Jaromir Jagr turns 40 on Wednesday.
When I was 38, I was hoping I would play til 40, Jagr said on Tuesday. But Im not 40 yet. Youve got to wait one more day.
Jagr is in the midst of a prolonged goal slump with just one goal (seven assists) in his last 16 games.
What we didnt know, however, is that the Czech right wing has been fighting the flu since last week. And that its not responding to treatment.
Then again, the Flyers are coming off a brutal stretch of seven games in 10 days. That makes it impossible for any athlete to shake a virusif hes playing and not resting.
I got some kind of flu last week or so and its not getting any better, Jagr said. But the groin, I was a little bit worried the first four games I came back after the All-Stars, but after those games, Ive got no problem.
Obviously, Jagrs health is a bit of an issue as to why hes not getting points. And its not just Jagr. Offensive production is down throughout the team. Theres a lot of little things going wrong for the Flyers right now.
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Jagr has had some great scoring chances over the past two weeks and hasnt connected.
Scott Harntell, the other winger on Claude Girouxs line, has just one goal in his last nine games. Giroux himself has four goals in his last seven games. Hes the only one who is hot on that unit.
It depends on how you look at it, Jagr said. Youve got to look at the line or just me personally? I told you before, Im morethe guy who liked to play in the corners more than in front of the net.
I never considered myself a goal scorer. I told you that before and you told me How can you not be a goal scorer? Youve scored so many goals. Well, thats not me. Im not playing in front of the net.
Most of the goals Ive scored were on the power play or when I came from the corner and shot it. Im not going to change the way I play.
If I have good scoring chances or not, it doesnt really matter. As long as the team or our line has it and everyone has different position on the line, I like my chances in the corners and I like Gs chances around the net or Hartsys chances in front of the net instead of the other way around.
Its entirely possible Jagr is hitting a bit of a wall here. Hes played 48 games this season. The past three years, he played 50 or so games in the KHL and then adding playoffs and international competitions, he averaged about 70-75 games, not including exhibitions.
Jagr insists that is not an issue.
You play 56 regular season, plus I play 22 in playoffs and I played another 20 for national teams and another 15 before the season started. I played more than some guys here, Jagr said. This is not a problem.
He said the problem now is that clubs are tightening down defensively and scoring is shrinking.
Teams are battling for the playoffs and theyre going to play a lot tighter defense, Jagr said. Its going to be a lot tougher to score. Most of the teams depend on the defense. Most of the teams right now are going to play the same way theyre going to play in the playoffs just to get in the playoffs.
The Flyers had a complete day off Monday and dont play again until Thursday, so Jagr has a chance to get healthier before facing the Sabres.
He said hes trying to take advantage of the additional days off this week to get more rest.
It was a tough schedule, Jagr said. We played so many games in the last two weeks. Its going to help.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net