Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Happy birthday, Jaromir Jagr, who was born before ‘The Godfather’ was released

Jaromir Jagr

AP Photo/Mark Humphrey

AP

Jaromir Jagr turned 44 today. Tonight, he’ll join a very short list of hockey players.

Not counting goalies, only Gordie Howe, Doug Harvey, Chris Chelios and Tim Horton have played NHL games at the age of 44 or older.

From Wikipedia:

Jagr

That Jagr is doing what he’s doing in today’s NHL makes his longevity all the more remarkable. Patrik Elias is the second-oldest skater in the league, and he’s 39.

Jagr is also still producing. In fact, he leads the Panthers with 40 points in 53 games.

Consider, when Jagr was born on this day in 1972:

-- Canada had not yet defeated the Soviet Union in the legendary Summit Series. That didn’t happen until September of that year.
-- U.S. President Richard Nixon had not yet made his historic visit to China. That came a few days later.
-- “The Godfather” had not yet been released. That happened in March.

So anyway, appreciate Jagr while he’s still playing, because he may only play for another 10 years.