Enough Already

J and I attended last night's Penguins/Rangers game. The Penguins lost in overtime due to a failure to capitalize on any of the numerous power play opportunities during the second and third period. There was also a serious defensive breakdown as the Ranger who scored the winning goal, Martin Straka (aka “Jenn's other husband”), spent the entire game camped out at the goal on Marc Andre Fleury's left side and no one noticed except some of the fans.

But this is not about the game as much as it is about an incredibly stupid tradition that needs to come to an end in Mellon Arena. That is the tradition of booing Jaromir Jager every time he touches the puck.

• The Jaromir Jagr who gave Penguins fans two Stanley Cups in the early 1990's.
• The Jaromir Jagr who spent 11 years playing for the Penguins.
• The Jaromir Jagr who has seen playoff action in 13 of his 16 years as a professional ice hockey player. Eleven of those years came as a Penguin. Yes, for 11 straight years he helped the Penguins to make it into the post season playoffs.
• The Jaromir Jagr who just scored his 600th career goal.

Penguins fans are incredibly bitter at the way Jagr left Pittsburgh in 2001. A fan who boos Jagr will say they hate him because he asked to be traded. Because he accused the fans of taking advantage of him. Because he said he hated the city.

All true. He did say those things. Faced with the first real slump of his career and overwhelming personal problems, he lashed at out at the team, the fans and the organization. At no point did he take any responsibility for his contribution to the team's decline.

Memories are very short in Pittsburgh. Fans forget that there were some that took outrageous advantage of Jagr over the years, due to his poor English and lack of understanding of American culture. That he was booed regularly on the ice by Penguins fans before being traded to the Capitals in 2001. That staying in Pittsburgh meant forever playing under the shadow of Mario Lemieux.

Fans also forget that the Penguins organization was in such deep financial trouble in 2001 that trading him was inevitable.

So now, every time Jagr comes to Pittsburgh to play, the fans boo him. Last night they also booed the video tribute put together by the organization to commemorate the scoring of his 600th goal.

It is embarrassing, stupid and unsportsmanlike to continue to boo him. Jagr is an incredibly talented player who is an absolute pleasure to watch on the ice. Since he left Pittsburgh he appears to have recovered the joy of the eighteen year old kid in his play. It is as much fun to watch him handle the puck and score a goal as it is to watch Staal or Malkin.

Jagr grew up. When will the fans?