Jaromir Jagr will never have his number retired in a ceremony at the Garden. But make no mistake. No. 68 was one of the most significant players to ever wear the Blueshirt.
That’s was, and not is, because Jagr’s three-and-a-half-year career as a Ranger came to an official end yesterday just after 4 p.m. when general manager Glen Sather informed the free agent winger that the team would be moving forward without him.
“I’m disappointed that I’m not going to be in New York, but I’ve always believed in my life that things happen for a reason, and that’s how I look at this,” Jagr told The Post last night. “Coming to the Rangers was great for me, and I owe Glen thanks for making the trade with Washington [on Jan. 23, 2004] to bring me here.
“I can’t say I regret anything that happened here. We didn’t win the Stanley Cup, but there’s a lot of luck that goes into that, too, even if you have a great team. Well, I guess I regret that I didn’t get 84 points this season. If that had happened, I’d still be here.”
If Jagr had recorded 84 points, he would have triggered an automatic one-year contract extension. But he struggled after the free agent departure of center Michael Nylander, recording 71 points (25-46) after failing to find a fit with either Scott Gomez or Chris Drury before settling in with Brandon Dubinsky.
“With the contracts for Scotty, Dru and Hank [Henrik Lundqvist], and then signing [Wade] Redden, they have almost $30M in four players, so there wasn’t enough for me after that,” Jagr said. “The Rangers wanted to get better on defense and they spent a lot of money on Redden.
“That’s OK. That’s what they thought would make them a better team. If I did a better job with Scotty or Dru, it might be different.”
The Blueshirts had missed the playoffs seven straight times coming out of the lockout. But on the first day of 2005 camp, Jagr guaranteed a playoff berth. He then established franchise records for goals (54) and points (123) in a season in carrying the Rangers to their first of three straight tournament appearances.
The future is uncertain for Jagr, who said that he would like to play five more years. He has an offer from Russia. He may have a multi-year offer coming to him from Edmonton.
“People think that it’s better to have a lot of choices, but sometimes having one choice is best because you can’t make the wrong one,” Jagr said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now, but I’ll make that choice when it’s time.
“I want to thank Glen and Tom and the Rangers. I want to thank all the people who supported me. Being in New York was special.
“And I also want to say to the people like Mike Milbury who made their living by criticizing me all the time, that they can kiss my [butt].”