Sports

Jagr deserves Olympic success and proper NHL sendoff

Tomorrow is Jaromir Jagr’s 38th birthday.

And my wish is that No. 68, a Ranger for far too short a time, delivers an Olympian performance for the Czech Republic over the fortnight in Vancouver. Both as a calling card for a possible return to the NHL next season and as a reminder of a greatness and larger-than-life personality too often overlooked and too often denigrated by a cadre of critics who couldn’t wait to see him leave.

There is no point in revisiting Jagr’s exit from New York following a difficult 2007-08 season. Maybe he was pushed. Maybe he was pulled by the lure of Russuan Kontinental Hockey League cash. Probably a little of both. And then there was the matter of ego, the matter of pride.

Of course, there was, just as ego and pride (and money and Alan Eagleson) drove Bobby Orr out of Boston in 1976, just as ego and pride (and money and Peter Pocklington) drove Wayne Gretzky out of Edmonton in 1988, just as ego and pride (and money and Dave Checketts) drove Mark Messier off Broadway in 1997.

It is impossible to say the Rangers are better for his departure. Impossible. But it is also impossible to say that general manager Glen Sather should have given Jagr the two-year, $15 million contract that would have made him the team’s highest paid player — more than Scott Gomez ($7.357 million per season), that’s what Jagr demanded — and thus kept No. 68’s name in lights on Broadway.

It is, however, easy to say that Jagr’s departure left a gaping hole in the Rangers’ room and within the organization. Charisma (mixed in with a dollop of insecurity) was a constant companion. And it went with him to Russia. Marian Gaborik is a great goal-scorer, but he doesn’t command a room the way Jagr does. He doesn’t want the floor the way Jagr does.

Sather and former coach Tom Renney both facilitated Jagr’s post-lockout impact on the Rangers, but it was No. 68 himself who put his teammates on his broad shoulders and carried the Blueshirts from laughingstock status to credibility through the sheer force of his will, personality and talent.

Jagr comes back to North America this week, bringing his super-sized personality back to an NHL-sized rink. This is a bid for a medal, but it is also either an audition for a job or a farewell from one of the greatest players in the history of the game.

I hope Jagr returns to the NHL next season, hope he brings his unique flavor back to the land of the vanilla, hope he ultimately gets the send-off and number-retirement party (in Pittsburgh) he has earned.

Jagr’s type of greatness doesn’t come around all that often. Jagr himself hasn’t been around at all the last two years. His presence on the ice in Vancouver is to be treasured, these final Olympics for this Olympian-sized personality of a hockey player.

* So seriously, after watching the Rangers-Nashville game on Wednesday, who do you think needs more work on discipline and self-control, the 19-year-old rookie defenseman who chirped at a referee, or the 51-year-old head coach who berated the kid with fury in public view at the bench?

John Tortorella came about as close as possible to going Bobby Knight on Michael Del Zotto after the freshman’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty helped put the Blueshirts in a hole from which they did not recover, even though they had 23:50 of hockey left to score a goal.

No one can convince me Tortorella was in control of himself at that moment, though a good five minutes had elapsed since Del Zotto was hit with a double minor the team almost killed. It looked as if the coach was going to put his hands on the young man.

Had Tortorella done that, had he grabbed him by the arm or shoulder, he would be gone. If Tortorella ever does anything like that, he will be gone. No team can have that, college or pro.

As a matter of full disclosure, Tortorella and I have not exchanged a word since Philadelphia. But I don’t need my mouth or ears to see. What I saw Wednesday was a lack of discipline similar to last year’s Game 5 water bottle incident in Washington, where rage replaced reason.

* Yes, the Panthers are looking to move Nathan Horton, but no, they are not going to get close to what they’re asking in return for a player whose work ethic is, to put it kindly, problematic.

The Capitals have until the March 3 trade deadline to determine whether their goaltending is good enough to get them through the East. If the answer is no or maybe, expect GM George McPhee to inquire about Dallas’ Marty Turco.

Finally, it took just one trade — a second-rounder to rent Dominic Moore — to explain why newly installed Montreal GM Pierre Gauthier went seven years between jobs after being dismissed by the Ducks in 2002.

larry.brooks@nypost.com