Jaromir Jagr parted ways with the NY Rangers on Thursday after 3 years in the Big Apple, signing a contract with Omsk Vanguard of the Russian Super League according to reports on the Russian team's website.
No financial details of the deal have been officially announced, but according to media reports Jagr stands to make a cool $35 million over 2 years, with an option for a third. Sounds like that might cover his moving expenses.
Jagr played for Omsk during the 2005 NHL lockout and became a fan favorite for the Hawks.
Jagr had a down year, by his standards, in 2007/2008 scoring only 71 points while adjusting to new line mates after the Rangers lost center Michael Nylander to free agency last summer. He never seemed to mesh with his new centermen - being paired first with Scott Gomez, then Chris Drury and finally Brandon Dubinsky. Had Jagr scored 84 points or more, his contract would have automatically been renewed. Instead the Rangers, who have spent freely in the free agent market (Surprise!!) thus far, acquiring the likes of Wade Redden (D), Dmitri Kalinin (D) and Markus Naslund (F), had informed Jagr that he was no longer part of their future plans.
Jagr led New York to three straight playoff births in his tenure with the Rangers, after the team had missed the post-season 7 straight years prior to his arrival. In 18 NHL seasons Jagr played in 1273 regular season games and notched 1599 points (646 goals, 943 assists). In the playoffs he appeared 169 games and scored 181 points (77 goals and 104 assists). He played in 9 All-Star game, earned 5 Art Ross Trophies (NHL scoring leader), 3 Lester B. Pearson Awards (MVP - as voted on by players) and was named the league MVP (Hart Memorial Trophy - awarded by writers) in 1999.
The NY POST has some quotes from Jagr concerning the move:
"I'm disappointed that I'm not going to be in New York, but I've always believed in my life that things happen for a reason, and that's how I look at this. Coming to the Rangers was great for me, and I owe Glen thanks for making the trade with Washington to bring me here.
"I can't say I regret anything that happened here. We didn't win the Stanley Cup, but there's a lot of luck that goes into that, too, even if you have a great team. Well, I guess I regret that I didn't get 84 points this season. If that had happened, I'd still be here."
"With the contracts for Scotty, Dru and Hank [Henrik Lundqvist], and then signing [Wade] Redden, they have almost $30M in four players, so there wasn't enough for me after that. The Rangers wanted to get better on defense and they spent a lot of money on Redden.
"That's OK. That's what they thought would make them a better team. If I did a better job with Scotty or Dru, it might be different."
"People think that it's better to have a lot of choices, but sometimes having one choice is best because you can't make the wrong one. I don't know what I'm going to do now, but I'll make that choice when it's time.
"I want to thank Glen and Tom and the Rangers. I want to thank all the people who supported me. Being in New York was special."
And then there was this zinger:
"And I also want to say to the people like Mike Milbury who made their living by criticizing me all the time, that they can kiss my [butt]."
Stay classy San Diego.
Having Jagr leave for Europe means the end to one of my all time favorite crowd chants to float around the upper deck of the RBC Center:
"Who ate all the pie? Who ate all the pie? Jaromir Jagr you fat bastard you ate all the pie!!"
-m
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Ranger Land
Blueshirt Bulletin
5-Hole
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