 seconds left in game 5 this past years quarterfinals against the Rangers? The guy is a proven winner- he even won the coin toss against Gomez to see who would wear #27!
Posted by: MOSS | July 10, 2007 at 10:26 AM
First, Jagr is misunderstood. Now, Jagr is a baby because he played with Mario? Did you guys just have a session at 11H???
Hold on, I think the guy from Sims is at the door. Someone set me up.
Posted by: thedirtyboy | July 10, 2007 at 11:05 AM
The comparison to the core of the classic Oilers is pretty questionable. They weren't leaving a sinking ship -- they won the Cup the year after Coffey left -- and didn't leave because they "wanted to win," they left for more money. It may have been a position perhaps greeted with more sympathy in those days, given that hockey players earned so much less.
Posted by: Garnet | July 10, 2007 at 02:01 PM
Garnet:
Thanks for the comments. I appreciate your taking the time to comment. You make a fair point but I disagree. If those players only left Edmonton for more money, that would only strengthen my point: why weren't they vilified? If a European player held out just for money they'd be destroyed (Yashin and Nedved did that and not only were they vilified, they were "punished" by being left on the sidelines for an entire season). As far as people having more sympathy for those Oilers because they made less money, I don't buy that. They were all superstars doing well financially. Yes, salaries were nothing like what they are today, but those athletes still made a heck of a lot more money than your average joe.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking those guys. I'm simply asking whether it's possible that a double standard exists in the NHL between European players and North American ones? I think that it does. Things have gotten better over the years, but there's still work to be done. We'll get there, I have faith in my fellow man!
Posted by: The Hockey Rabbi | July 10, 2007 at 02:21 PM
According to my "Washington insider" Jagr's life at the end of his time in Pittsburgh and through most of his time with the Capitals, his life was a real wreck and he was distraught over the breakup of his girlfriend at that time. (Golly, she was a real looker too.) Do you know anybody who brings their personal life with them to work and cannot separate the two? That is Jagr.
Jagr's failure in Washington was hopefully a lesson in humility. If his ego back then could do it all.. then Craig Patrick *bleep* him to send him in a place where he would HAVE to do it all.
But from what I hear now, Jagr is set to get married to his current lady. Perhaps he has his head on straight enough to say that his adapting to the "new look Rangers" will be good as long as they win.
Training camp is still a long way off. It is too early to judge on these transactions anyway.
Kind "Rabbi": Please be careful with your "truth is somewhere in the middle" philosophy. It is quite dangerous in my opinion. But that is best reserved for a debate elsewhere at another time.
Posted by: Michael | July 10, 2007 at 09:57 PM
Michael, I don't know who your Washington Insider is so I can't comment on that. But giving this insider the benefit of the doubt, I know plenty of people who bring their personal lives to work: Gretzky left Edmonton to go to L.A. and more than one "insider" speculated that he chose LA to satisfy his wife, ditto for Pronger leaving Edmonton. How about when Federove fell apart on the ice which reportedly had something to do with a failed romance with Anna K., how about Modano struggling in Dallas which reportedly had something to do with massive financial losses he suffered in private business investments. How about Adam Graves (a true heart and soul type) struggling on the ice following the death of one of his children. The list goes on and on. The bottom line is that athletes are human. There's nothing wrong with that.
As far as my philosophy of the truth being somewhere in the middle, I'm sticking with it. There are at least two sides to every story.
Anyway, I'd like to hear more fom you as to the details of Jagr's exodus from the Pens. As a Ranger fan, I can tell you that his tenure here has beensuperb. I'm curious to get a fan's insight as to what went wrong in Pittsburgh. Thanks.
Posted by: The Hockey Rabbi | July 11, 2007 at 05:58 AM