Jágr is constantly with the team, during matches he helps the coaches led by Otakar Vejvoda, the younger of the substitutes, but his return to the lineup is not in sight. “It’s certainly not coming, not at all. To be honest, I don’t even feel like it. Only if the Winter Classic, which I promised, was still to be held, I would probably have to force myself to go play. Otherwise, I’m not drawn back at all,” Jágr said.
The outdoor games were supposed to be played in Špindlerův Mlýn, and Jágr is the face of the event, which was postponed twice due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the most recent information from mid-February, the entire project was supposed to be moved to Prague, with the performance taking place in December.
However, nothing has been confirmed yet, and Jagr does not rule out that he will not play again. “It’s possible. But as I say, I’ll see how it goes with the Winter Classic. Maybe it’ll give me a kick, I really don’t know. But honestly – at the moment I don’t have the motivation and I don’t even feel like it. I’d have to sacrifice a lot. Diet, regeneration, training.” Jagr said.
The Olympic champion from Nagano and two-time winner of the Stanley Cup and the World Championship played for the last time on April 25 in the play-off match with Jihlava (6:3), after which the Central Bohemians celebrated staying among the elite. Last season, Jagr played 48 games and scored 21 points for eight goals and 13 assists.
In early August, Jagr admitted that he did not feel ready to play and stated that he did not have time to thoroughly prepare. At that time, however, he estimated that he could jump into the extra league again in November or December. With the fact that he doesn’t want to end his career yet and, in addition to outdoor matches, he is also tempted to play in the renovated Kladno arena.
“Even if I wasn’t the owner and I only had hockey to work on, I would still have to manage the problems of training and playing matches. To focus on hockey at all. That way it’s more or less impossible. Or I’d have to stop paying attention to the club altogether, which I don’t think it helped,” Jagr said.
He still doesn’t miss playing. “Not at all. I like hockey, but it’s hard work. Physically, it’s very demanding. In addition, I spend much more time in the winter than before, mainly because of organizational matters. Before the season, we were a little stressed, we had to solve a lot of issues in order to they managed the first match,” recalled the legendary striker finishing the reconstruction of the Kladno stadium.
“At my age, playing at a certain level is challenging in itself. To prepare, to motivate. Not to mention the need to rest. Because of the time spent in the winter and during negotiations, I don’t have time to solve myself at all between nine and two in the afternoon. Then go tired to train and get tired on top of that physically, I can’t give it, I won’t give it,” stated Jágr.
The fact that he feels a strong sense of responsibility towards the club also plays a role. He will not allow himself to think about himself because of this and put more important matters aside.
“One hundred percent. For example, last year I felt that I could help the boys on the hockey side, I felt a responsibility on the sports side. Now I don’t feel it. Now I know that even if I did my best, I wouldn’t even fit in the four lines. And we don’t have bad player. To get into the lineup, I would have to do a lot of dribbling. And maybe I wouldn’t even be able to do it,” said Jágr.
Although he has hinted at the possibility of ending his playing career several times in the past, he returned to the ice each time. Now the situation looks different. Also because Jágr tries to be as honest as possible with himself.
“I’ve always tried to be. When I was playing I used to feel like I was giving it and getting it. Now I know I couldn’t. It would have to be really extreme to say I’m going to try. But I don’t know if it makes sense to me at the moment,” Jágr mused.
Even the good performance of the Knights so far, who won ten points in seven games, does not compel him to return. Only today in the match of the 7th round in Mladá Boleslav, the opponent had the upper hand for the first time, the home team won 4:0.
“We got the lesson, Boleslav was much better, they gave us absolutely no chance. The home team were the first team to beat us from the start of the match, they were better in everything. We were losing 0:1, in the second period we had a chance to equalize, but that would be unfair. From my point of view, they played against us the best team we have played against so far. They dominated the whole match, it was not a coincidence at all. They have good players, they skate, they have a good team,” praised Jágr.
Doesn’t he feel more like a coach than a player with every game he plays on the bench? “I’m mainly the owner, which is different from being a coach. I guess we have a different structure than other teams, but everyone tries to help in a certain way,” said Jágr.
