Pittsburgh Penguins' coach Dan Bylsma eyeing opportunity to grab Jaromir Jagr –NHL Offseason Update
Jaromir Jagr, one of the greatest hockey players to ever exist, unofficially announced his return to the National Hockey League (NHL) after leaving it in 2008 and now he is eyeing a comeback with either Detroit Red Wings or Pittsburgh Penguins.
This has got Pittsburgh Penguins' head coach, Dan Bylsma, a candidate for the Jack Adams Trophy, awarded to the best coach, excited about the opportunity to grab Jagr and offer him an opportunity which he will not be able to refuse.
"Hypothetically, you're talking about a guy who in his last year in the National Hockey League had 75 points", Bylsma said on Tuesday while talking about his availability for the NHL awards. "That's leading our team last year. That's an intriguing thing
to think about — a power-play guy, what you saw him do in the world championship against NHL-calibre players was nothing short of outstanding”.
In his quest for the Stanley Cup during the 2011 NHL Playoffs, Pittsburgh was not able to get past the quarterfinals against Tampa Bay Lightning.
Lightning eliminated Pittsburgh in seven games after winning three consecutive matches after game four and being put on the verge of elimination.
Adding a player of Jagr’s calibre to the line-up would certainly improve the performance of Pittsburgh Penguins in the upcoming season. His experience and leadership in the game of hockey is certainly outstanding.
"Those are intriguing things to think about hypothetically and it's tough not to think about adding 75 points to your roster if that's something you're capable of doing", said Bylsma.
For now, Bylsma is more focused on winning the Jack Adams Award at the 2011 NHL Awards which is set to begin on Wednesday, June 22.
He led his team into the playoffs, even though it was missing some of its top players, including the team's captain, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin.
It will be interesting to see where Jagr makes his return after nearly three years of playing for Russia and it is speculated that if he does make a comeback, it will most likely be his last.
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