Jaromir Jagr Scores 742nd Goal, 3rd Best of All Time in the NHL

The Florida Panthers’ venerable Jaromir Jagr turned 44 years old on February 15th, and gave himself a belated birthday gift on the 20th. Jagr scored two goals to help the Panthers beat the visiting Winnipeg Jets 3-1. The two goals were the 741st and 742nd of Jagr’s career, and he moved into third place for career goals scored, passing Brett Hull. Gordie Howe (801) and Wayne Gretzky (894) are the only two players in front of him.

Jagr was born in what is now the Czech Republic but what was then Czechoslovakia in 1972. He made his NHL debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990. He played for the Penguins for 11 seasons; the well traveled Jagr has also played for the Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, and New Jersey Devils. New Jersey traded him to Florida during the 2014-15 season. Jagr played professionally in Russia for three years (2008-11) after the Rangers opted not to resign him, before he returned for the 2011-12 season and signed with the Flyers. We can only speculate as to how many NHL goals he’d have by now if he hadn’t been playing overseas for three years or missed the 2004-5 season (along with everybody else) when that entire season was cancelled due to a labor dispute and lockout.

Jagr now has 20 goals and 23 assists in 56 games this season. Here’s a highlight reel of some of his previous 740 goals: