authentic
Registered User
- Jan 28, 2015
- 25,764
- 10,843
This is exactly what I am talking about. A very naive idea, that basically every day hockey players are getting better.
So, lets talk about "evolution" and "progress" of Jaromir Jagr.
So, you are saying, that at the age of 44-45 Jagr was better than Jagr at the age of 25.
So, what did Jagr improve in this 20 years?
When was he healthier? 25 or 45?
When was he faster?
When was he stronger?
When was he more skilled?
When was his head quicker?
So, in what way did he "evolve" to a better player? He learned how to skate properly maybe? Learned how to shoot right way? Learned how to stickhandle like the great McDavid?
So unless he recieved a blessing from the god of evolution, Charles Darwin the words about his alleged "evolution" are just an attempt to rationalize the fact, that evolved enlightened future supermen athletes were not able to keep up with 44 y.o Jagr.
PS Of course time doesn't stand still and everything is changing including hockey. And of course Jagr adjusted. But in no way does this mean he became a better player. He adjusted to his own physical weakening and to the changes in hockey and in equipment.
You would have a really good point if he didn't score half of what he did back then. It's also a difference of 15-20 years (in which he constantly played through and worked extremely hard to stay at the level he maintained from his late 30s and on, plus he's a physical freak of course to begin with), not 39. The evolution in hockey from 1980-1995 alone was pretty significant, and it's still much better in every way since then.
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