STILL HANGING ON: Why Jaromir Jagr Refuses to Leave the Ice

Back at training camp again. For the team he owns. For his city. If he doesn't return, his team could be no more.

(Pictured: Jaromir Jagr looks on)

By Anthony Pellegrino @Pellegrinoap50 TheFrozenFocus.com NHL Correspondent

53-year-olds don’t tend to compete in pro-level hockey. It’s unheard of.

Unless you’re Jaromír Jágr. A true test of time. A generational inhabitance. A name that still echoes off the ice, and now, once again, on it.

All roads are leading to Jagr competing in his 38th Pro Hockey season, as a member of Rytíři Kladno, a Czechia team which competes in the Extraliga League.

Ironically, Jagr doubles as part-owner, and president of the team.

Earlier this week, Jágr participated in training camp with the team. He partook in off-ice exercises, which points to the inevitable: a contract could be coming for the veteran.

He took to the ice with Kladno, he completed all the exercises with the players, and everything indicates that he will continue his playing career.

"I'm going to padel. As if I were not here," he told Czechia outlets post-practice.

"He doesn't have a contract yet, he has to sign it first," head coach David Čermák stressed.“Jaromir has been preparing since the spring. We’ll see when he decides whether to continue. He looks ready.”

(Jagr picks up helmet amidst stoppage of play)

So why does Jagr do it? He isn’t doing this for nostalgia, records, or headlines. He certainly doesn’t need the money. He doesn’t need the validation. His jersey already hangs in the rafters in Pittsburgh. His legacy is secure; second all-time in NHL points, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, a Hall of Famer in everything but nameplate.

Yet, at 53, he’s still showing up.

“If I quit, the partners and sponsors would leave. The club may be done,” Jágr said back in 2021. “I have a responsibility. Otherwise I wouldn’t fly here, and I wouldn’t be making a fool of myself.”

A sad reality, it’s a commitment. A burden, even.

“People don’t understand it, but I don’t care. Only God will judge me. I expect more from myself. And I still believe I have it in me.”

So he laces the skates still. Not for himself, but for something he built, and refuses to let fall. That's the part lost in the headlines of Jagr spearheading a playing career in his mid-50's.

This isn’t even a story about him refusing to let go. It’s about a man who knows that if he does, something bigger than him might fall apart.

Kladno is Jagr's hometown. He played for Rytiri's 16U and 18U teams before setting off to the NHL. Rytiri was his home during lockouts, and where he returned following his storied NHL career.

It’s engraved his past, his present, and if he has anything to say about it-in his future.

(Jagr celebrates during game in 2024-2025 season)

In recent years, Jágr has done more than lace up his skates. He’s kept the club afloat as its majority owner, president, and sometimes its last financial safety net. When sponsors pull back or the league pressures the team with relegation, it’s Jágr who steps in.

Sometimes on the business side. Sometimes with his own name on the lineup card.

Jágr's legs don’t move like they once did. The mullet is gone, the beard grey. The points come slower, if at all.

Although an increase in production last season with 16 points in 39 games, his best since 2022, it's not the glory days. The 100+ point seasons in Pittsburgh. Over two decades ago.

But that was never the point. His performance may have faded, but his presence hasn’t. And in a place like Kladno, that still means everything.

So he keeps showing up.

To Jágr, walking away was never about age, or numbers, or even legacy. It was about timing. And as long as there's a team to protect, and a town that still believes, that time hasn’t come yet.

Not for him. Not here. And just not yet.

Credit to Filip Arddon of Isport Czechia for all quote features