45-year-old Jagr put on waivers by Flames

In what could spell the end of his illustrious NHL career, Jaromir Jagr was placed on waivers by the Calgary Flames.

Two people with direct knowledge of the move confirmed it to the Associated Press. The second-leading scorer in league history is on regular waivers, though one person told the AP that if Jagr, 45, clears, he will be placed on unconditional waivers Monday for the purpose of terminating his NHL contract so he can return to Europe to finish the season.

Calgary signed Jagr to a oneyear, $1 million deal with performance bonuses at the start of the season, and he made his Flames debut Oct. 11. Jagr had a goal and six assists in 22 games this season and has not played since Dec. 31 because of what the team called a lower-body injury. He went on injured reserve Jan. 14.

Jagr bounced around with the Flames, playing on the top line with stars Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan and with youngsters Sam Bennett and Mark Jankowski. The Czech native was in and out of the lineup because of injuries and couldn’t find a defined role.

Adjusting has been a part of Jagr’s journey as the fifth overall pick in 1990 through stints with nine NHL teams — the Penguins, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers and Flames. Despite spending three seasons in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, Jagr, who won two Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh (1991, ’92) is the active NHL leader with 1,733 games played, 766 goals, 1,555 assists and 1,921 points, and he is second only to Wayne Gretzky on the all-time scoring list. Cup slaloms at Lenzerheide, Switzerland, when she stunned her rivals by skiing off course with a lead of a full second in sight of the finish.

Shiffrin lost rhythm and balance going into a straight combination with six gates left, handing victory to Petra Vlhova of Slovakia in the last slalom before the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Originally listed as a “Did Not Finish” by race organizers, Shiffrin hiked back up the hill, paused and passed through the gate before skiing slowly down.

The American star was given 27th place, almost 14 seconds behind Vlhova, in her final World Cup race before going to South Korea.

After Shiffrin started 2018 with five consecutive victories in World Cup events, her winless streak is up to six.

Vlhova finished 0.10 seconds ahead of Frida Hansdotter of Sweden, and 0.52 clear of thirdplaced Wendy Holdener of Switzerland.

Shiffrin retains her big leads in the World Cup overall and slalom standings.