For anyone who’s not familiar with in-depth history of the Pens, the team was in such bad financial shape that if they didn’t win this game, there was a realistic chance, that it may have been the last game in Pittsburgh ever. So what Jagr and the team did in this game/series, was nothing short of huge and monumental.
There should never be a negative word about Jagr among Pittsburgh fans. What he did both with and without Lemieux was utterly amazing. He had the energy and effort to complement his top eschelon talent. And the abuse he took, especially during Lemieux's abscence, when teams could divert more attention to him. He really threaded the needle against the Devils - in pain too. You have to love Straka too. 1998-99 pens definitely my favorite second only to Stan cup years.
I remember seeing a clip from this a few years ago and Kevin Constantine gave Jagr so much credit for playing in this game 6 and said that in normal circumstances, Jagr would not have played because it was too much risk for further injury to his groin. You can tell he is in a lot of pain in this game, but sucked it up and played through it and led his team to victory.
The Penguins problem during the late 90s and early 2000s was that they were loaded with skill finesse' players such as Jagr, Kovalev, Straka, Lang, Morozov, Hrdina, and Lemieux when he came out of retirement, but lacked physical defensive gritty players. That's why the Penguins never went on deep runs during that time frame because other teams would just wear the Penguins down with physical gritty play. The Penguuns loaded up with too much finesse' but didn't have grit, to accommodate. 2001 was the on,y time during this period that Pittsburgh made a deep run, cause they played good team def se and got great goaltending from the moose, aka Hedberg.
@@PENS68 you are absolutely right. I loved this particular Pittsburgh Penguins team. A little more toughness on the defensive end would have put them over the top
That makes 2 of us. Ya he said some things about Pittsburgh and sure he wanted out, but he still played the best years of his career in a Pens jersey. With Jagr and Lemieux, some of the best games took place. He's still in the Ring of Honor at the Civic Arena and I have a feeling his number will be retired. I think most fans don't mean it when they boo. Deep down we still like Jager
Yeah people have no idea The Penguins had so much more going on behind the scenes and I agree with you. I think this win and the fact The Penguins went on to win game 7 in New Jersey and upset The Devils, saved the franchise and kept them in Pittsburgh
This is why any Pens fan who boos Jarda deserves to be slapped. He kept that team in Pittsburgh and in the playoffs when they were in bankruptcy. And for those who say he was selfish for leaving - he was trying to do what was best for the team. He knew the team couldn't afford him. If he'd stayed the Pens whould have finished too high up in the standings. They wouldn't have been able to draft Cindy, or Malkin or that goalie of theirs - which means your Pens never would have won this last Cup.
i dont care what people say jagr was this jagr was that, he didnt like pittsburgh blah blah whatever...jagr made life without mario much easier to deal with, hes a lock for the HOF and definitely the second best player the pens ever had
I liked the Lemieux era of the Pens no doubt BUT give credit where credit is due, Jagr era of the Pens were as amazing as Lemieux's era. Shame on the Pittsburgh fans for booing him, he brought you many memorable highlight reel goals and was THE best/top scoring forward during that time. Its clips like these that show Jagr does give a damn about the game.
i've looked for this for ever...i was sitting second row where the pens gathered after the overtime goal.If i stay in my seat i make the front page of the sports section in the post-gazette.This buy far was one of Jagrs best games in the black in gold.
tommy barasso was a key player during those cup years but looking back i'm not sure how any eyebrows were raised with how he played in '93 against the islanders, but he should have been given the benefit of the doubt at the time. but his play against the panthers in '96 was just pitiful and cost them another trip to the finals, and yet he was still around into the year 2000, well past his prime
We should have played Wregget against the Panthers. That 1995-96 is one of my favourite Penguins teams. We were so close to the final and had we have Francis in that series we would have won it. But you play with what you have. Injuries fucking suck. It's been what, 25 years and it still sucks.
Pittsburgh is still rocking, they're rocking more than ever now. This was back when the Penguins were bankrupt. Lemieux bought the team out of bankruptcy and the Penguins had to trade away some of their best players like Jagr, Straka, Kasparaitis to cut costs.
im a huge pens fan and believe me there are many more people that are deeply embarrassed when some of the narrow-minded pens fans boo him. most appreciate what he brought to this team. we couldn't afford to keep him so he was traded, simple as that. if anything, be prepared to boo marian hossa if he doesn't resign with us for about $1 million less that another team will give him, bringing back grim reminders of neil o'donnell leaving us after the steelers lost in the super bowl to dallas in 1996
I think this was the second year in a row that the Devils were upset by a number 8 seed in the playoffs. I think the year before they were upset by the Ottawa Senators.
@sallyed66 remember when the pens beat the crapitals as a 7th seed in the 1st round? i thought that was a pretty sweet non cup moment. or when straka stole it from gonchar to score on kolzig in 2001? we've had quite a few good times at the crapitals' expense. let's hope we can keep that tradition alive this year as well ;-)
fitzgerald's shot was tipped by wilkenson and redirected. i wish i could prove it but there's never any video to be found! haha...plus, no ron francis the whole series. that sucked.
Jesus christ. This is what I call hockey. One on one ? no problem.No stupid dump and chase like today. Today's nhl players dont wanna hold the puck on stick .They are afraid its a bomb which will explode in 5 seconds.
