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NEW JERSEY
VS.
PITTSBURGH
COLORADO
VS.
ST. LOUIS
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Tuesday, May 22
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Jagr, Pens wonder ... What if? What next?
By Brian A. Shactman
ESPN.com
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- If Jaromir Jagr has truly played his final game with the Pittsburgh Penguins, it will be the end of a short-lived era.
|  | | Mario Lemieux, left, could only shake the Devils' hands after they held him to three assists in the series. |
After Tuesday's series-ending 4-2 loss to the Devils in the Eastern Conference finals, it was clear that Lemieux-Jagr of 2001 is far different than Lemieux-Jagr of the early '90s, when the duo won two Stanley Cups together.
Of course, Mario Lemieux was disappointed, but he found time to answer all the media questions and even greet a few fans. He talked more of the free agents he had to sign this offseason than of all the reasons his team fell three wins short of the Stanley Cup finals.
Lemieux spoke from a podium, distanced from his teammates -- the way it should be for an owner. Jagr, meanwhile, stood near the Zamboni entrance, separated from his teammates and his teammate/owner -- yet face-to-face with the microphones that wanted to know the team captain's thoughts on possibly leaving Pittsburgh.
"I have to do whatever the Pittsburgh Penguins want me to do," Jagr said. He has two years left on his contract worth $20 million and would have to play wherever the Penguins moved him if they decide to trade him.
"It's going to be difficult to keep everyone," Lemieux said.
Before addressing what Lemieux claimed was 19 pending free agents -- not including himself -- he said signing GM Craig Patrick was the first order of business: "My priority is to sign him to a long-term contract."
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Hlinka's future
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Rumors about the future of Penguins coach Ivan Hlinka weren't as prominent -- or as interesting -- as those involving Jaromir Jagr.
After Game 5, player/owner Mario Lemieux addressed both Hlinka's status and his view of Hlinka's performance this season, his first as an NHL head coach.
"Obviously, he did a good job under the circumstances," Lemieux said of Hlinka not only trying to coach a player who owns the team but also having public conflicts with Jagr, the team captain.
Since Alpo Suhonen stepped down as coach of the Blackhawks, the Czech-born Hlinka has been the only NHL coach not born in North America.
"I think him not being able to communicate with the players as well as other coaches thoughout the league and the media certainly hurt him a little bit," Lemieux said.
As far as Hlinka's future, Lemieux was clear, albeit a little coy.
"He has got a three-year deal. Two to go," Lemieux said. "As far as I know."
-- Brian A. Shactman, ESPN.com
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Throughout the Penguins' locker room, there was general agreement that the Devils simply were a better, healthier team. But there was no consensus of opinion about Jagr, who -- like Lemieux -- was held without a goal in the series.
"I hope not," said Ian Moran about the possibility of a Jagr trade. "I've played with him longer than I played with anyone else. It would be a shame if he went anywhere else. I hope, no matter what, he's in Pittsburgh because with a talent like that, he's arguably the best in the game."
Others were too worried about their own situations because most of the roster needs new contracts for next season. Some didn't know one way or the other.
"I'm not sure about my future, so I don't have any idea about Jaromir," said defenseman Darius Kasparaitis, who will become a restricted free agent July 1. Kasparaitis proved his value this postseason, playing with broken toes, scoring the series-clinching overtime goal against Buffalo, and defending with abandon.
Bob Boughner, who will be an unrestricted free agent and knows he might not be in Pittsburgh next season, doesn't think Jagr's future is only about money.
"He brought it on himself a little bit at the beginning of the year when he supposedly went in there and asked for a trade," said Boughner, referring to when Jagr asked Lemieux for a trade just before Lemieux announced his comeback in December. "If you're going to do that, you have to expect that (possibility)."
Now that the series with New Jersey is over, how much of a distraction was all the hoopla surrounding Jagr's future -- as well as his shoulder injury?
"That's his personal situation, and has nothing to do with the rest of the team, how we've responded and how we've played in the playoffs," Boughner said. "That was not even a factor in here."
It might not have been a factor to his teammates, but his uncertain future might have had an impact on Jagr himself. The regular-season scoring leader with 52 goals and 121 points went without a point against New Jersey and was a minus-3.
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| Jagr |
"The way I played, it was not because I was injured," Jagr said.
Whether it was Jagr's shoulder, his brooding attitude or the physical and stifling New Jersey team defense, he didn't perform anywhere near expectations in this series.
"He is the best player in the world, but he struggled," Lemieux said.
If this was, in fact, the final game Lemieux and Jagr played together, the final memories will be more of their absence than excellence. Bobby Holik and Scott Stevens -- as well as the drain of three consecutive OT games in the previous round -- rendered Lemieux (0-3-3) a non-factor, and neither Lemieux nor Jagr scored a goal in the series.
But the Devils took some credit for that.
"I think all the guys are real proud of the job they did," New Jersey's Brian Rafalski said. The 5-foot-9 defenseman had three goals and five assists in the series. "It's probably one of the best defensive efforts from a team against that caliber of players."
The possible final moments of a great run in Pittsburgh for Jagr might have coincided with the beginnings of a long NHL career for goalie Johan Hedberg, who came from the IHL's Manitoba Moose to become the Penguins' No. 1 goalie, backstopping two series victories.
"I dreamed about having the chance to get a couple of games to prove myself, and then, all of a sudden I was playing for the Stanley Cup," he said.
"Just amazing."
Almost as amazing as Jagr in a different uniform, Pittsburgh getting shut out twice in a row at home as the Pens did in Games 3 and 4, or Lemieux and Jagr getting shut out in the series.
But still, the Penguins were proud of what was a great playoff run by a No. 6 seed.
"Even before the playoffs started, people said we had a bad goalie, bad defense," Kasparaitis said. "We actually accomplished a lot. A lot of people didn't expect us to go this far."
Brian A. Shactman covers the NHL for ESPN.com. He can be reached at brian.shactman@espn.com.
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ALSO SEE
Devils storm out of East, into Stanley Cup finals
Lemieux's storybook season fizzles out against Devils
Forlorn Jagr ponders a future away from the Penguins
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