After Thursday’s game, Jaromir Jagr needs three points to tie Mark Messier for second all-time on the NHL scoring list, and four to stand alone behind Wayne Gretzky.
It almost seems customary for a record-holder or high-ranking player to handle such situations with humility, at least in hockey. And Messier is no different.
“No question I’d like to be there in person if possible,” Messier said, according to NHL.com. “I don’t know if it’s going to be possible or not, but I certainly will be reaching out to Jaromir and congratulating him when he does move into second place overall.”
He notes that he never saw himself as a top scorer along the lines of Gretzky or Mario Lemieux, and also points to one of hockey’s better “What if” scenarios: where would Jagr rank if he didn’t spend all that time overseas?
Messier says in his own mind that Jagr already surpassed him a long time ago, factoring in years spent in KHL.
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) December 15, 2016
Regardless, Messier is impressed by how strong Jagr is on the puck even to this day.
As far as Jagr’s teammates go, they’re taking the “don’t make eye contact with the guy who could pitch a perfect game” approach.
“We don’t really talk about that here, but I think everybody knows that he’s pretty close,” Aleksander Barkov said. " ... It’s amazing”
Yep, that might be the way to go.
Update: Jagr got an assist in Florida’s shootout loss to the Jets.