Jaromir Jagr
Jaromir Jagr
Jaromír Jágr; born February 15, 1972) is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger currently playing for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. He has formerly played in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils, serving as captain of the Penguins and the Rangers. After leaving the Rangers, he played for three seasons in the Kontinental Hockey Leaguewith Avangard Omsk before returning to the...
NationalityCzechoslovakian
ProfessionHockey Player
Date of Birth15 February 1972
CityKladno, Czech Republic
We knew it was going to be big, these four games. That was probably the easiest thing to do, try to stop the losing streak at home. We've been able to play good at home and that gives us extra confidence in the playoffs.
You have to make sure you score at home because on the road you don't see many hats. That's a tradition, that's the way it is. I don't ask why or when this started.
We need to get it right or it's going to be even harder to win hockey games later on. If you want to be good in this league and compete for the playoffs, you need to be good on home ice. We weren't able to do it the last two games.
One positive thing is we don't have to travel very far. Maybe our fans will be in the building. Maybe it will feel like seven home games. It's good for hockey and it's good for New York. More people are going to get interested in the playoffs.
First place is good for everybody. It's good for the owners, for the fans, for the players. It's always nice to play at home and not be traveling.
When you have a three-or four-week break in the season, you're starting I would say from zero.
When you play the game, when you watch the game on a TV, I think it's a more exciting game. It's more skating, up-and-down hockey. For offensive players, you can get more scoring chances and shots. Plus, the offensive zone is a lot bigger and it is better on power plays.
We made a bad change and he shot from the side of the net. It happened. I took the risk on one side and they scored on the other side. It's hockey. But we shouldn't be in this position - 2-0 lead with 10 minutes to go, we shouldn't play overtime.
The players don't play the position game as much as we used to play. A lot of young guys go up and down, shoot the puck, go for the rebounds. You're getting tired quicker because the body has to react where the puck is going to go. You cannot read it, because you don't have the puck on your stick.
We were talking too much and we flipped the puck over the boards. We deserved those penalties.
We're never going to have the experience like Detroit that has a lot of veteran guys. But you have to play differently. You have to be smart and maybe bring more energy.
We knew it was not going to be easy for him. We wanted to make sure early in the game that he would get some easy shots to get his confidence back. It's not easy when you don't play for such a great time. And he did a great job. And we did a great job, too. They didn't get that many chances. I thought we played good.
Why? Because it's after practice. You should've seen me before.
We had a chance the last four games against easier opponents than Ottawa. It's not a playoff, but it's almost like a playoff game.