When Troy Loney looks at Jaromir Jagr, he doesn't see the salt-and-pepper beard, the 1,629 NHL games he's played or the flowing hair that's bordering on a pretty decent mullet.
Loney still sees a baby-faced 18-year-old who spoke broken English, rocked a mullet 10 times better than this current version and wore some really hideous dress socks.
"I still think of him as the 18-year-old kid who was sitting next to me," Loney told the Post-Gazette Monday before the Penguins' annual alumni golf outing at St. Clair Country Club. "I always gave him a hard time because it looked like he had his dad's dress socks on."
The picture Loney sees now might be different, but he absolutely looks at Jagr with fondness and treasures what he means to Penguins players of the past.
Basically that Jagr is some sort of ageless conduit, these guys' last link to the NHL.
"I think back to his personal development, the ups and downs that came with that, and now to see him thriving in all of those areas, it's really rewarding," Loney said. "It is kind of cool to say, 'Yeah, I played with that guy.'
"Of course, then someone will look at you like, 'How could you possibly have played with him?' I'm always like, 'Hey, it's all on him. It's not on me.' "
At age 44, Jagr, who back in May signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract to remain with the Florida Panthers, will play a 23rd season. The Panthers are his eighth NHL team. And he's not slowing down. The 27 goals he scored in 2015-16 were the most for him since getting 30 in 2006-07. Back when he was a young pup at 34.
"He's going to be a future Hall of Famer," former Penguins backup goaltender Frank Pietrangelo told the Post-Gazette. "He was here as an 18-year-old, couldn't speak a word of English, and he was like a little baby more or less compared to everybody else. It's been great to watch his career and say, 'This is a guy you played with and won a Stanley Cup with.' "
That Jagr was there for the Penguins to draft came as a surprise to then-GM Craig Patrick. Speaking Monday, Patrick recalled the story of drafting Jagr from Czechoslovakia _ yes, before it was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
"I found out years later that when he was interviewed by teams ahead of us, he told them all he wasn't coming over right away," Patrick said. "When we asked him that question, he said, 'I'll be here tomorrow if you draft me.' "
The reason, of course, was Mario Lemieux. Jagr idolized him. And it caused Jagr, who's third all-time in goals and points and eighth in games played, to fall to the Penguins at No. 5, behind longtime NHLers Owen Nolan, Petr Nedved, Keith Primeau and Mike Ricci.
"I think the other teams backed off because of that," Patrick said. "We were happy he was there. We were surprised he was there, definitely."
All Penguins from that era have their own Loney-like views of Jagr _ what the iconic player meant to them.
Bryan Trottier was Jagr's first-ever roommate. Patrick acquired Trottier for his leadership and experience, and this was no different. Now, it's Trottier keeping tabs on Jagr and hoping he doesn't hang up his skates just yet.
"I love the kid for a whole bunch of reasons," Trottier said. "It's wonderful to see him not only playing but excelling at his age. I think it's absolutely great."
"None of us ever wanted to quit," Trottier, a veteran of 1,279 NHL games, continued. "Mother Nature creeps up on you. My body wore out. It certainly wasn't the love of the game. I love the game. You can see that he really enjoys the game.
"The teams that he's playing on have looked to him for leadership and mentoring young athletes. When I came to Pittsburgh, I felt like I was mentoring him a little bit. It went full circle."
Trottier called Jagr a "stallion" _ and not because of that hair. Jagr scored 27 goals as a rookie, not bad until you consider Brett Hull led the league that year with 86. Jagr's total was 44th.
Trottier said Jagr wanted to do a lot more, but it was Bob Johnson who kept tugging on the reins.
"He wanted out of the chute real bad," Trottier said. "He was special. He wanted to be great. He told me that 100 times. He said, 'I want to be the best player in the league. I want to be the best player in the world. Mario Lemieux's the best player. I want to be like Mario.' I said, 'Oh my God. What great aspirations. Those are big goals.' He's done very well for himself. Scoring championships, MVPs ... he's done well."
