TORONTO – Yesterday it was the blow torch.
That’s what Jaromir Jagr’s never-ending pursuit for perfect equipment had him requesting from the Boston Bruins training staff ahead of Game 3 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
By now, the trainers know to simply hand it over with a shrug, leaving the man to do his thing.
No one seemed to have any idea or concern about what No. 68 was up to. In a sport governed by ritual and superstition there is probably no other player as meticulous — or quirky — about his preparation as Jagr.
Sleeping in bed with his sticks? He’s done that.
Working out morning, noon or at midnight? You bet.
Taking a pre-warmup twirl in shorts and a toque (complete with pom-pom) to make sure his skates have been properly sharpened? That happens every game night around 5 p.m.
“I don’t want to wait and find out something is wrong in warmup,” Jagr explained to sportsnet.ca after Tuesday’s practice at Air Canada Centre.
The list goes on and on. It is the stuff of legend in the hockey world.
Perhaps the most interesting thing of all is that it was the Bruins who went out and acquired the free-spirited 41-year-old winger prior to last month’s trade deadline. Keep in mind that this is a veteran team with virtually the same roster that won the Stanley Cup in 2011 — the sort of situation that crystallizes an identity and a hierarchy.
There is a certain way to do things in Boston.
However, before general manager Peter Chiarelli pulled the trigger and acquired Jagr from Dallas, an important decision was reached within the organization: They vowed to just let him be.
“All we told him is to go out and (play his game), don’t worry about anything else,” said coach Claude Julien. “Just do what you do best. We accepted that as an organization … we weren’t going to ask him to change.
“We took him that way because we think he can help us that way.”
It seems like a wise approach.
Teammates mostly seem to laugh when asked about his unique way of getting ready for games. They talk about how much respect they have for the future first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk spent last season playing alongside Jagr in Philadelphia and recalled how much extra attention he gave his sticks.
“I think he had pretty much his own stick bag when we travelled,” said van Riemsdyk. “He had a lot of different sticks and he seemed to be breaking them all the time. He’s pretty particular about his stuff.”
It really is quite something that Jagr continues to play at the game’s highest level. Believe it or not, he participated in the 1991 Canada Cup — back when his homeland was called Czechoslovakia. He won a NHL scoring title before Nazem Kadri’s fifth birthday.
Yet there was Kadri doing everything he could to try and stop the six-foot-three, 240-pound winger during Boston’s 5-2 victory on Monday night.
Jagr made his presence felt as the Bruins took a 2-1 series lead. He had a team-high six shots on net, forced a turnover before setting up Rich Peverley for a goal and looked like his younger self while controlling the puck for stretches in the offensive zone.
He bristles at the notion that he’s slowed down with age.
“In my opinion, I don’t think I’ve lost much, but I’m 240 (pounds) and everybody else is 180,” said Jagr. “When I played 10 or 15 years ago, everyone was like 230 or 240 — it was a different game, don’t forget that.
“I don’t think I’m so slow for a 240-pound guy. But on the other side, I have a huge advantage on the boards.”
The Leafs have certainly noticed.
Randy Carlyle, once an opponent of Jagr’s and his former assistant coach in Washington, likened going up against the big Czech to “pushing up against that wall.”
“He’s that big and that strong,” said Carlyle.
Added second-year defenceman Jake Gardiner: “He’s a beast.”
Most importantly for the Bruins, he slowly seems to be getting comfortable on a line with Peverley and Chris Kelly. That is a pretty impressive third unit. Jagr only expects to get better as he continues to recover from a nasty energy-sapping virus that sidelined him for a couple games at the end of the regular season.
At this stage in his career, the veteran of 1,574 NHL games admits he’s starting to get a little reflective. Jagr was struck by the atmosphere on Monday night as playoff hockey made its long-awaited return to Toronto.
“I’m not going to play many more games,” he said. “Hopefully, I might play (another) year or maybe two. … That was pretty special. It’s kind of an extra bonus for a hockey player just to be part of that.”
He is already keeping the company of legends in the league’s record book. Jagr’s next playoff goal will move him into a tie with Jean Beliveau for 10th on the all-time list while his next point will vault him past Brett Hull into sixth overall in that category.
As strange as some of his preparation habits might be, it’s impossible to argue with those results.
And while the Bruins are still getting accustomed to some aspects of their new teammate, they’ve already discovered that he’s actually an interesting guy to spend time with.
“He’s funny, he likes to joke around,” said Julien. “He’s a pleasant guy to have in your dressing room and that’s what people have to understand. A lot of people seem to think that he’s high maintenance but he’s not.
“He’s high maintenance with himself, but not with us.”