Former NHL player Jaromir Jagr has decided that he will continue on playing for Kladno in the Czech Extraliga even as he approaches his 50th birthday celebration.

Jagr will turn 50 in February 2022, however he said that individuals are as yet anticipating that he should play — and to play well.

“It’s not easy anymore, believe me,” Jagr said Wednesday to The Hockey News. “… mostly during my profession, I felt that assuming I needed to score an objective, I would score. However, abruptly, this doesn’t work.

“At the same time, people still expect it from me, and that’s probably the worst feeling, when people think I can but I know I can’t.”

Jagr said that he will keep on playing since it’s his “obligation” as the proprietor of Kladno and he fears that the club may close down on the off chance that he resigns.

“I have an obligation to the club, else I wouldn’t fly here and I wouldn’t make a nitwit of myself. In any case, on the off chance that I quit, the accomplices and patrons would leave and the club might be finished. I must choose between limited options.”

The 49-year-old forward said that on top of the responsibility of being the proprietor of the club, he’s likewise continuing to play for his dad, who gave the greater part responsibility for to him in 2011.

“As long as my father breathes, I take the club as my responsibility,” he said. “He held it for 20 years. As a son, I would be embarrassed if I left.”

Jagr played 24 seasons in the NHL. He got his start in the group when he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins as the No. 5 pick in 1990. He then, at that point proceeded to win consecutive Stanley Cups with the group in 1991 and ’92. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy as class MVP in 1998-99.

Jagr’s last year playing in the NHL was in the 2017-18 season when he suited for the Calgary Flames.