NHL legend Jaromír Jágr, 52, announces plans to finally retire from professional hockey

We are witnessing the end of a very, very long era of hockey.

Jaromír Jágr, 52, has been playing professional hockey in his native Czech Republic since 2018, following the conclusion of his 24th NHL season.

However, he says this season will be his last.

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Jaromír Jágr controls the puck during practice for the Kladno Knights ice hockey club in Kladno, Czech Republic, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018. The 51-year-old winger made his season debut for his hometown Kladno Knights in the Czech league on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. It was his return to action in his 36th professional season. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek/Archive)

Jagr hinted in an Instagram post earlier this week that this would be his last season, a sentiment he confirmed in a phone interview with The Athletic.

Jagr made his NHL debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990, the fifth overall pick in the NHL draft that year. He previously played professionally with the team then known as Poldi SONP Kladno.

He is currently the owner and player of this team, known as Kladno Knights.

Jagr played in the NHL every season from 1990 to 2004, then played overseas during the league’s lockout. After the 2007-08 season with the New York Rangers, he played three seasons in the KHL in Russia.

Jaromír Jágr skates during warmups after having his number retired and a banner raised to the ceiling prior to the game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings at PPG Paints Arena on February 18, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images)

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In 2011, he returned to the NHL to play for the Philadelphia Flyers, where he spent the next seven seasons before returning home.

The 2024-25 season will be his 37th in professional hockey.

Jagr appeared in just 15 games last season, the first season in which he did not score a goal, but he did manage four assists.

His 1,921 NHL points are second in league history behind Wayne Gretzky. He won the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992, and also won Olympic gold and a world championship.

Jaromír Jágr of the Pittsburgh Penguins warms up before the start of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils, circa 1990, at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Jágr’s playing career spanned from 1988 to 2020. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

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Jagr holds the NHL records for most game-winning goals, most goals and assists by a right winger in a single season and a career, and most consecutive 30-goal seasons (15, tied with Mike Gartner and Alex Ovechkin).

The 21-season hiatus between Stanley Cup appearances is also the longest in history, and he is also the oldest player to ever record a hat trick in the NHL, at 42 years, 322 days.

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