With the Calgary Flames waiving Jaromir Jagr on Sunday it looks as though the 45-year old’s career could be over. While he had a productive 82-game, 46-point campaign with the Florida Panthers last year, his 22-game tenure with the Calgary Flames – his 9th NHL team – pointed towards the idea that Father Time had finally caught up to the ageless wonder.

1,733 games. Good for third all-time in NHL games played (Mark Messier played 1,756, and Gordie Howe holds the record with 1,767.) Jagr is currently 34 games short of the record, which is impressive considering he spent multiple full seasons playing overseas.

The man now sits 2nd all-time in NHL since he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

That was June 16, 1990

To put that into perspective, we’ve put together a list of what was going on in the world when Jagr’s unbelievably long NHL career began.

 

Music

  • Mariah Carey releases her debut album, Mariah Carey, four days before Jagr is drafted. Since appearing on the scene, she has won five Grammy Awards, 19 World Music Awards, 11 American Music Awards, and has also been married and divorced twice.
  • “U Can’t Touch This”, another ageless wonder released by MC Hammer, peaked at #8 on the on the Canadian charts the very day Jagr was drafted.
  • Noodle, the animated front-figure for the Gorillaz, was created a day after Jagr’s 12th career game. He had two assists.

 

Film

  • The first Home Alone was about to be released. The film now considered a Christmas classic, featuring Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, was released on November 16th, 1990 – Jagr scored a powerplay goal, assisted by Zarley Zalapski and Paul Coffey, in his 19th career game the night before.
  • Total Recall was released just two weeks before Jagr was drafted.

 

TV

  • The Simpsons released their first full length show in May of 1990, just a few weeks before Jagr was drafted. It is now the longest-running American sitcom
  • CBN renames itself The Family Channel on September 15, 1990.
  • Fresh Prince of Bel Air, the iconic 90's show starring Will Smith show, debuted in September of 1990 - Just two months after Jagr was drafted. 

 

Technology

  • The Macintosh Classic was first released on October 15, 1990. Jagr scored his second career NHL goal against the New York Islanders two nights earlier.
  • The Hubble Space Telescope, one of the most vital astronomical tools man has ever launched, was put into orbit less than two months before Jagr was drafted (April 24, 1990)
  • Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, wrote the first web browser computer program while Jagr was in his third month of NHL action.

 

Politics

  • Three days before Jagr was drafted, the world celebrated the first full year since the Berlin Wall fell (June 13th, 1990)
  • George Bush was President of the United States. Not to be confused with his son, George W. Bush.
  • Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister of Canada
  • Nelson Mandela was released from prison just four months before Jagr was drafted. He since became one of the most iconic political figures of all-time before his death in 2013.

 

Births

  • John Tavares, one of the top NHLers in the game, was born less than one month before Jagr’s debut (September 20, 1990)
  • Caroline Wozniacki, who just won the Australian Open and returned to number one on the ATP rankings, was born just less than a month after Jagr was drafted (July 11, 1990)
  • Jrue Holiday, Starting point guard for the New Orleans Pelicans (June 12, 1990)
  • John Newman, singer of “Love Me Again”, was born on the same day Jagr was drafted.
  • Jennifer Lawrence, well known for her starring role in the Hunger Games, was born two months after Jagr was drafted (August 15, 1990)

 

Comics

  • Peter Parker: Spider-Man #1 debuted in August of 1990.
  • Harley Quinn, the infamous DC Character, was “born” on July 20th . Coincidentally, the actress that played her – Margot Robbie – was born on July  2, 1990.

 

Sports

  • The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Orlando Magic were not yet one year old. The Toronto Raptors, the Vancouver Grizzlies (now Memphis), and the New Orleans Pelicans were not yet teams.
  • Phil Mickelson won the U.S. Amateur title – he has since won 42 PGA events and 5 major championships. 
  • Rob Ramage was captain of the Leafs

 

Others drafted into the NHL in the same year

  • Owen Nolan, Keith Primeau, Martin Brodeur, Felix Potvin, Doug Weight, Geoff Sanderson, Sergei Zubov, Petr Bondra, Mike Ricci.

Notables:

  • Keith Tkachuk - Father of Matthew Tkachuk, one of Jagr's teammates this season
  • Wes McCauley - Current NHL referee