Jaromir Jagr Nets 40th Goal....

Last night while I was enjoying the Caps game at MCI Center, Jaromir Jagr netted his 40th goal of the year in the second half of a home-and-home series with the Maple Leafs at Air Canada Center in Toronto. Going into the Olympic break, Jagr has 40 goals and 48 assists for 88 points in 58 games played. Let's compare this with the two and a half seasons that Jagr was with the Caps. In the 2001-2002 campaign, Jagr's first with the Caps, in 69 games, Jagr tallied 31 goals and 48 assists for 79 points. In 2002-2003, the last year the Caps made the playoffs, Jagr tallied 36 goals and 41 assists for 77 points in 75 games. In the 2003-2004 season, prior to being traded to the Rangers, Jagr, in 46 games, tallied 16 goals and 29 assists for 45 points. However, after being traded to the Rangers, in 31 games, he tallied 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points, for a grand total of 74 points for the campaign. So, in 190 games with the Caps, Jagr tallied 201 points, composing of 83 goals and 118 assists.

In comparison, in only 89 games with the Rangers, Jagr has tallied 56 goals and 62 assists for 118 points. So with 101 less games, Jagr has tallied nearly 60% of the point production he did while with the Capitals. Now, I realize, that earlier in the season, Jagr went on the record to state that he had pretty much given up while playing with the Capitals. I'm sorry, that isn't an excuse as far as I'm concerned. When you're making 11 million dollars (salary pre-CBA rollback), you don't give up, and you play to the best of your abilities. The Caps did everything they could to keep Jagr happy before he was traded to the Rangers. They signed Robert Lang, a fellow Czech to the team, and acquired Michael Nylander, another European, to complement Jagr. None of this seemed to work to keep Jagr happy, nor did it have an effect on increasing his performance.

All of a sudden, in New York, the Rangers sign both Michael Nylander and Marty Straka, and with the emergence of Petr Prucha, another Czech, Jagr has been revitalized. Could this be because of the new rules eliminating much of the clutching and grabbing he was accustomed to receiving while in a Caps sweater, or is it because of his new linemates. Or maybe it's something much simpler, maybe he is actually in a venue where he wants to play. Granted, if you play on any other sports team in Washington not named the Redskins, you are not the focus of attention, in particular, when it comes to hockey. Perhaps in the Big Apple, Jagr is getting the attentnion he desperately craves. To me, however, you should be able to succeed no matter where you're employed, and no matter the circumstances.

Sure this may be sour grapes, and I shouldn't beat a dead horse here, but, Jagr made a mockery of our ownership group here in Washington and of our team by publicly stating he quit, and in sports, to me, that is unacceptable just to abandon your team like that simply because you don't like where you're playing.