LIBERIC–Kladno defeated Benatky (Venice) 7-2, breaking open a tight game with 5 third period goals before a sellout crowd of 7,500 in a festive atmosphere marking the return of Jaromir Jagr to professional hockey in the Czech Republic.
For his efforts Jagr collected three assists and played 20:21, tops among the Kladno squad, the playing time a bit of a surprise. A knee injury forced Jagr out of the lineup multiple times during his recently curtailed tenure with the Calgary Flames of the NHL. Jagr received treatment for the knee Wednesday, endured some discomfort in practice Thursday and warned fans he might only be able to play a shift or two as he heals his injured right knee. Jagr was named player of the game. Jagr seemed to skate with ease throughout the game, though the younger competition and their respect for the Czech legend probably had them a little rattled and made things easier than they might be in future games.
Despite the win Jagr cautioned his team that they must play better in the coming weeks and get in playoff mode now as it isn’t something that can be achieved with the flick of a switch when the playoffs begin.
Nedved’s encore sees him assist and score
As impressive as Jagr was, another NHL legend, Petr Nedved, came out of retirement after four years to play what was billed as his final professional game and recorded a goal and an assist, the latter helping Venice tie the game at 2-2 in the second period. Venice is ranked 13th in the 14 team loop but held Kladno close until the Knights collected five goals in a little more than four minutes of the third period. Jagr and Nedved took the ceremonial faceoff before the game and posed for photos together afterward as both were name top players of their respective teams. Jagr wondered what type of training Nedved has been doing to perform so well after his long layoff.
As for the rest of the team, Adam Kubik turned in a four point game with two goals and two assists and in anything but Jagr’s first game back might have earned player of the game honors…The game was relocated from Benatky’s home arena which holds only 1,750. The team had been drawing 279 fans this season and the overflow crowd tripled their average attendance for the season…All Kladno games through the end of the season are sold out and with several expected to be relocated to larger venues.
THIS WEEK: Kladno plays at Prerov Wednesday Feb. 7 and hosts Litomerice, Saturday Feb. 10 at venues to be determined.
Nine minutes of Jaromir Jagr highlights from Kladno’s 7-2 win over Venice in a WSM league matchup Saturday at Liberic.
Rolling commentary of the game
https://hokej.idnes.cz/benatky-nad-jizerou-vs-kladno-d2j-/online.aspx?online=1006804#on-line-select
Transcript of Jagr,s post-game comments where he says Kladno must get in playoff mode now.
The crowd was excited and so was a Swedish teammate of Jagr’s. Translation will be necessary for those who don’t speak Swedish.
https://www.aftonbladet.se/a/bKGz2l
We usually don’t go for statistical manipulation, but here’s one person’s view of how Jagr’s NHL point totals would look if he had not played in the KHL and lost parts of other seasons due to work stoppages.
https://www.nhl.com/sk/news/keby-jagr-ostal-v-nhl-mohol-mat-viac-ako-2000-bodov/c-295582578
David Krejci qouted in this Boston Globe article suggesting Jagr could find a way back to the National Hockey League.
Jagr is the topic in this Forbes article about he he rode the wave of the NHL’s salary boom.
A message for our Czech readers.
Assorted Jagr-related links:
Thanks for visiting JAGRometer.com, home of the Jagr-O-Meter, tracking Jaromir Jagr since he returned to the NHL from Russia and now following him in the Czech Republic s he tries to position Kladno to earn its way into the Extraliga and rehab an injured right knee. Subscribe free and get the latest edition as soon as it is released. Please share with your friends.
Link for Rytiri Kladno
http://www.rytirikladno.cz/cz/rytirtv
Kladno fanshop ships to the USA and offers top quality keepsakes for the Knights.
http://www.hokejfanshopkladno.cz/
Jagr may also play some games for Trinec of the Extraliga
http://www.hcocelari.cz/index.asp?cover=nezobrazit
If he does, fans may order Jagr jerseys from the fanshop.
The NHL has several outlets to distribute news on the game and maintains player profile pages which include video highlights.
nhl.com and @nhl on twitter are two great options. Sign up for your favorite teams and get regular reports with them.
nhl.tv is the official page for the subcription service offered by the nhl. Never miss a Jagr game!
Canadian hockey outlets include
@sportsnet
@tsn
American hockey outlets include
@thehockeynews
@puckdaddy
@NBCSports
@theAthletic
Calgary Flames Website:
Some Jagr-related social media accounts:
@68Jagr on twitter. This is the real site, the one and only official Jaromir Jagr twitter account. Postings are rare, but worth the wait.
The two best Jagr facebook pages are:
https://www.facebook.com/68Jagr/?fref=ts
This is the page Jagr posts on, if he is going to post at all. With 700,000+ followers, he doesn’t monitor the page that closely or answer messages, so don’t be offended.
Another good facebook page is one produced by someone in the Czech Republic. It has more than 100,000 likes. This is not the official page, but it is very good.
https://www.facebook.com/JaromirJagrfan/?fref=nf
@NHLFlames is the official twitter of the Calgary Flames.
@EricFrancis writes for the @Calgaryherald.
@DidJagrPlay–Fan updates this post which monitors Jagr’s games played as he chases Gordie Howe’s all time games played record.
The following Flames Bloggers should have some Jagr content this season:
@FlamesView
@FlamesBlog
@NateDawgFTF
@FlamesLifeBlog
@GrimeBlogFlames
@BlogTheFlames
@Zdenek_Janda Czech reporter who covers the NHL and reports on other news for the people of the Czech Republic, sometimes from the USA.
@Jsmidcro Jan Smid was a US-based Czech reporter who collaborated on “Jagr”, an autobiography in the late 90’s detailing Jagr’s early life and career in the NHL. Smid now covers international affairs but has remained friends with Jagr through the years. A good follow for his international news. The book is till available on Amazon and ebay, tells the early story of Jagr’s life and career through 1996. Comes with a nice replica autograph inside so don’t be fooled by claims that the book is hand-signed by Jagr unless there’s a second, smaller signature somewhere.
@NHLHistoryGirl This hockey lover shares interesting informational tidbits about hockey and the NHL in general from scholarly research on hockey. She gets an A+ and First Star from us. How does she do it?
@MyRegularFace She’s another gem. Watches lots of games and gets up GIFs faster than nhl.com or anyone else out there.
Quant Hockey: Career stats updated game by game by a hockey lover in Europe. Site enables you to find career leaders in any offensive category by clicking on the category you are researching.
http://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/records/nhl-players-all-time-points-leaders.html
@rytiriKladno The Kladno Hockey Club: Before coming to the NHL Jagr played for this team in the Czech league as a teenager. Now he owns the team. It’s in Czech but some devices can translate to English. Follow them at:
@HockeyCzech National organization for hockey in the Czech Republic.
@hokej.cz is another Czech hockey site
@deniksport very interested in Jagr and have several reporters who file stories on the Legend.
@radioprague
@CzechTV
Tomas Pokorny is a Czech hockey reporter and worth a twitter follow: @topicek
TRAVELLING JAGRS links
@68isgr8 is the twitter for The Traveling Jagrs. Clad in different Jagr jerseys and hair styles from 68’s career, they gained league-wide recognition when they caught Jagr’s attention during a pre-game skate of a Dallas Stars game in Canada during the 2012-2013 season. Since then, they convene at games in Western Canada and make a road trip or two every year, playing street hockey with locals, posing for hundreds of pictures, and having a good time with fans while honoring an all-time NHL legend. This is the official site for the group but is the personal twitter for Dallas Stars Jagr, aka Trevor Freeman
Speaking of pictures or any other inquiries–write to the Travelling Jagrs directly at thetravellingjagrs@gmail.com.
The group also has a website: http://www.travellingjagrs.com. Follow them on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/695821573799933/
Ray Haluska aka Kladno Jagr, curator of the Jagr-O-Meter
Stay with Jagrometer.com as THE LEGEND CONTINUES
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