Devils' Jaromir Jagr vows to play until 'he cannot walk'

Don't count out Jaromir Jagr just yet. He isn't ready to give up the game of hockey.

The New Jersey Devils winger is saying that this won't be his final year. Whether it's playing in the NHL or elsewhere, Jagr says he'll be playing.

“I’ll tell you one thing, as long as I don’t die, it’s not my last year of playing hockey,” said Jagr, who will turn 42 in February. “I don’t know where I’m gonna play. I don’t know if I’m gonna play U.S. or somewhere else. I’m gonna play. I’ll play until I cannot walk. I love the game too much to leave it.”

Jagr wasn't singing the same tune last August when he said this would be his last season.

Jagr is leading the Devils in scoring and he has no regrets on signing in Jersey despite the team's struggles.

“I’m happy right now, don’t get me wrong. I’m very happy,” said Jagr, who signed a one-year, $2 million pact with the Devils this offseason. “I love Lou (Lamoriello, the team’s general manager). He’s honest. If you play bad, he’ll tell you. If you play good, he’ll tell you. He’s an honest guy. I have no complaints after signing with the Devils.”

Even though he's past his prime, Jagr will play for whoever wants him.

Coach Wanted To Fight Jaromir Jagr

This comes from Yahoo sports' Puck Daddy blog.(http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Jaromir-Jagr-s-KHL-coach-wanted-to-fight-him-aft?urn=nhl-wp974)

Never a dull moment in the KHL, it seems.


During the seventh playoff game between Jaromir Jagr's Avangard Omsk and Sergei Fedorov's(notes) Metallurg Magnitogorsk, which Metallurg won to advance to the next round to play Alexander Radulov's(notes) Salavat Yulaev, the news surfaced that Avangard fired their coach before the second period of that Game 7.

Avangard claimed that this was not the case and that Raimo Summanen, the coach, was having "health issues" before the game. The team said he was not fired at all, but sent to Finland for medical check ups.

NHL fans may remember Summanen from his days in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers. Summanen has a 1984 Stanley Cup ring and can actually be seen on the first Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup winning picture, even though his name was not engraved on the Cup because he did not officially qualify, having played only two regular season and five playoff games for the Oilers.

Now, after his departure, Avangard players shed some light on their now former head coach, whom they said had a major conflict with the players. According to an anonymous member of the team:

"He made Jaromir Jagr the scapegoat of the playoffs. Summanen even went after Jagr with his fists after [a Game 6 victory] in Magnitogorsk. He was jumping around [Jagr], challenged him to a fight. Jagr, of course, didn't want to fight."

Kirill Belyakov from Sovetsky Sport spoke with some players from Avangard who didn't want to disclose their names. Among their comments:

"He [coach] couldn't work with anyone! The Finn just got us with the constant F-bombs. And that was happening the entire season... Everything was building up for a long time. Summanen psychologically pressured players, putting them down. And in the playoffs you know what kind of pressure there is. So all the guys couldn't take it anymore and told him everything we thought about him."

Who does he think he is, Bob Knight?