He is one of the greatest hockey players of all time.
In his acceptance speech to the IIHF’s Hall of Fame, Jaromir Jagr chose to pay tribute – a Swedish legend.
– I wanted to be a goalscorer like him, says Jagr.
Jaromir Jagr refuses to end his hockey career. Despite being 52 years old, he continues to play in his childhood club Kladno, in the Czech top league. Jagr made his NHL debut 33(!) years ago, and is considered one of the best players in history.
The unexpected tribute
Because Jaromir Jagr is still playing hockey, he cannot be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in North America, where three years must have passed since a player’s career ended before it can be inducted. But the International Hockey Federation has other rules, and together with Kenny Jönsson, among others, Jagr was elected into that fine room yesterday.
Jaromir Jagr and the others who were selected earlier this year were celebrated in connection with the bronze and final match in the WC, and then many Swedes were surprised by what Jagr said in his acceptance speech. Unexpectedly, he chose to single out a Swedish legend.
– I wanted to be a goalscorer like Håkan Loob, Jagr said during his acceptance speech.
“He was the best”
Håkan Loob was for a few years one of the world’s best scorers, and it was not something that escaped Jaromir Jagr. When SVT asks the icon to elaborate on what it was that Jagr liked so much about him, he says:
– I watched him and most of the Swedish hockey players around 1989-1990. Loob was the best at the time.
Jagr also got to see his Czech Republic defeat Sweden on the way to their World Cup gold, when they knocked out Tre Kronor in the semi-finals. It was nothing Jagr had seen before him.
– It was a surprising match with many goals, fun for the fans. In matches like that you also need luck. It was a big win for the Czechs, especially against such a good team as Sweden with so many NHL players.
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