He dropped the ceremonial face-off, watched the Czech women’s final group-stage match against powerhouse Switzerland, and after the 7–4 victory took a selfie with the players. Jaromír Jágr delighted the Czech national team with his presence in the Brno arena and was amazed by the atmosphere that filled the hall. “There is usually atmosphere in hockey as well, but not like this. I must admit, it really surprised me. There were a lot of people — and above all, they cheered the entire time,” acknowledged one of the most famous Czech athletes.
Jágr also praised the quality of the match. “It was a great game — very entertaining, with a lot of goals,” he said after the match, which secured the Czech team first place in the group and a spot in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
“It must have been extremely demanding. The rink is quite large, they play with three lines and then shorten it to two, so the first line was basically on the field all the time. They were performing incredibly well. But running for a full minute shift after shift is no joke. So hats off to them,” he added.
It was Jágr’s first time watching floorball live. “I’ve seen it a few times on TV, but women’s floorball definitely for the first time. And I have to say — I like it. When someone is good, you can really see it. They can run past opponents, score beautiful goals… it was very enjoyable to watch. And of course I’ll keep cheering,” he promised ahead of the playoffs, which begin on Thursday in Ostrava.
Jágr also found many similarities with hockey. “There are plenty of one-on-one battles, and you have to protect the ball with your body — it’s exactly the same. It’s basically the style I played my whole life. So I think that if I wasn’t so heavy and if I could run, I might actually be quite good at this,” he laughed.
The Czech hockey legend believes the Czech women have a real chance to win a medal at the home World Floorball Championships. “If the girls give everything they have, they absolutely have a chance to win a medal this year,” he said — and urged fans to come support the team in person. “I believe they will come. Ostrava has a bigger arena, but I still think the fans will show up,” added Jaromír Jágr.