Former NHL All-Star Jaromir Jagr has looked dominant in the 2010 Olympic Games for the Czech Republic, but is the 38-year-old winger ready for a return to the NHL next season?
He seems to think so and is pondering the notion after his two-year contract with Avangard Omsk of Russia's Kontinental Hockey League expires this year.
"NHL is a special League, no question about it. It has a lot of history and I think I was playing 18 years in the NHL and then I decided I am going to go back to Russia, and I can not say anything about my decision because I said I am not going to look back," Jagr told NHL.com. "I'm just going to finish my contract there and then I am going to make a decision what I'm going to do next. But they treat me so well in Russia that it would be tough to leave them. On the other side, I want to maybe try to come [to the NHL]."
He even thinks he'll be better now than when he left the league as a New York Ranger.
"Guys, it's not easy to play there," Jagr said. "You practice a lot harder than in the NHL. On the big ice you have to skate. I play a lot on the big ice. Sometimes I will play on two lines. I think if I decided to come back, I'm think I'm going to be a better player than before I left."
"I think after those two years I spent in Russia I'm going to be a better player than I was before I left," Jagr added. "I know that. I found that out the year during the lockout. I was playing the whole year in Russia and I came back and I had probably the best year I had in New York."
