During JagrWatch Wednesday, Penguins fans overreacted rather absurdly to Jaromir Jagr’s possible return to the Pens, spouting every possible rumor about the aging forward’s whereabouts. Overreaction or not, though, Jagr’s return would have made a lot of sense for all concerned – the Penguins and their fans would have gotten to celebrate an important player from the franchise’s history, and Jagr would have gotten to bask in the glory of a fanbase that was, frankly, way too into him, while also capping his career with a storybook ending.
It wasn’t to be, as the news broke on Friday that Jagr was actually signing with the Pens’ divisional rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers. After all the energy they’d put into JagrWatch, this qualifies as a huge snub, and it’s going to be deafening when Jagr enters Consol Energy Center later this year with Flyers gear on.
Here’s a sampling of Penguins’ fans Twitter responses to the news.
Now I know how George Washington and the Continental Army felt. #BenedictArnold #Jagr #jagrwatch #LetsGoPens
If Jagr thought he was boo’d stepping on the ice in a #Caps or #NYR sweater, he better bring earplugs for this season.
Jagr just trolled Pittsburgh pretty hard.
Jagr just out LeBron-James LeBron James
#jagrwatch had turned into #jagrwatchout
These are all from the last 10 minutes. Enjoy Philadelphia, Jaromir.