Jaromir Jagr’s sad ending to his NHL career is nothing new for hockey legends

Jaromir Jagr played only 22 games with the Calgary Flames before the two sides parted ways. For a future Hall of Famer whose durability was a strength throughout his career, it was a disappointing, unceremonious split that likely represents the end of his NHL career.

Someone as awesome as Jagr deserved a better way to go out, but hockey fans will know that this kind of dragged out departure is nothing new for legendary players. Throughout the history of the NHL, former greats have tried to prolong their careers with last-gasp efforts to hang with the younger guys.

Sometimes players go out with parts of their game still intact, like Mark Recchi, Scott Niedermayer, and Nicklas Lidstrom, but many others have been shown the door like Jagr once it’s clear they’re no longer equipped to handle the NHL.

Back when Grantland was a thing, Sean McIndoe did a breakdown of 17 of the most “forgettable final years” from NHL players. There are some juicy options on that list that look even more regrettable than Jagr’s time in Calgary in hindsight. Here are some examples from the past 20 years:

Coffey, Hull, Chelios, and Brodeur played a combined 37 games for their new teams before calling it quits. Modano was being healthy scratched by the Red Wings late in his only season with the team.

Like Jagr, none of these players were even close to their old selves by the time they had arrived at these stops.

While there’s not necessarily anything wrong with that — why wouldn’t someone want to keep playing as long as possible? — it shows that many stars don’t leave hockey on top. Many of them, instead, find themselves shuffling away after giving it one shot too many. The good news is that people tend to remember the peaks more than those terrible 30 games when you were on your last legs.

Jagr may have deserved a better way to leave a league that he’s given so much to. His official departure from Calgary being announced via a boilerplate tweet was like the complete opposite of a farewell tour.

But unlike the many things that make Jagr so unique, his exit from the NHL resembles that of many other future Hall of Famers.