Drafted fifth overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, there were no guarantees that Jaromir Jagr would succeed in the NHL.
It wasn’t as usual those days that players from Europe would just enter the NHL and dominate, but Jaromir Jagr didn’t need long to prove that Penguins drafting him so early would be one of the organization’s best decisions of all time.
Although Jaromir Jagr didn’t win the Calder Trophy—a 25-year-old Martin Brodeur did—he proved immediately what a generational talent he was. He played a key part in the Penguins winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992, but that was only the start of a unique and simply incredible career.
Jagr is still playing pro hockey in Czechia, and in the NHL, only Wayne Gretzky has more points in league history. Jagr is also one of few players who have been once the youngest, and later the oldest, in the NHL, as he was 45 before he left the league.
Only three players—Patrick Marleau, Gordie Howe, and Mark Messier—have played more NHL games than Jaromir Jagr, with 1,733. Over the years, he played with some of the greatest players hockey has ever seen.
He and Mario Lemieux formed one of the best duos in the league, and when Jagr left the NHL, he had been teammates with 13 Hockey Hall of Famers.
But one time, Jagr was asked about which winger he enjoyed playing with the most—and unexpectedly, he chose a player who only recorded 197 points in a 624-game career. And the reason was just unbelievably hilarious.
”Troy Loney was my favorite left wing,” he told The Hockey News.
”I loved to play with Troy. You want to know why? He never wanted the puck. He would just give it to me all the time.”
