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Jagr says he'll keep playing, but where?

Rangers coach Tom Renney, center rear, stands behind the Rangers bench and react to a 3-2 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, ending the Rangers season. (AP Photo / May 4, 2008)

BY STEVE ZIPAY | steve.zipay@newsday.com

May 5, 2008

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PITTSBURGH - Hockey hasn't seen the last of Jaromir Jagr.

In the wake of the 3-2 overtime loss in the Eastern Conference semifinals that ended the Rangers' season yesterday in the building where he started his sensational NHL career and won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins, Jagr took a long time changing into a dark suit and declared that the game would not be his last after 17 years in the NHL.

"I don't think I'm going to retire from hockey. I'm going to play somewhere; I don't know where," said the 36-year-old right wing, an unrestricted free agent who had 15 points in the two rounds of the playoffs but came up empty yesterday. "I don't want to make any decisions 30 minutes after we lost the hockey game."

Jagr, who has played 3 1/2 seasons with the Rangers and had 25 goals and 46 assists this season, could return to New York, sign with a team that plays a more up-tempo offense, which he favors (Carolina, Detroit), play in Russia, where he skated during the NHL lockout, or play back home in the Czech Republic.

"The year before, I knew what was going to happen," said Jagr, the Rangers' captain for two seasons. "This year, it's going to happen wherever I want it to happen. Whatever's gonna make me happy, that's what I'm going to do. But it's going to take time. I have to talk to my dad, my friends. They look at it differently than I do. I'm sure they're gonna give me good advice on what I should do."

Jagr, a certain Hall of Famer who likely will have his No. 68 retired by the Penguins, has the most goals (646) and points (1,599) by any European player in NHL history. He won Olympic gold for the Czech team in 1998 in Nagano, Japan.

His teammates knew that what they saw of Jagr in the past six weeks - his will, his strength, his scoring ability - was genuine.

"He showed everybody that when he plays on the top of his game, he's a big part of this team," goaltender Henrik Lundqvist said. "Of course, we want him back, there's no question. But at the same time, if he feels that he doesn't have the mental - so much mental in this game - if he feels like he's done that with this team and you feel like you want to move on, it's up to him. If this is the end, I'm happy for him, and if he's going to keep playing next year, I'm even more happy."

Since the Rangers began the playoffs last month, Jagr insisted almost daily that he was looking no further than being able to extend the postseason for the Rangers, with whom he has scored 124 goals.

Rangers coach Tom Renney said he appreciated coaching Jagr but declined to speculate on his plans.

"He's a great guy," Renney said. "I learn a lot from coaching people like he and Brendan Shanahan and Chris Drury and people like that. You can't but help as a coach to be even more enlightened by people like that."