Jagr Posts Story of Idolizing Lemieux, Humanity

It is the world in which we live. Tom Brady who is 41-years-old posted a celebratory expletive on 42-year-old Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara’s Instagram page Saturday. And all-time NHL great Jaromir Jagr who will be remembered for his career longevity and his first 12 years in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins, posted a touching story about seeing Penguins owner Mario Lemieux for the first time.

Lemieux played in the 1985 IIHF World Championships, which were held in Prague, Czechoslovakia. At the time, the country was under Communist party rule (no, that ideology never works without suppressing and killing people. But I’m old and remember it first hand, not through a wistful lens of a teacher–and one did try to tell me how efficient it was. Been there).

Jagr grew up in it and that’s why he wore No. 68, to remember the 1968 Russian suppression of the Prague Spring which temporarily brought social reform and his grandfather who died in prison because he opposed the “collectivation” of his farm.

 

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Chtěl bych ukázat jiný pohled na svůj trip v Číně,o kterém se hodně mluvilo. Abych to vysvětlil, musíme se nejdřív vrátit o 34 let zpátky… máme květen 1985 a na mistrovství světa do Prahy přijíždí hvězdy NHL i s hráčem číslo 66…. Mohli mu říkat ať do toho komunistického Československa nejezdí, bůhví, co ho tam čeká… On jel, protože hokej miluje a chce reprezentovat. A v té komunistické zemi si ho všimnul jeden mladej hokejista a totálně mu to změnilo život- našel svůj idol a za pět let spolu vyhráli Stanley Cup. Asi víte že ten hráč byl Mario Lemieux a možná, že kdyby do ,, nepřátelské ,, Prahy nepřijel , tak by nevznikla celá story o hráči s číslem 68…Chci tím říct,že kdyby se mi v Číně povedlo něco podobného a změnil bych i jenom jeden život, není to málo, je to víc než 0 a má to význam!!! Vy si možná říkáte že píšu nesmysl– není to nesmysl. Já to totiž zažil. Moc bych si přál , aby se lidé někdy trochu zamysleli dřív než někoho odsoudí anebo si aspoň dali otázku. Co bych udělal já ,jak bych se zachoval já , kdybych byl v jeho situaci. #jaromirjagr #velkáčínskázeď #greatwallofchina #czechboy #68 #hockey #jagr

A post shared by Jaromír Jágr (@jj68jaromirjagr) on May 5, 2019 at 6:11am PDT

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A post shared by Jaromír Jágr (@jj68jaromirjagr)

And here is the English translation from Google translator. It will be a little wonky:

To explain this, we must first go back 34 years back… we have May 1985 and NHL stars arrive at Prague with the number 66…. They could tell him not to go to that Communist Czechoslovakia, God knows what he is waiting for … He drove because he loves hockey and wants to represent him. And in that Communist country, one young hockey player noticed him, and it totally changed his life-found idol and won the Stanley Cup in five years. You probably know that the player was Mario Lemieux and maybe if he didn’t come to the “enemy” of Prague, there wouldn’t be a whole story about the 68 player … I mean, if I did something similar in China and I would change only one life, it’s not a little, it’s more than 0 and it’s worth it !!! You may think I’m writing nonsense – it’s not nonsense. I have experienced it. I would like to see people think a little before they condemn someone or at least ask a question. What would I do, how would I do if I were in his situation. #jaromirjagr # velkáčínskázeď #greatwallofchina #czechboy # 68 #hockey #jagr