JasonMacIsaac said:
Olesz is a Jagr in the making with heart. Just my opinion.
Jagr used to have heart too.
These are thoughts I had on a very recent Rick Nash thread: Most of the hot young players display heart and hunger. That's what being young is often all about.
But unfortunately, not all young players can maintain that level of enthusiasm over a career.
I catch old Jagr games on TV sometimes (NHL Network I think) and Jagr was just awesome. He would go hard to the net, overpower guys and pull incredible move. He'd deke like crazy and use the boards to pass the puck to himself.
I remember once, Jagr was at least 23-24 years old (he was not a rookie anymore and had been in the league for years) and a reporter here in Montreal was discussing with Mario Lemieux. The reporter had noticed that Jag had been the last man to get off the ice and had put the puck on the boards for several minutes and he talked to Mario about it.
Mario said that while Jagr was unbelivably talented, he was also somewhat of a perfectionist and that is why he had so much success. That night, Jagr passed the puck to himself a couple of times and scored a beautiful one thanks to that trick. Montreal was double-teaming on him and cutting all the passing lanes so he had to play alone and used the boards.
That really surprised me but Mario praised Jagr for his work ethic and said he was the hungriest player on the team. When you notice all the GREAT names the Pens have had in the past, it makes you realize that young players can do no wrong, it seems. But they're individuals just like everybody and people change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not.
I see it happen all the time. Sometimes lazier players become very dedicated, sometimes hungry people lose the passion and sometimes people stay the same.