When they took on the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins debuted their new “Reverse Retro” jerseys featuring the logo the team wore from 1992-2002.
When Jason Zucker scored on a two-on-one with Evgeni Malkin in the first period, he broke out a celebration from the logo’s heyday.
He saluted like Jaromir Jagr did after scoring many of the 439 goals he racked up in 11 seasons with the Penguins.
Jason Zucker with the salute after giving the Pens the lead ???? #NHLonTNT pic.twitter.com/v7rzw4rXFm
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) November 2, 2022
In a video posted to his social media Thursday, Jagr made clear how he felt about Zucker’s gesture.
The Czech hockey legend approves.
“What about the salute Jason Zucker did when he scored?” Jagr said. “I was reading some comments. Some people like it. Some people don’t. I love it, and I feel like they show a lot of respect for our era, for our team, because we also had a lot of great players.
“So thank you, Penguins. Thank you, Jason. And by the way Jason, keep working on your shot because it wasn’t hard enough.”
Salute ???? pic.twitter.com/SgcSpG75if
— Jaromir Jagr (@68Jagr) November 3, 2022
Jagr, 50, has not played this season for the team he owns in the Czech Republic, but he has not announced his retirement yet either.
“The thing is, I’m more important right now for my team as an owner than as a player,” Jagr told NHL.com. “So it might change in a week, might change in a month, and I start practicing. But it was more important for me because we built a new arena. I didn’t have time to do it.”
Jagr had eight goals and 19 points in 43 games for the Kladno Knights last season.
