They may have only been together a short time, and relative to his 24-year NHL career, it might’ve just been a drop in the pond, but to Jaromir Jagr, his time spent with Johnny Gaudreau was one to cherish.
Following Gaudreau’s untimely passing, Jagr posted a heartfelt message to Instagram, offering his condolences to the family and speaking on what it meant to play with Johnny and how his success story is one integral to the NHL.
Attached was a clip of Jagr’s final goal at the NHL level, the only one that he netted while playing with the Calgary Flames. It was an odd-man rush, the type of goal Jagr had scored countless times over the course of his storied NHL career. But giving him the picture-perfect feed was none other than Johnny Gaudreau.
“I honestly never thought I’d write a post like this,” Jagr wrote in Czech. “Yeah, that was my last NHL goal. Yes, that was a pretty nice goal. But it was a beautiful pass above all.
“Unfortunately, life can sometimes be incredibly cruel. Thank you, Johnny Gaudreau, for being there and giving hope to all the guys with your incredible performances and proving that though they are not the biggest and toughest, they can succeed at the NHL at a world-class level just like you did. My condolences to the whole family. R.I.P. to you and your brother.”
The two played together on the Calgary Flames in the 2017-18 season, Jagr’s final go at it in the NHL. Though he played only 22 games with the team, tallying six assists and that one, emblematic goal, he seemed to have cherished his time with Gaudreau and the rest of the Flames.
That final goal was scored on Nov. 9, 2017, against the Detroit Red Wings.
Gaudreau was stellar that season, leading the Flames with 84 points (24 G, 60 A). He and Jagr spoke highly of one another, with the then-45-year-old saying that Gaudreau should be a perennial contender for the Art Ross Trophy.
Gaudreau, who was 24 that season, was left starstruck, over the moon that someone as productive as Jagr could see that in him.
“It’s pretty special when someone says something like that to you,” Gaudreau said to Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun in 2017. “It’s not every day that someone as good as him says something about a player that has only been in the league four years.”
He added that the two had worked on improving Gaudreau’s game throughout the short time that Jagr was there, picking the legend’s brain on how to make subtle improvements day after day.
Over 24 years in the league, Jagr had 766 goals, perhaps none more meaningful than the last.
