Before this Penguins/Rangers' series even started, Jaromir Jagr starting taking gentle pot-shots at Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, saying the Penguins' young stars weren't on the level of Mario Lemiuex at this point in their careers. That's kind of an obvious statement that doesn't serve to do much beyond rile up the Penguins (I personally imagined Lemieux telling his young house guest, 'Jagr thinks you ain't s#!t' at breakfast before Game 1), but I suppose it's all part of playoff gamesmanship. Jagr, however, is taking things up another notch today. After Fedor Tyutin threw Crosby to the ice (I'll leave my opinion out of this since I'm biased, but all the NBC commentators agree that Crosby didn't have much of a choice other than to go down on this particular play), the big Czech snapped at Crosby to "STAND UP!" which set off a harsh response from both Ryan Malone and the Penguins' crowd, which is certain to amp Jagr up even further. We're one game and one period into things, and it's obvious this is going to be a very intense series.
As the intermission report just pointed out, Jagr's always been a tough player to figure out. He's as talented as anyone that's ever stepped on the ice, but sometimes it seems like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world. That's certainly not the case right now, because Jagr's is playing with as much fire and passion as he ever has through the early part of this series.
Jagr and Crosby: this is what the playoffs are all about.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Pens youth has the edge, in your face Jagr/Avery/Drury
Posted at 5:47PM on Apr 27th 2008 by xhmskier
2. Pat I have to completely disagree with how you (and seemingly everybody in Pittsburgh) are characterizing Jagr's comments re: Mario. Lemieux is Jagr's hero, and even after all the years they played together that never went away - in fact, Jagr's awe seems to just have increased with time. You can hear the reverence in his voice whenever he talks about Mario. In that regard, nobody will ever compare in Jagr's eyes. I don't think he was disparaging the kids at all; I think he just has Mario on such a high pedestal that he can't imagine anybody else reaching it (including himself).
Moving on...Jagr was completely out of line about the Tyutin call. To stay up on that play would be to somehow overcome gravity, considering he was already holding his body at a pretty sharp angle when Tyutin pushed him, and as skilled as Sidney is I really doubt he's capable of ignoring the laws of physics. They're either committed to acting like everything Sid does is deliberate or he's so far in their heads that they can't see straight. Whatever, as long as we keep winning!
Posted at 8:24PM on Apr 27th 2008 by LV
3. After watching the "more of the same" reffing of game 2 in this series, I'm reminded of the stanley cup playoffs in 1997 ( I think ) when we were treated to some of the most horrible reffing in history ( think USA vs. Soviets basketball 1972 Olympics ) because the NHL wanted Eric Lindross in the cup finals..Good for Hockey???...how did that work out? ( BTW Gretzky in 1993 is another example as is lemieux in 1992)
So now it's Sid Crosby...Does the NHL hope to become the new WWF?
Posted at 9:22PM on Apr 27th 2008 by ONICE
4. C'mon Sid, stop taking dives. All someone has to do is get within two feet of Crosby and he's ready to take a spill to try and draw a penalty. You're too good of a player to have to try and get an edge by using that crap. Jagr has gotton banged more in his career than a porn star; but he's not falling all over the ice. As Jagr says, just play the game Sid.
Posted at 10:37PM on Apr 27th 2008 by Bill Thomas
5. LV
Can you imagine that?..Since when was pushing allowed...thats like when lined up too pee in 3rd grade and some kid pushed you out of the way to get to the front of the line...2 minutes for that misdemeanor....Yes Sidney had to go down, but a push...OMG...Please we Ranger fans ar saying "yes Sidney is a great player..hell the team is very talented, but Crosby needs to stop trying to get the penalty and when he does, it is too dam obvious" I don't want my kid to learn the game of hockey from that standpoint...it's chicken sht hockey from a fabulous player....Malkin doesn't need to do it.If the Pens win this series, I hope they kick the sht out of Montreal.
Posted at 11:45PM on Apr 27th 2008 by john
6. If, over the past few seasons, before the Crosbys' and the Ovechkins', and whomever, the league didn't try to "reinvent the wheel" with all of their rule changes for the betterment of the game, maybe, just maybe, the aforementioned type players would've learned that body checking IS and ALWAYS was part of the sport of ice hockey, and the "jabber-jawing" to the officials didn't matter. The league is reaping what it sown to the point that the sport is taking on all the flair of carpentry where "the squeaking door gets the oil!"
Posted at 10:09AM on Apr 28th 2008 by Rick Sangano
7. Rick - Ovechkin learned that body checking IS and ALWAYS will be part of the game back in Russia. For that matter, Crosby knows it too. Certainly better than any of us. It's not the rule changes it's just a player trying for a penalty. It's not pretty, but it won't go away - it's up to the refs to decide whether a certain action would have been a penalty, regardless of the consequences of that action.
What I REALLY don't get is why refs will call, say, a tripping penalty AND a dive. Which was it?
Posted at 7:06PM on May 2nd 2008 by Josh