It's a Jagr Night in Pittsburgh: Penguins Raise No. 68 to the Rafters

Thirty-four years after Craig Patrick drafted Jaromir Jagr with the fifth overall pick, he again stepped up to a podium to announce a monumental moment involving the legendary Penguin during the ceremony to retire his No. 68 on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.

“We had an idea that we were getting the best player in that draft. But I don’t think we had any idea we were getting one of the best hockey players of all time,” said Patrick, the architect of Pittsburgh’s 1991 and ’92 Stanley Cup championship teams.

At that point, Patrick welcomed Jagr back to the place he has always seen as home.

"There was no question about it," he said. "When you ask anybody, I think I would say in the world or in Czech or in Europe, when you say Jaromir Jagr, they're gonna say Pittsburgh Penguins, no matter where I played after that."

Going into his speech, Jagr had been wracked with nerves. His girlfriend Dominika told him she had never seen him so anxious. He originally planned to speak from the heart, before getting advice from his idol, teammate, and someone who’d been through this before – Mario Lemieux.

“Mario told me to put some notes,” Jagr told Phil Bourque during the SportsNet Pittsburgh broadcast. “I’m glad I did! That just kind of saved me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I don’t have experience with 20,000 people watching. Plus, there are a lot of people watching on TV, you know it’s in Czech, you know it’s in New York. So, it’s a big thing for everybody.”

As they waited in the Zamboni gate to walk onto the ice, Lemieux joked to Jagr that their teammates had some bets about whether he would cry. Earlier that day, Jagr said he didn’t foresee that happening. Instead, “always laugh. I hope today I'm going to laugh, I'm going to have a lot of laughs,” Jagr said.

There were plenty on a night filled with humor and heart. The ceremony began with longtime Pittsburgh TV and radio personality Paul Steigerwald, who served as emcee, welcoming the night’s special guests, who came from all over to be there for Jagr.

“It’s really an honor. Not just for us, but for everybody around the organization,” said Jiri Hrdina, the person Jagr credits with saving his hockey life as a homesick rookie. “I was always hoping that his jersey was one time going to be under the roof of this great building, because he really deserves that. He was such a great player for this team here, so I’m just really happy for him.”

Dominika sat with Jagr’s mother Anna, who originally balked at flying to Pittsburgh from Czechia at her age of 78. “But as soon as we landed, she said, oh, that’s the best day of my life!” Jaromir laughed. “She was so crazy. I think she was more at home than I was. I don’t think she wants to go home right now. I don’t think she wants to go to Czech. She loves it.”

They were joined on one side by Fenway Sports Group and Penguins personnel, along with former management staff and coaches – including Mark Johnson there in honor of his father, Badger Bob Johnson. The family of Michel Briere, whose No. 21 was retired after he died in a car accident following his rookie season with Pittsburgh in 1969-70, also attended.

On the other side sat friends, former teammates and members of those back-to-back Stanley Cup squads – with the loudest cheers coming for No. 66. Then, as Steigerwald put it, on a night filled with nostalgia, there was only one voice to bring out Jagr: late longtime PA announcer John Barbero.

From there, the walk down memory lane began. Several videos illustrating Jagr’s career and legacy played while everyone watched intently – including the players and staff for both the Penguins and the Kings, gathered on and around their respective benches. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang stood together at the end of theirs.

“I was with Geno and Sid, and obviously, like, you could see they were emotional. It’s someone that we looked up as kids, and just the type of person he is and what the city of Pittsburgh meant for him, it’s special,” Letang said before adding with a smile, “watching those old videos, it makes me think of Geno, actually. In a big way. And you know, you’re looking at video of Mario and you're looking at Sid, it’s like a copycat kind of thing. But it was fun to be a part of, and see how this city was touched by him and how much this city meant to him.”

The gap between Jagr’s 11 seasons with Pittsburgh and the rest of his NHL career after being traded to Washington in 2001 officially closed. There was nothing but love for one of the greatest players and Penguins of all time, and Jagr heard it from the crowd when it was his time to speak, with the fans giving him a lengthy standing ovation and thunderously chanting his name… but he couldn’t quite focus on it.

“I was so nervous, it was only one thing in my mind. I didn’t want to screw up. That’s the only thing I was thinking,” he said.

Jagr’s speech turned out to be magnificent. He had everyone in the building cheering, laughing and even crying with his heartfelt and hilarious speech, delivered perfectly.

“These last couple of days, I understand why he's captured the city of Pittsburgh and the Penguins organization that he has,” Head Coach Mike Sullivan said. “He's a real charismatic guy. He carries himself with such humility, and I know that our players certainly idolize him and grew up watching him. So, it was just an honor to be a part of.”

Jagr then walked with Anna and Dominika to watch as his No. 68 was raised to the rafters.

“It's a happy day, I’m going to say in one way. Exciting day. To see the fans, celebrating together, to see my teammates, the boys from the 90s that won the Cup together… and it's a huge honor,” Jagr said. “Not many guys were that lucky to do something and work (at) what you love and be appreciated from other people, get a trophy for that. It's a big honor for me that the organization decided to retire my jersey.”

However, the number 68 did make one final appearance, as the Penguins wore special jerseys during warmups in Jagr’s honor. Many of them, including the Big Three, also rocked mullet wigs. And as Letang, Crosby, and Malkin took the ice in that order, Jagr brought up the rear, joining the group before doing one final salute to the fans. He went off to stick taps from the team, who had posed with Jagr for a group photo right before.

“I'm glad I did it. I'm happy, and hopefully the guys were happy, too,” said Jagr, who still suits up at age 52 for his hometown Kladno of Czech Extraglia, where he is part owner.

“It was fun. It's a great day, the whole weekend,” Crosby said. “I think the main thing for us is that he had the best experience possible and that we showed him what it meant to us as best we could. Whether it was the organization or his teammates who showed up or the fans, I think everyone did a great job with that.”

This game was certainly the hottest ticket in town from the moment Jagr’s night was announced back in November, with Mikael Ostberg traveling in from Sweden. He started following the Penguins when Ulf Samuelsson joined the group as part of Patrick’s blockbuster 1991 trade with Hartford, and fell in love with Jagr. “He’s been my idol ever since I became a Penguins fan. So he’s the biggest player for me,” he said. “It was an easy decision (to come here)… It was magic seeing him and watching him in warmups. I loved every second.”

As for how he wants to be remembered as a player and a person by fans here in Pittsburgh, Jagr gave one of his trademark thoughtful answers:

“You know what, those two kind of doesn't go together. When I was thinking about my hockey life, If you want to accomplish something in the sport, or any business – it's tough to be a nice guy. I don't know if I explained that right, but there is something that everybody wants, like, to be the best, to score the most goals, win the Stanley Cups, that's my job. So, when I had to drive, I didn't think I was a nice guy, you know? That's what drove me, I want to be the best. After a while, when I’m 30, all of a sudden, I still love the game. But to win something, it doesn't mean that much to me, or it wasn't that important to me. All of a sudden, I want to be remembered as a great person, somebody who can help other people. That's what I want to be remembered (for). The hockey, it’s going to be good. You score a lot of goals, a lot of assists, win the Cup, win the medals. But, what did you do for the others? That's the question before you die, or at least God's going to ask you, ‘What did you do here?’ So, I want to be remembered as a good person. Maybe I'm far away from that, but I'm going to try my best.”