KLADNO, Czechia — In Kladno, Czechia, 30 kilometers northwest of Prague, sits a 5,200-seat hockey arena in a clearing in the woods. This is the town and the rink that made Jaromir Jagr. Before he piled up 1,921 points in 1,733 NHL games and won five Art Ross trophies and two Stanley Cups, Jagr was the next big thing in this Czech town. And now at 52 years old, 36 years after he first played a game for Kladno, the NHL legend is the one keeping this team alive.

On a Tuesday night in early October, Rytiri Kladno, the Czech Extraliga team that Jagr played for as a teenager and now owns, is hosting Ocelari Trinec, the defending Extraliga champions and one of the wealthiest teams in the league. Kladno, by comparison, has been battling to stay in the top Czech league. They’ve needed to win the relegation series to stay in the top league for three straight years. If not for Jagr and his ability to draw a crowd and sponsor funds, Kladno may not be here. Oh, and the do-everything owner is also still plugging away as a third-line right winger.

“There’s legends and then there’s someone who does more, better, tries to improve every time,” said Eduards Tralmaks, Kladno’s leading goal scorer from a season ago. “You would think at this point in life he has nothing to prove but every time I talk to him he says, ‘That’s not true. I will get better.’”

This is Jagr’s 37th season of professional hockey and he recently shared it will be his last. He came to that decision at some point during the summer. His final NHL full season was in 2016-17 with the Florida Panthers. James Reimer, Florida’s goalie that season, remembers the boyish enthusiasm Jagr still had then at 45.

“He would always fool around after practice,” Reimer said. “He wanted to stay on the ice extra and dink around like a kid. He just can’t get enough ice. So many times after practice we would be doing breakaways or practicing different shots and he would say, ‘Hey, Reims, I’m going to show you this move that worked in the ’90s. This was a guaranteed goal.’ He’d come and do it and I’d stop it and he’d say, ‘Oh, well, the game has changed.’”

The next year he played 22 games for the Calgary Flames but was then loaned to Kladno. He didn’t get the full NHL farewell tour experience, in part, because he wasn’t ready to quit. So he kept going, lifting his Czech team back into the top division of the Extraliga, where they have been since 2021.

Last season wasn’t his best for Kladno. He played only 15 regular-season games and had zero goals and four assists. He took a multi-week break during the season to head back to Pittsburgh and celebrate his number retirement with the Penguins. He was overweight by his standards at around 270 pounds. Jagr looked like he might be done.

But in the qualification round to avoid relegation, Jagr broke Gordie Howe’s record and became the oldest player to ever take regular shifts in a professional game. He also became the oldest player ever to score a professional goal. That inspired him to want to finish with a stronger season than what he put together in 2023-24.

“A lot of people, it’s not like they’re done because they don’t like hockey anymore,” Tralmaks said. “They just want to live a normal life. For him, normal life is this.”

That’s part of how Jagr convinced Tralmaks to re-sign with Kladno. After a 21-goal season, the 27-year-old Latvian had options when deciding where to sign. Jagr FaceTimed him (Jagr’s preferred method of communication) and told him he was going to make the team competitive. He said he, personally, would be back in much better shape. Jagr also told him that this was going to be his final season. When he heard that, Tralmaks knew he couldn’t imagine playing this season anywhere else.

“We’ve kind of built our relationship to where it feels so natural but then when you get home and you’re drinking coffee you’re like, ‘How the hell am I friends with this guy? How am I playing for this team?’” Tralmaks said. “It’s something that I would say is like a dream that I never really dreamt of.”

How else do you describe playing with a guy who had already won two Stanley Cups and an Art Ross Trophy before you were born? The next oldest player on Kladno’s roster is 15 years younger than Jagr. Kladno’s youngest player was born in 2004, by which point Jagr had already played 14 NHL seasons. Nine players on the roster are less than half his age. And because he’s not just a player but also running the entire team, prospective free agents are getting pitched by the legend himself.

“My agent said, ‘Hey Jagr wants you,’” Tralmaks said. “He didn’t say, ‘Kladno wants you.’ He said, ‘Jagr wants you.’

“I’m like, ‘Jagr wants me? I thought he was a player.’ But to be honest, he’s everything here. He’s head of everything. Everything goes through him.”

Even after ending up on FaceTime with Jagr walking through their questions, newcomers to Kladno are understandably a bit overwhelmed by his presence. Playing with your owner is unique enough, but when it’s Jagr, how do you not get a bit starstruck?

“You definitely want to get on his good side,” said Griffin Mendel, who signed with Kladno this summer. “I want to get some stuff signed for friends and stuff but I don’t want to be super annoying.”

“There’s this aura around him,” Tralmaks added. “If there was a hockey Jesus, this guy is as close as it gets. ”

What everyone quickly realizes is that Jagr somehow does have a way of blending in with the guys. Even though he owns the team, he plays on the third line. He’s on the second power-play unit. He’s quick to chirp teammates and takes it just as easily.

“He doesn’t think he’s better than anyone,” Kladno center Mitch Hults said. “He treats everyone the same and that’s cool to see. It’s easy for someone like that to walk in and think, ‘I’m too cool for this.’ But he really jokes around with everyone.”

When Jagr is on the ice, you can’t take your eyes off him. There are bits and pieces of the old Jagr in that Kladno sweater. He skates slower, but his stride is the same. While bursts of speed are few and far between, his brilliant hockey mind makes up for what his body can no longer do. He protects the puck as well as he ever did and can still take it away when he wants. His passes have the precision of a man who has put tens of thousands of hours into this game. He’ll crash the net with intensity. And when the puck is on his stick, there’s still a feeling something magical could happen. Because in so many ways, what he’s doing, playing professional hockey at this age, feels like magic.

Jagr’s daily habits have become a legend of their own. He thinks outside of the box with his workout routines and pregame warmups. As one teammate described it, “There’s exercise science and then there’s Jagr science.” He sprints in full gear with a resistance band around his waist. He does quick feet with skates and ankle weights on. When he bench presses, he holds the barbell like he holds a hockey stick. Every workout is strictly about hockey, and he posts a lot of them on his Instagram.

“This is like a science fiction movie,” Tralmaks said. “This has to be in some documented history. They need to study this guy. They need some doctors or psychologists to come in and study this guy, because he’s an alien. He’s not a f—— human being.”

“He doesn’t care what people think,” Hults added. “He just goes and does himself. I feel like everyone should be like that and not worry about the outside world.”

Jagr told his teammates he wanted to play in every exhibition game, but he only ended up playing in one because he tore his hamstring. Doctors told Jagr a younger player would miss four weeks with the injury, but a 52-year-old would probably need six weeks of rest without skating.

“You think he took those four to six weeks?” Tralmaks said. “Three days later he was on the ice skating by himself, shooting pucks. In two or three weeks he was already on the ice with us. He’s not taking that advice. If something hurts he says, ‘No, it doesn’t hurt, it’s in your head.’”

Jagr has missed only one game this season for Kladno, and he’s scored one goal and two assists. Kladno is in sixth place in the league standings. On this night against Ocelari Trinec, a trainer massages Jagr’s legs in between shifts to keep him loose and make sure that hamstring doesn’t cramp up. Jagr is still barking encouragement from the bench, arguing with refs and chirping opponents.

“He’s living and breathing it,” Kladno defenseman Phil Pietroniro said. “It’s his DNA.”

Even with the late penalty, Kladno manages to win the game 3-2, setting off a raucous celebration in the crowd. Players come off the ice and walk down to the locker room, which sits below ice level, singing and chanting in celebration. Jagr might be the loudest of the bunch, as he gathers the team and staff for the postgame photo and video. He doesn’t have time for an interview on this night with so many friends and sponsors at the game vying for his attention.

Because this is the house that Jagr built. The rink received a major renovation in 2022 that included a new roof, doors, windows, VIP sections, insulation, air conditioning and ticket offices. He changed the ice surface to make it as small as the rules would allow because it would cater to his playing style. The fan shop inside the arena is small but serves as a shrine to Jagr. Jagr’s face is printed on pucks, coffee mugs, T-shirts and scarves for fans to buy. His jersey, as you’d expect, is a popular one among the locals who crowd the rink on game nights. There’s as much merchandise with Jagr’s face on it as there is Kladno’s logo.

So much of Kladno’s funding is because of Jagr, too. His ability to meet face-to-face with sponsors to win them over is a big reason Kladno gets the support it does. This town doesn’t have the major companies that fund bigger teams like Ocelari Trinec or Sparta Praha. But Jagr is a major selling point for sponsors.

That leaves a legitimate question about what happens when Jagr is done playing. The Penguins have expressed interest in hiring him in some capacity. But if he did that, Jagr might have to sell the team in Kladno. Without his on-the-ground presence, that sponsorship money won’t be guaranteed. Neither will the crowds he’s drawn. Even this game against Ocelari Trinec wasn’t a sellout on a weekday. Jagr’s father owned the team before him, and he feels a responsibility to the team and the city.

“I’m not fully convinced he would sell the team,” Tralmaks said. “He doesn’t have children, but this is the closest thing to his child. This is his team. He takes care of it. This is his legacy, too. Without Jagr, I don’t know if this team would exist.”

Kladno is already much better off than when Jagr arrived. And there are other former NHLers, Tomas Plekanec and Jakub Voracek, who are from Kladno and could potentially step in if Jagr does decide to work in North America.

Right now, though, Kladno players aren’t thinking about any of that. They’re soaking in every moment they have with Jagr. Some aren’t even sure if he’ll actually retire at the end of the season, either. They’ll believe it when they see it.

“It’s like Brett Favre, right?” Hults said.

Reality will sink in at some point, and these players will all get to say they were part of Jagr’s final professional season.

“I could have never told you I would play with Jags, ever in my life,” Pietroniro said. “I would have laughed at you.”

Added Mendel: “You’re in the history books a little bit. It would be cool to get an assist or something on his last goal.”

Tralmaks seems to have a special appreciation for the moment he’s living in. On the night of this early October game, Tralmaks stayed at the rink until after the janitor left to talk about Jagr for an hour and a half. He also loves talking about him because it forces him to reflect on how special these days are, even the seemingly mundane moments.

Recently, Jagr and Tralmaks were the last two players at the rink shooting the breeze, so there was no food left. Jagr asked Tralmaks if he wanted to go to McDonald’s. They walked in and the cashier was dumbfounded to see Jaromir Jagr in a McDonald’s at almost midnight. Everyone in the restaurant was staring. For Tralmaks, it was just another night with his friend, talking about hockey and life.

“I would love to have a picture of that night,” Tralmaks. “That would go on my wall.”

Tralmaks will always have highlight tapes and Jagr’s lively Instagram account to remember the hockey moments. But he knows it’s those little memories away from the ice that will come flashing back for years when Jagr is done.

“I just hope he doesn’t forget me in five or 10 years, so I can be like, ‘Hey Jags, how’s it going?’”

(Photo illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletic; photo: CTK via AP Images)