Best Wishes to Jaromir Jagr in Philadelphia…from a Rangers’ Fan

In 277 games with the Rangers, Jagr scored 124 goals and 195 assists for 319 points.

 

Does it sting? Hell yes, it stings. Despite being thirty-nine years old, I wanted Jaromir Jagr back in New York Ranger blue. In the seasons after the lockout, he single-handedly brought the franchise back to respectability. How was he repaid? He asked for a two-year deal in 2008 and Glen Sather would not back down from a one-year contract. And so they parted ways, with no ill-will towards each other. Jagr went to the KHL and became a king with Omsk Avangard, proving he can still play professional hockey, and excelled at the last Winter Olympics. A few weeks ago, when it came to be known that he wanted back in the NHL, I was expecting the Rangers to take him with open arms. After all, the situation would have been perfect: he would get a one year deal for $2-3 million, and would not be the captain or under any pressure because he would not be the team’s go-to guy. He could have scored his 20-30 goals and sailed off into the sunset the way he was meant to.

The Penguins then entered the equation, and it made even more sense, figuring Jagr would want to end his career where it began. As more teams, included the Red Wings, became interested, the Rangers sat silent, causing Jagr to tell the press that they did not even call him. Then today came the bombshell…Jaromir Jagr has signed with the Philadelphia Flyers. They seemed to have come out of nowhere, how a lot of signings happen nowadays, leaving a lot of people either scratching their heads in confusion, or gnashing their teeth in anger. He has made a strange decision here, alienating fans of both the Penguins and Rangers. The Pens would have more of a reason to be angry, though, since Jagr’s camp was actually in contact with them for a few days.

But as for Rangers’ fans, why is there so much anger? As soon as it was announced that he signed with the team’s Pennsylvania rival, all hell broke loose on Twitter and message forums. All that Jagr meant to this team for those four seasons went out the window, and all of a sudden he became money hungry, a headcase, and locker-room cancer within minutes, none of those being true. Jagr is in Philly because he wants to play hockey, and they wanted to have him there. The Red Wings and Penguins withdrew their offers, and the Rangers never even made a call. Why be angry at him? This fan base has an obsession with youth, and I was quickly told by people on Twitter that signing him would have robbed a roster spot from a young player. This too is false, as the Rangers do not have any promising young players at the right-wing position to be ready this season, especially one that would have added another element to this team. At thirty-nine, Jagr would have come here, kicked ass, and taken prisoners. Whether this is a testament to how good he is or how bad the Rangers are, I do not know—bottom line, he would have been this team’s best player, but if he did fail, there would have been little risk attached. But in getting back to the youth movement, that is the direction the Rangers are heading in, despite my warning that all teams still need a veteran presence. The Rangers do not see the need for such an old player, and therefore, they did not bring him here. Please do not label Jagr a traitor, because I absolutely believe that if the Rangers wanted him, he would have signed here in an instant.

And so I wish Jaromir Jagr all the best in Philadelphia. It pains me to say, but I would like to see him succeed, despite the Flyers being near the bottom of my list in likeable teams. I cannot speak for everyone, but I harbor no hard feelings towards him in any way. It would be nice to see him score 30 goals, just to shut up all the people who say his career is over. Best of luck, Jaromir, you will still be one of my favorites.

Two Years After Cherepanov’s Death, We Still Wonder What Could Have Been

When the New York Rangers selected Russian-born winger Alexei Cherepanov in the first round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, they took a huge gamble. Teams are often cautious about selecting Russian players because there is always that chance they will stay in their home country and play for the KHL, while ignoring their commitments to the NHL team that drafted them. But with the Rangers drafting at seventeenth of that year, and a player of Cherepanov’s caliber still available, they jumped at the opportunity and proudly selected the player touted as the “Next Pavel Bure” and nicknamed the “Siberian Express”.

The Rangers received criticism for this, but as Cherepanov spent the next year developing, and insisting that he could not wait to be a New York Ranger, it subsided and the choice was finally regarded as a steal. With Jaromir Jagr leaving the Rangers after the 07/08 season, he signed with Omsk Avangard of the Kontinental Hockey League. This is where Cherepanov would play, and Jagr said he would teach the young player everything he knew. He said he loved being a mentor to a possible future franchise player for the Rangers. The relationship was mutual, as Cherepanov too loved having Jagr around.

With the Rangers desperately needing offense, fans could not wait until the next season, when Cherepanov could finally arrive and be the driving force of the team’s offense. It was almost too good to be true— the Rangers finally had a piece of homegrown talent they could call their own, and one that was going to be a superstar.

But then tragedy struck. On October 13, 2008, two years to this day, Cherepanov was nearing the end of a game against Vityaz Chekhov. He finished skating a shift with line-mate Jaromir Jagr, spoke a few words on the bench, and then collapsed. He was quickly treated on the bench before being carried into the locker room. Because the game was near completion, the ambulance on hand for all games had already left, and it took doctors fifteen minutes to get to him. Once they got to the locker room, they found out that the defibrillator they had was almost entirely drained of battery. The ambulance arrived back on the scene and after twenty minutes, he arrived at the hospital. His heart was started five separate times, but after what looked like each revival, it stopped again.

Two hours later, Cherepanov breathed his last. The Rangers future superstar was dead at age 19.

Had the medical staff been more properly trained and the ambulance not left early, perhaps he would still be alive today; maybe not playing hockey, but alive. However, what is done is done, and so many little things went wrong, combining to form a disastrous situation.

I still remember where I was when I heard the news, downstairs watching an Islanders afternoon game. I received a text message from my friend alerting me of what he heard happened. I stayed to watch the game a little longer, hoping the announcers would have any news, but I then made my way upstairs to the computer and a Rangers Forum I used to frequent. There, all the members logged in at the time were in a thread discussing what may or may not have happened. There was no clear news for at least an hour, just speculation. The situation would unfold before our very eyes that the player we had been waiting a year to see was dead, and it would not sink in for days. It was perhaps the saddest day in Rangers history.

You can imagine how hard it was to believe. Every scouting report of the Rangers farm system, every prospect update, every preview of the future, all of those contained a mention of Alexei Cherepanov. It was not a matter of if he would help the Rangers, but when, and now that was all gone.

Over the next few days, more news came out about what happened. It was originally reported that he collided with Jagr on the ice before collapsing, but this was proven false. Jagr himself was heartbroken and as Rangers fans, we mourned because he was going to shortly be apart of our “family”.

It’s been two years now, and I often wonder how he would have succeeded in the NHL. Would he be playing alongside Marian Gaborik? Maybe leading a line of his own? Would he have broken any offensive records for a rookie? These are all questions, unfortunately, we will never know the answer to. The two years ago seems like it was yesterday— it is incredible how fast time flies.