Boogeyman wrote:In 2000–01, Jágr was struggling to find his scoring touch and faced criticisms about his relationship with coach Ivan Hlinka.[5] With the return of Mario Lemieux from retirement, the Penguins had two superstars but friction developed between the two; Jágr held the captaincy but many fans regarded Lemieux as the talisman of the team. Also, the struggling, small-market Penguins could, with Lemieux back, no longer hope to afford Jágr's massive salary. Thus on July 11, 2001, they traded him (along with František Kučera) to the Washington Capitals for Kris Beech, Michal Sivek and Ross Lupaschuk.
From Jagr's wiki. For those of you asking for references.
Well, that's a start. Unfortunately, it's Wiki, which can be edited by anyone. I'd start to listen to you if the Wiki article had a link to an article documenting the supposed rift between Lemieux and Jagr. The only article I see linked in that article is
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey ... d_jagr_ap/ It talks about Jagr's slump and sulking that year, but it's dated 12/9 - roughly 3 weeks before Mario's comeback. So there is no connection that his comeback caused a rift between the two on or off the ice.
Here's what I found with that "Google" think you linked us to:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey ... meback_ap/
It's about a week after Mario's comeback
Some highlights:
As well as Lemieux has played since ending his 3 1/2-year retirement, he has made Jagr play even better.
Think Lemieux's comeback isn't having an immediate and a dramatic effect on the Penguins, who now consider themselves a prime candidate to win the Stanley Cup?
Just ask Jagr, who is suddenly playing again with the enthusiasm and fun of a school kid and the skill of a three-time defending NHL scoring champion.
"He's making a big difference," Jagr said
"Everything has changed since he came back," Jagr said. "All of a sudden, there isn't one guy on me all the time. I feel like I'm playing a different game now. There's always someone open, and they have to respect everybody on the rink."
You could argue that what would Jagr be expected to say, considering Lemieux owned the team at that point. However, if it was just lip service, there wouldn't have been a dramatic spike in Jagr's on-ice performance after Mario came back. He absolutely jump-started Jagr, physically and mentally.
Now, I'm not saying that it lasted. In the end, Jagr still sulked and left, I have never heard anything and more importantly, read anything, suggesting that his unhappiness and departure was even partially attributed to a rift with Lemieux or sharing the spotlight. Everything I've read and hear shows that his sulking and leaving was in spite of the effect of Mario's comeback; it delayed that sulking and Mario's play, along with Jagr's improved play for periods of time, along with the rest of the team, led them to the ECF that year. Stating Jagr was a baby and sulked because of Lemieux's comeback is simply not true based on everything I have ever read and heard. That's 10 years ago, so I am not saying I'm 100% infallible, but until I see or hear something different, and I really am not trying to be a dick about this, I have to question your memory of things things.
I heard Savran's interview on DVE last week and I did not hear what you heard.
I'm seriously interested in trying to find something to the contrary of what I've found documented... anyone else out there know differently?
