Canucks Rick Tocchet reflects on former teammate Jaromír Jágr after announcing retirement

Former NHL superstar Jaromír Jágr was announced Thursday morning to be retiring at the end of the season. Jágr spent the past few seasons playing in the Czech Republic for Rytíři Kladno, the same team he franchises with. The now 52-year-old ranks second all-time in NHL history with 1,921 points and has won five Art Ross Trophies and two Stanley Cups during his 24-year NHL career.

During his career, Jágr played with Vancouver Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet for several seasons. The two won a Stanley Cup together with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992 and competed against each other several times internationally. When he heard the news, even Tocchet couldn’t believe it and wondered if he was sure before talking about his former teammates.

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“Probably one of the best one-on-one players,” Tocchet said. “We have that puck possession drill, one-on-one. He’s probably the best three of all time. When you put a puck in the corner and do the one-on-one drill, that’s what he’s best at. He was unbelievable. Passion for the game. He’s a kid. He loves the game of hockey. I would love for him to come back here and get back into the game somehow as a teacher, a coach or something.”

As for whether Tocchet would be interested in bringing Jágr to Vancouver as a coach, he said: “Hopefully I was good for him as a teammate. There are a lot of former players that you would like to hear from. Who knows, maybe in the future. He would definitely be a player that, if he is interested, he would come to him.”