Jagr as a prospect

C4R105

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How was Jagr touted as a prospect before his draft? Would he be projected as the next big thing in hockey if he wouldnt be from eastern bloc? Or did he just completely exceeded pre draft expactations? When it became clear he is gonna be a top player in the league?
 

VanIslander

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Six months before the draft Jagr led the world juniors in assists, 2nd in points, with 13 assists, 18 points in 7 games (Bure had 10 points, Kozlov 11), Jagr selected to the tourney all-star team and winning a medal for his country.

That winter, the 17 year old excelled in the Czechoslovakian league, leading Kladno with 60 points that season when only one other teammate had more than even 30 points in the 51 games.

That spring (after scoring 8 goals in 9 playoff games for Kladno) he became the youngest member of the Czechoslovakian national team and he identifies the moment they beat Canada as when he knew he could play in the NHL (this is from Sports Illustrated). Jagr scored 5 points in the world championships on the top line with Robert Reichel and Bobby Holik (Tourney top scorer Yzerman and the Canadians went home without a medal).

Sports Illustrated in 1992 had a feature story on Jagr which talks about how he was a child prodigy, a 6 year old playing against 10 year olds, at one point playing three different age levels of hockey.

As a 12 year old he had two heroes pictured on his wall: Gretzky and Martina Navratilova (the best woman in tennis who defected from the same Soviet-controlled homeland).
 
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Troubadour

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One of the early scouting reports on Jagr came from Jack Button, the Washington Capitals’ director of player personnel who’d traveled to Czechoslovakia to scout Jagr in the 1980s.

Jack Button: “You couldn’t take your eyes off him. It doesn’t take a genius to see how strong he is, how fast he is. And super hands— great quickness with both hands and wrists.”

In the 1990 draft, some uncertainty surrounded whether or not he would be able to come to North America to play, since every Czech in the NHL before had defected. Although given serious consideration by the Quebec Nordiques to go first overall, he fell to fifth and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins. As a 13 year old, Jagr had seen 19 year old Mario Lemieux play in the World Junior Championships held in Prague in 1985 and instantly Mario became his hockey idol.
 

JackSlater

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Where is that from? I believe that it is in error and that it refers to the 1985 world championships.

People have posted scouting reports from Jagr's draft year that suggest that he was thought of more highly than even where he was drafted. Jagr also suggested to some teams that he may not come over to the NHL, but he told Pittsburgh that he would come over, in an effort to influence which team would draft him.
 

Troubadour

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Where is that from? I believe that it is in error and that it refers to the 1985 world championships.

People have posted scouting reports from Jagr's draft year that suggest that he was thought of more highly than even where he was drafted. Jagr also suggested to some teams that he may not come over to the NHL, but he told Pittsburgh that he would come over, in an effort to influence which team would draft him.

I took it out of this article, but I also believe to have read the quote somewhere else the first time around, and I also think it referred to that WCH.

Anyway, whoever authored that quote pretty much nailed it right there.
 

varano

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Theres a funny story of him sandbagging his availability to other teams so that no one picked him except pittsburgh.
 

Troubadour

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Pretty sure he was ranked before the draft right where he was selected, 5th.

I remember someone posted magazine scans and even videos with the top ranked prospects of the 90 class. And Jagr was indeed ranked fifth, but the magazine scans did mention he was by many considered the best player on the draft, with uncertainty of his availability lowering his rank a bit.
 
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puckpilot

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Theres a funny story of him sandbagging his availability to other teams so that no one picked him except pittsburgh.

Yep. Most talented guy in the draft, but teams were unsure of availability. Here's a video that supports this. Video should start at 40 min mark, but if it doesn't that's where the relevant section starts.

 
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varano

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Was it sandbagging or did he say that he would not report? Because I never heard the sandbagging story.
He purposefully said to the first four teams that he wasn't sure if he was going to show up or not, then told pittsburgh he was.
 

Killion

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I perhaps misunderstood. I thought sandbagging means that you make yourself appear weaker than you are.

You are correct. It's to deliberately perform at a lower level than your capable of.... doing so out out of either laziness or perhaps in trying to hustle, scam an opponent like in Pool. Give the appearance your no good, someone underestimating you, bets large & you then proceed to clear the table on them. The term "Tanking" is a derivative of "Sandbagging". Same sort of thing though with Tanking a little more Machiavellian whereby a Coach & or GM might deliberately sabotage his own lineup for whatever reasons, sit key players or trade them, send them down etc. "Goal Suck". Guys who float high between their own Blue Line & Center waiting for a long pass & breakaway while their teams boxed in. A Glory Boy refusing to lend a hand, defensively irresponsible, negligent, lazy.
 
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Troubadour

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He purposefully said to the first four teams that he wasn't sure if he was going to show up or not, then told pittsburgh he was.

Which shows Jagr was always living out his own movie. It was "I'm doing it my way" type of thing. And it was "if my way is coincidentally your way, you'll probably love me" and "if my way crosses your way, you'll probably hate me" kind of thing too.
 

varano

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Which shows Jagr was always living out his own movie. It was "I'm doing it my way" type of thing. And it was "if my way is coincidentally your way, you'll probably love me" and "if my way crosses your way, you'll probably hate me" kind of thing too.
To be fair, his reason actually was Mario.
 

Normand Lacombe

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"Goal Suck". Guys who float high between their own Blue Line & Center waiting for a long pass & breakaway while their teams boxed in. A Glory Boy refusing to lend a hand, defensively irresponsible, negligent, lazy.

Learn something new all the time on here. Never heard of Goal Suck as I thought they were referred to as "Cherry Pickers". He essentially puts his team at a man disadvantage during ES and doesn't want to get his hands dirty of the defensive side.
 
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24 others

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Interestingly, on the famous Jagr-Reichel-Holik junior line, Jagr was not considered the most talented player. Reichel was. But their NHL paths went differently. The Pens wanted to make Jagr a star and gave him all the opportunities to succeed (which is not to take anything away from Jagr - he was an incredible talent). Reichel's way was harder, partly because his smaller size which had consequences at the NHL level.
 

Troubadour

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Interestingly, on the famous Jagr-Reichel-Holik junior line, Jagr was not considered the most talented player. Reichel was. But their NHL paths went differently. The Pens wanted to make Jagr a star and gave him all the opportunities to succeed (which is not to take anything away from Jagr - he was an incredible talent). Reichel's way was harder, partly because his smaller size which had consequences at the NHL level.

From what I have read, Jagr was not considered even the second best guy on that line, but Reichel and Holik were a year older, which is a lot at that age, and they had more senior hockey and experience behind them.
 
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24 others

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From what I have read, Jagr was not considered even the second best guy on that line, but Reichel and Holik were a year older, which is a lot at that age, and they had more senior hockey and experience behind them.
It was not only the age difference. Reichel was generally considered the better talent - which he probably was, in many respects.

There was some talk about it here, too:
https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/robert-reichel.2383261/#post-135476853
 

Troubadour

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It was not only the age difference. Reichel was generally considered the better talent - which he probably wasn't, in many respects.

Fixed it for ya.

I mean talent=ceiling, right?

It was easier to see Reichel's higher after he had one of the greatest seasons in the history of the Czechoslovakian league, especially at that age. But how would anyone think Reichel's ceiling was ever higher after like... 1993? It just makes no sense.
 
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vadim sharifijanov

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Oct 10, 2007
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my gift to hfboards tonight, a detailed team-by-team season preview from the beginning of the 1990-'91 season. relevant to this thread—

Additions -- Right winger Joe Mullen, obtained from Calgary where he once played under Johnson. Mullen has scored 40 or more goals five times in his career. Center Bryan Trottier, signed as a free agent from New York Islanders, who he helped lead to four Stanley Cup championships. Trottier signed to provide leadership, and he has proven ability to win faceoffs and check. First-round pick Jaromir Jagr, a right wing from Czechoslovakia, considered by some to be the best player in the draft.

but the entire thing is worth reading for an extremely thorough blast from the past.
 
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