Jaromir Jagr, the Skater
Jaromir Jagr, the Skater by Ross Bonander January 2014 As a member of The Hockey Writers draft team, I often hear about skating ability from scouts. It tends to be the first thing they look at, although, as Shane Malloy writes in The Art of Scouting, that doesn't mean they all agree on its importance from the scouting perspective. This is in part because, unlike something like size, skating is a skill which players can improve. The 2013-14 season marks Jaromir Jagr’s 25th year of professional hockey, and he is methodically working his way up the all-time scoring lists, all while leading his latest team, the New Jersey Devils, in points. This got me wondering: Perhaps throughout the 1700+ NHL points he’s accumulated, the take-you-out-of-your- seat stickhandling, the jaw-dropping dekes and sensational goals, maybe one aspect of Jagr's game deserved a closer look. Jaromir Jagr, the Skater. The great Eddie Johnston once echoed a sentiment expressed by everyone from Mario Lemieux to Scotty Bowman when he said: “I don’t know any player who is stronger on his skates than Jaromir Jagr. One on one, there has never been a player so dangerous.” For instance, in collecting his 1,723rd career point, an assist on an Adam Henrique goal, Jaromir Jagr victimized defenseman Nick Grossman in classic Jagr fashion: With fast hands, long reach, impeccable hockey sense … and all of it powered from, made possible by, his skates. After watching video both new and old, I concluded that for all the spectacular goals Jagr has scored, almost none of them would be possible were he anything short of one of the very best skaters in the game.
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