Jaromir Jagr is still playing hockey at 52 while the Penguins retire his number

Jagr is still going!

The Pittsburgh Penguins will retire Jaromir Jagr’s number on Sunday, with the No. 68 set to reside in the rafters alongside Mario Lemieux and Michel Briere as the only three players in franchise history to have the honor. Jagr is in Pittsburgh for the occasion, and had to take time off from the festivities.

Time off from what? Well, JAROMIR JAGR IS STILL PLAYING HOCKEY!

This is one of the most recent videos of Jagr playing, and he’s still going in 2024. The 52-year-old is averaging 15 minutes per game for Rytíři Kladno, the team he supported as a child and he now owns.

Despite playing alongside guys who are literally 30 years younger than him, Jagr is still a veteran leader on the team. Oh, he’s also one year older than his coach.

It’s been a rough year for Kladno. The team is currently on the verge of relegation in the Czech Extraleague — but that’s a footnote in all this. The fact that Jagr is still playing professional hockey at age 52 is absolutely mind-boggling, and wilder when you consider a few facts about how long this career has been.

Jagr played with Lemieux for seven years. Lemieux’s jersey was retired in 1997
Jaromir Jagr had been playing in the NHL for 15 years before Connor Bedard was born
The No. 1 Billboard song when Jagr was drafted in the NHL was It Must Have Been Love by Roxette
The No. 1 movie when Jagr was drafted was Total Recall. It was remade already in 2012, and another remake was announced in 2023. So Total Recall will have been made three times in the span of Jagr’s hockey career

It will be an amazing celebration in Pittsburgh on Sunday, then Jagr is back to Kladno to finish out his season. Simply unbelievable.