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The Philadelphia Inquirer writes that for many, Thursday is a day of reflection, a day to give thanks.

Jaromir Jagr, however, has been reflective all season. And thankful.

He is thankful to be back in the NHL, thankful the Flyers rolled the dice on a past-his-prime winger, thankful to be on a line next to budding superstar Claude Giroux.

"At this point in my career, I never thought I'd play with somebody like him," Jagr, 39, said of Giroux the other day.

The Flyers are thankful, too. Thankful that Jagr, the onetime shaggy-haired heartthrob, has become a mentor to his young teammates and is still a highly productive player. Thankful he is so devoted to his sport that he sometimes skates and works out late at night at the Flyers' Voorhees practice facility - after working out with the team earlier in the day.

"We weren't too sure what to expect when he came here, but he's able to bring a lot to this team, both on and off the ice," Giroux said. "He makes you realize you have to go to the gym and put the time in to get better. He made me realize that, and not just me but the other young players."

Jagr has been the ultimate teammate. He is not the old Jagr, who liked being the center of attention. Now he just wants to fit in and help the younger players continue to blossom.

Maybe Jagr's persona has changed because he's 39 and doesn't take the games for granted anymore. Maybe it's changed because he was talking with teammate Alexei Cherepanov during a game in Russia three years ago, then the 19-year-old collapsed and died a few hours later. That, and losing friends who were killed in the September crash of a plane that carried a Russian hockey team, appears to have made Jagr more mellow, introspective.

Ask Jagr a question, and the Kladno, Czech Republic, native thinks for several seconds about how to communicate his thoughts in English. He speaks the language fluently, but he gathers his thoughts before answering, usually with a wide smile.

He doesn't try to be politically correct, doesn't try to shield himself from outsiders.

At almost 40, he is deeply religious and comfortable with himself.

So his answers are long, refreshingly candid, and from the heart.

Question: So what are you thankful for on Thanksgiving?

Long pause.

"I'm thankful for my life, and you appreciate it a lot more when you get older," he said. "And my parents. I always believed that without good parents who help you a lot, [you will struggle]. There are two different kinds of parents you can have. You can have parents that you're just a kid to them, and then there are parents who give up their lives for their kids to be successful and to have a better life than they had. And that was my parents.

"It was during the Communist years, and they kind of gave up their lives for me. And that's what I appreciate the most. If I had different parents, I wouldn't be here right now, I know that for sure. They did everything for me. I had everything I wanted - food, and that kind of stuff. They worked extra hard to make the money. They would drive me to the games all the time. My dad was at every practice till I was 15 years old."

Jagr, who spent the last three seasons playing in Russia, grew up on a farm in then-Communist Czechoslovakia, the son of a coal-mining administrator who doubled as a farmer. His parents still live in what has since split into the Czech Republic.

Question: Do you want to play beyond this season?

Jagr: "It's too early to tell right now. Right now, I wait for the whole season and play it out. I just don't want to be somewhere where I can't help the team. I want to be a big part of the team. It's not about the points; it's about the whole team and how we going to do. . . . How we going to do in the playoffs? That's the hockey you want to play, in the playoffs. That's what I missed. The NHL playoffs and the other league [KHL] are totally different."

He said it would be difficult to retire from "something you love."

The Inquirer points out that two of Jagr's linemates from his early years in Pittsburgh - Hall of Famers Joe Mullen and Ron Francis - are not surprised that Jagr (17 points in his first 18 games this season) is still going strong.

Mullen and Francis were veterans when Jagr broke into the league in 1990-91. Jagr said they were patient with him and played key roles in his development. Now Jagr wants to do the same to the young players on the Flyers.

Call it the NHL's version of Pay It Forward.

"That's part of his maturity, mentally," Mullen, a Flyers assistant, said this week. "He realized that at his young age, we were always willing to help him. We were the veteran guys, and we talked to him all the time. The three of us played on the same line, so it was an easy thing just for him to listen to us. And we always listened to him, too, so I think he liked that. And now that he's in our position, he wants to do it for other guys. I think that's great. I think that's the way it should be."

Francis, now Carolina's director of hockey operations, said Jagr was "misunderstood" in his early years. Back then, some viewed Jagr as a selfish player who cared more about his personal stats than the team's success.

"He wanted to be the best, and he wanted to be that way every night, and when it wasn't happening, at times he would get frustrated and get mad at himself," Francis said before the Hurricanes played the Flyers on Monday at the Wells Fargo Center. "And sometimes people misconstrued that as being selfish or pouting or what have you. But he was just a guy who wanted to be the best, who wanted to help the team win, and when things didn't go right, he was frustrated. It's just something Joey and I kind of worked with him on how to channel that the right way and stay positive.

"He had enough talent and smarts to figure it out on his own, but we tried to be there for him and sort of to build that trust so he knew he could talk to us and try to make him better."

This was not your normal NHL transaction, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Penguins center and captain Sidney Crosby bought a house in Sewickley Heights nearly two years ago and began renovating it while continuing to live with team owner and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux and his family.

Before he moved, Crosby decided he would rather live closer to the village of Sewickley, with its neighborhood feel and amenities. So, when a house that fit those needs went up for sale, he bought it, had it torn down and is building a new home.

What to do with the first house? No problem.

Penguins president and CEO David Morehouse, who had admired the residence while helping Crosby with the earlier house hunt, bought it. That made it easier for Crosby, who did not have to go through a drawn-out sales process that might have attracted a lot of attention. But it created an unusual situation.

Under the NHL's collective bargaining agreement, there might have been questions about such a financial transaction between a player and a top team executive. Any inflated or undercut price could have been interpreted as a violation of the salary cap.

The Penguins passed along the details beforehand to the league and commissioner Gary Bettman to ensure there would be no misunderstanding. Morehouse paid $2.4 million for the property, a relatively modest $100,000 more than Crosby paid.

Crosby, 24, is splitting time between Lemieux's home and an apartment while his new house is under construction. He has lived full time or part time with the club owner's family since he was an 18-year-old rookie.

The Chicago Sun-Times details how as wonderful as it feels to score a goal and as amazing as it is to celebrate with your teammates, nothing beats coming home for Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa.

Win or lose, few things compare to being with his newborn daughter, Mia.

‘‘For me, it’s an awesome experience,’’ Hossa told the Sun-Times on Wednesday. ‘‘I’m loving it. It’s such a joy when you come home. [Whether] you have a great game or you have a tough game, you come home and look at the little baby, you forget everything. That’s what matters.’’

By no means has that mentality made Hossa less of a player. In fact, he probably has been the Hawks’ best player during the first quarter of the season.

‘‘He’s been excellent this year,’’ coach Joel Quenneville said.

‘‘Offensively, he’s a threat. He has the puck a lot. Defensively, he seems to kill a lot of plays. He’s positionally strong. He’s strong in the puck area. He complements our special teams, as well. That line — whether it’s with [Patrick Kane] or [Jonathan Toews] — on a lot of nights, that’s tough to contend with. A lot of times, he’s a direct force.’’

Off the ice, it’s Mia who drives Hossa. On Sept. 7, Hossa lost close friend Pavol Demitra in the plane crash involving the Russian pro team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Two days later, Hossa and his wife, Jana, celebrated Mia’s birth.

Hossa said he doesn’t feel like a different player now that he’s a father, but there has been a change in his perspective.

‘‘I think hockey was always No. 1,’’ Hossa said ‘‘[But] the priorities change. Now [that] the baby is there, you think about life a little bit different.’’

The Tampa Tribune points out that the Lightning rounded the quarter pole on Tuesday, reaching the 20-game mark of the season.

And judging from many outside views, the wheels are ready to fall off.

That's an easy assessment based on a 7-1 loss to Toronto in Game No. 20, Tampa Bay's fourth loss in the past five games. Twitter posts from Lightning fans suggest anything from trades to coaching changes to call-ups as ways to shake up a team with lofty aspirations for this season.

The internal approach, however, is a bit more calm, collected and methodical, without the emotion of a humiliating loss to the Maple Leafs that dropped the Lightning to 9-9-2 on the season.

The last result and the current situation will not prompt the team to hit the panic button.

The closest thing to a shake-up was placing center Blair Jones on waivers Wednesday afternoon, while wing Dana Tyrell, who spent all last season with the Lightning, was recalled from Norfolk of the American Hockey League.

"I never believe you do something just to do something," Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said. "You just try to make the team better, whether that's through recalling somebody or a trade. I'm not going to react. You just have to assess your team.

"We've been inconsistent. We've had some very good games and done a lot of good things, but as a team we have to improve our team defense. And that's not a critique of our defense, it's just as a team collectively we have to be better. We have higher expectations and some of our players are not playing at the level they were at last year. We are not as deep as we were last year, and we are hoping that within, our players will elevate their play.''

The Tribune notes that even if Yzerman wanted to pull the trigger on a deal to improve his team – something he showed little hesitation in doing last year in trading for goaltender Dwayne Roloson and defenseman Eric Brewer – it takes two motivated sides to make it work.

"In general, teams really are not looking to take on contracts, take on money this time of the year and it's hard to make a trade,'' Yzerman said. "It's hard to find a fit with teams because teams don't want to give up their draft picks. Teams don't want to give up their young guys.''

Yzerman has a lot faith in the team he assembled.

"I'm not shocked by the position we are in. I'm not caught off guard by it," he said. "I still feel this team can perform better. We are just finding different ways to lose hockey games.

"But I just believe in this group. They are good hockey players. We are just going through a difficult period and have not played as well as we would like to and I think we are better than what we have shown. I just find we are beating ourselves in areas that we can be better in and should be better in.''

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune notes that Paul Deutsch played hooky from his beer-league game at Bloomington Ice Gardens on Wednesday night.

The 51-year-old, who began tending goal at the tender age of 37, instead wore a Wild jersey during warmups Wednesday night prior to the Wild's game against the Nashville Predators.

After the Wild got word that Niklas Backstrom, slated to be the starter, would have to miss the game for a non-serious personal matter, it recalled third goalie Matt Hackett from the Houston Aeros. But Hackett's plane didn't arrive until just prior to game time, so the Wild signed Deutsch, who owns a screen printing and embroidery store in Richfield, to an amateur contract Wednesday afternoon to fill in during warmups and potentially back up Josh Harding if Hackett's plane was late.

It wasn't.

Backstrom should be back with the team in a few days. Hackett, who arrived at the arena at 7 p.m. and was on the bench by 45 seconds into the first period, would then be sent back to Houston.

But Deutsch still got to wear No. 33 during warmups, with his daughter's Eastview Under-14 youth team cheering on from a suite.

"I actually was shaking while I was signing [the contract]," said Deutsch, who filled in "Minnesota Roosevelt Junior Varsity defenseman -- 1978," as his previous team on the contract.

A nervous Deutsch said a half-hour before warmups, "Practice is one thing. I have to tell ya, the game faces are on, and I don't see those very often. Usually it's a practice, and we're calm and we're laughing and we're ha-ha-ha.

"But game day is a lot different, so I'm trying to stay out of the way and not get in any trouble."

The Boston Herald relays that one Buffalo media member summed up the sentiment in town about last night’s clash against the Bruins as such:

“I think the people in this town would rather see them do something, and lose, than not do anything and win.”

He was talking, of course, about revenge for Milan Lucic’s hit that injured goalie Ryan Miller last week.

The Sabres and their fans got their wish, as Sabres center Paul Gaustad dropped the gloves and fought Lucic just 1:23 in, with the Bruin winning an easy decision.

The B’s then went on to win the game, 4-3, in a shootout to extend their winning streak to 10 games.

“You want to stick up for yourself and that’s basically what it came down to,” said Lucic. “I wasn’t going to shy away from it. There wasn’t much of a conversation. It was straight to the point.”

Lucic took the ice during a stop in play on the B’s second shift of the game. After a few seconds delay, Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff sent on a line with Gaustad, who lined up on the wing next to Lucic. The crowd, already amped sky-high, went wild in anticipation of the impending fight.

At the drop of the puck, the two players threw off their gloves and went at it. It was, not surprisingly, a very one-sided bout, with Lucic landing several good rights before his opponent slipped down.

The Herald notes that though Gaustad didn’t do too well, the crowd still seemed delighted by the effort, cheering loudly. He did deserve credit for his willingness to have a go at Lucic.

“You don’t really know what to expect,” said Lucic. “You go into every game prepared for anything. It was actually probably good on both ends just to get it out of the way right at the start, then just move on and focus on the rest of the game.”

Lucic was asked about his new status as a hated villain for Buffalo fans.

“A villain? Yeah, it seems like it,” said Lucic with a laugh. “It’s happened to me before, a couple of years ago back in Montreal. They still boo me there. It’s just something that comes with the game and helps build a rivalry. It’s fun to be a part of rivalries like this.”

Ron Hainsey didn't have the luxury of being eased back into the lineup, according to The Winnipeg Sun.

Hainsey, the Winnipeg Jets blue-liner, ended up logging major minutes as he made his return to the lineup for the first time since Oct. 17 in Wednesday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals.

Hainsey, who suffered an upper-body injury in the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins but also sustained a lower-body injury during his recovery, was in the starting lineup and used extensively on a pairing with Zach Bogosian, finishing the game with 31 shifts for 23 minutes and 34 seconds, leading all players with seven blocked shots in the contest.

"He did the best he could," said Jets head coach Claude Noel. "He certainly played hard, it would have been a hard game to play. It was a pretty heavy game."

Hainsey was not available for comment as he was receiving treatment, but his teammates appreciated his presence.

"He's huge, he plays a ton of minutes and he's really reliable back there," said Jets centre Bryan Little. "He's smart, he's been in the league a long time and not only does he help us on the ice, he helps us in the dressing room too and keeps us under control. He's one of those guys that can calm you down."

Hainsey is also a mobile puck mover.

"He wants the puck and he can skate it," said Jets winger Blake Wheeler. "As a forward, you love when he has the puck because he makes good plays with it. He makes a lot happen for our team and it's great to have him back."

The Washington Post indicates that coach Bruce Boudreau said all along he expected a positive response from Alexander Semin after the winger was a healthy scratch Monday against the Phoenix Coyotes. The 27-year-old proved Boudreau correct.

Against the Jets, Semin skated 18 minutes and 25 seconds – the most ice time he’s seen since Nov. 1 against Anaheim — and finished with a goal and was a plus-2 with three shots on goal in 21 shifts. He also ended his streak of consecutive games with at least one minor penalty, not taking one for the first time since Nov. 4 in Carolina.

Asked whether this was his best game of the season, though, Semin said it didn’t matter.

“It’s actually not important whether it was my best game or not,” Semin said through an interpreter. “The most important thing is that we won. And I’m just happy that I didn’t pick up a penalty.”

Semin had a noticeable spark to his game and his finish for a goal on a 2 on 1 with Alex Ovechkin was a prime example of what he can do when fully engaged, but he insisted that he didn’t change much from his game after being scratched.

“Of course I wanted to win. I wanted to play great,” Semin said. “But at the same time I don’t think I changed anything. I just played my game, went out there and played exactly like I did before the game [when he was scratched].”

Following the Capitals’ 4-3 overtime win against the Jets was the first time Semin talked at length with reporters since the news that he would be a healthy scratch. He was asked what he thought of being held to the same standard as everyone else on the team.

“Well, everybody’s the same, everybody’s equal in this situation,” Semin said. “It so happened to be that I was sat, but it can happen to absolutely anybody. Such is life. I just don’t wish it on anyone to be scratched.”

Jack in Derry, NH: "Hello Chris, Enjoy your turkey.

Quick goalie question: one of my leaguemates just dropped Crawford. I've been holding onto Hiller and having him ride the bench while I play Fleury and Price. We are standard roto with W, SV%, GAA and SO for goalies.

In your opinion, is Crawford an upgrade over Hiller in the long run or do they break even. I had high hopes for Hiller coming into this season but he like his team have started off flat.

Thank you again and make sure you get a piece of that pumpkin pie!"

Chris: Happy Thanksgiving Jack, thanks. Yes, I'd make that swap.

I absolutely still think Hiller and the Ducks have a hot streak that shouldn't be too far away, but you're in a situation where the FA pool is deep enough that the starter on what should be a strong Western presence like Chicago can be dropped. I'd take him. It's only bench insurance for you anyway, but I still think Crawford helps to upgrade that spot for you a bit in the long run this season.

Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

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­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.