Jaromir Jagr: Memories of an unforgettable 1995/96 NHL season

Let’s recall the season in the career by Jaromir Jagr, when he set the record for the most points in NHL history from the right wing position, a year when the Czech hockey player, together with Mario Lemieux, was the only one missing the Stanley Cup.

Lemieux – Jagr

Jágr entered the season as the scoring winner from the previous season, when he beat Canadian Eric Lindros thanks to more goals scored. In addition, this season he has resumed his partnership with his mentor Lemieux, who had to miss the whole of last season due to an illness.

The Pittsburgh Penguins entered this season as one of the favourites to win the Stanley Cup. The lineup at the time included such names as one of the best passers of all time, Ron Francis, Petr Nedved, defenseman Sergei Zubov, and goaltenders Tom Barrasso and Ken Wregget.

There was no doubt that Jagr and Lemieux would work after two games, when the Czech legend already had 8 points. He surpassed the 50-point mark unusually quickly, specifically in the 23rd game he played. After the 52nd game he was already at 102 points. For the first time in his career, he surpassed this mark in the NHL. He also broke the 50-goal mark for the first time in his overseas career in his 59th game played.

Record-breaking record at right wing

He became the first Czech player in NHL history to reach this milestone. Although Jagr continued to raise his personal bests until the end of the season, Mario was a bit better. In the penultimate game of the season, Jagr tied Mike Bossy’s all-time record for the most points by a right winger with his 147th point.

In the last game of the season, however, Jagr broke that record by adding two more assists to set the regular season point total. He played all 82 games in the season and scored an incredible 149 points on 62 goals and 87 assists.

He set the all-time records for assists and points at the right wing position. He also holds the record for the most points scored by a European player, all of which are of course still valid Czech records. Ironically, although he played his best season of his career, he did not win any individual trophy in the NHL.

In scoring, which he won five times (1995, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001), he finished second to Lemieux, who was simply one level higher. Although he only played 70 games due to a sore back, he managed to score an incredible 69 goals and total 161 points. Pittsburgh’s dominance was underscored by 4th place scorer Ron Francis, who got to 119 points, and Petr Nedved fell one point short of the 100-point mark.

Jagr managed to score at least one point in 69 games and only came up empty in 13, while Mario did not score in only 7 games he played in (70). Pittsburgh finished second in the Eastern Conference behind Philadelphia with 102 points. They scored 362 goals, but also conceded a lot of goals (284).

In the playoffs, a surprise from Florida

It seemed like the offensive ride would continue in the playoffs. At first it looked that way, the Penguins swept the Washington Capitals 4-2 in the 1st round. In the next round, they took down the New York Rangers even faster, 4-1. In the conference finals, however, they ran into the Florida Panthers when they led the series 3:2, but then failed to make it home and the Panthers completed the turnaround in the decisive seventh game. The team from Florida became the sensational Stanley Cup finalist.

The trio of Lemiex, Jagr and Nedved scored 70 points and 32 goals in 18 games, but even that wasn’t enough. Last season, we saw similar scoring stats from David Pastrnak for the first time in 16 years.

He was in a tug of war with Connor McDavid all season long for the king of scorers crown. In the end, he scored 61 goals, just one shy of Jagr’s record. However, he became only the third Czech player after Milan Hejduk to break the 50-goal mark in a season.

What Jagr did in the 1995/96 season, we will probably never see again from a Czech player. Although Pastrňák has already shown that the 100 points and 60 goals scored mark is not something that can’t be broken. However, 149 points for the season will most likely be a big nut to crack for him as well.

Source: NHL, Wikipedia