Pittsburgh Penguins: Jaromir Jagr's Antics Show That He's Still a Boy

The season was 2001. 

Jaromir Jagr had an interview by his locker room stall with a mask of a little girl covering his face.

It was fitting. He was acting like one. 

There were rumors that he was not fond of how the attention had shifted to Mario Lemieux after his comeback. There were also reports regarding his gambling and tax problems which surfaced later in his career. At one point he owed $3.3M to the IRS and $500K to a gambling Web site. 

What does this tell about a person? 

He's a kid in a grown-up's body. He was never the best teammate. He always had to be the guy on a roster. 

That's how it was in Washington, New York and Avangard.

And that's how it will be in Philadelphia.

The Penguins aren't too down this afternoon after what happened these last few days. They still have two of the best players in the world, a world-class goaltender and a defensive corps that is expected to be as stingy as it gets.

But after 10 years had passed, the Penguins and their fans had pretty much forgotten about Jagr's antics from the early 2000s. What he did these past few days by apparently getting lost in touch with his agent, by making false deadlines, and by lagging his decision only grew the animosity against him and definitely didn't help his cause.

Then he topped it all off by signing with the Flyers of all teams for $1.3M more. 

Haven't you earned your money already? Didn't you say you wanted to win? Didn't you say you "owed it to Mario?"

There are only two logical explanations for Jagr signing with Philadelphia. Either he's broke again and he desperately needed that extra $1.3M, or he's still a child at heart.

He would rather take an extra million bucks this year rather than enjoy the perks of playing with Sidney Crosby, improve his statistical totals, perhaps win a Stanley Cup, and get a huge contract as a 40-year-old next summer.

And honestly, if he still has gambling problems, that just means he's still a child. Mature men do not let an addiction bring down their life. 

Jagr is essentially the Manny Ramirez of hockey. His eccentricities blew up locker rooms. And in hockey, a player doesn't need to be that off the page to blow up a locker room. Hockey is a sport where every single player has to be in it together. If one player isn't, it creates tension and chemistry is lost.

Both Manny and Jagr were childish. Both were selfish. Both will retire as pariahs. 

The Penguins will eventually retire Jagr's number into the rafters of the Consol Energy Center. His contributions to the team in the '90s shouldn't be overlooked. But to flirt with the team and then stab them in the back (with a plastic dagger that won't harm the Penguins in any way) by signing with the Flyers after days of broken promises pretty much shows that Jagr is still a boy. 

With Mike Richards and Jeff Carter gone in Philadelphia, Jagr can be the guy again. He won't have to play second or third fiddle like he was going to in Pittsburgh. He'll be making more money, make a quick first round exit and disappear from the hockey world forever.

Think about it for a second. This isn't like Hossa leaving Pittsburgh. Hossa was still in the prime of his career and he wanted to earn money that Pittsburgh wasn't going to give him. That's understandable. We're talking about an over-the-hill player who could've been playing with Sidney Crosby.

People don't understand how great of a player Crosby is. Crosby has turned Pascal Dupuis into a scoring threat. In his prime, Dupuis would score pretty much about 12 goals per season. Now he's out of his prime and he's scoring close to 20. He could've scored 20 easily this year if Crosby wasn't injured.

This season with Crosby in the lineup, Chris Kunitz had 28 points. The second half of the season he scored 20 points. 

Crosby matters. He helps inflate numbers. Jagr's not going to be able to score 50 points with the Flyers on his own. He would've been able to do that in Pittsburgh. He would've been loved by the fans that have been booing him for the last decade. He could've repaired his legacy and gone out on top like Mark Recchi.

Instead, he pulled a Jagr. Like Manny being Manny, this is Jagr being Jagr. 

It's funny, because a childish act like this is what was expected of him.

Too bad.