Russian Team Omsk Signs Jagr; Signals End Of NHL Career, Rangers Stint

Manhattan, N.Y. (AHN) - Jaromir Jagr is no longer a New York Ranger.

Russian team Avangard Omsk announced it signed future NHL hall of fame player to a contract Friday, one day after the Rangers informed Jagr he was no longer a part of the team's plans.

Although terms of the deal were not released, Jagr's signing makes him the biggest name to land in the Continental Hockey League and also ends his effective, if unspectacular, tenure in the Big Apple.

Jagr did not deliver on a championship, like Joe Namath with the New York Jets, but he did promise the team would make the playoffs when he arrived to the team via free agency in 2005.

Jagr helped the Rangers turn around their losing culture with a franchise-best 54 points and 123 points in 2005-06, helping propel the team into the playoffs for the first time in eight years.

Jagr's scoring dipped the following season, however, to 96 points (30 goals) and he dropped all the way to 71 points in 2007-08.

Jagr understood that by not notching at least 84 points this past season he put his Rangers career in doubt, as he would have automatically triggered a one-year contract extension.

"I can't say I regret anything that happened here. We didn't win the Stanley Cup, but there's a lot of luck that goes into that, too, even if you have a great team," Jagr told the New York Post. "Well, I guess I regret that I didn't get 84 points this season. If that had happened, I'd still be here."