Jaromir Jagr is 39 years old.  Someone making a late-career comeback always worries me, mostly because I like to see great players go out with style.  So when I first heard Jagr was coming back, I cringed.  I didn’t really care that he went to the Flyers – he’s already gone to the Caps and Rangers, how many more times could he hurt me?  The only interest I had was seeing if Philly made a mistake, because I do like to see the Flyers embarrassed.

Whoever gave us bangs should pay for this mistake.

But I want this to be the one that works.  Call it the mullet effect, or the fact that he’s the only person on Earth whose hair looked worse than mine in 1991.  As we get older and everyone we used to love retires, watching Jagr play makes me feel like a little kid again.

The first seven Flyers games came and went with people holding their breath.  He can skate, he can pass.  But can Jagr still score at this level, with the flair of 20 (yes, 20!) years ago?  Well he scored his first and second goals of the season last night, and they are beauties:

Don’t mind me while I split this defense.

Don’t mind me while I nail this breakaway.

He has 5 assists to go along with his 2 goals, putting him 27th in the NHL for points.  It’s only been 3 weeks and time will tell if age and non-NHL training can keep up with a grueling season.  But so far… I’m pretty of impressed.  And not just by how much better we both look now.