Jagr Impressed With Flyers' Mental Toughness

WASHINGTON – Jaromir Jagr has been around a long time, and has won two Stanley Cups while scoring 656 goals. Jagr is not easily impressed, but one could tell how highly he thought of the Flyers effort in Tuesday's convincing 5-1 win over the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center.

It appears as if every Flyer, including Jagr, was wondering how the team would react to the news on Tuesday that Claude Giroux would be out indefinitely with a concussion.

Giroux has such respect in the locker room and the players appeared to use his injury as a rallying cry.

"it was a big win," said Jagr, who assisted on the game's first goal by Scott Hartnell.

How big?

"We lost the best player in the league and it is not easy to win without him," Jagr said. "Hopefully we will play this way until he comes back."

The Flyers continue to show a mental toughness that has earned them the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The two most difficult things to do are win when missing key players and to win on the road.

The Flyers so far are 2 for 2 in that aspect.

They are now 11-3-1 on the road. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Flyers have never had 11 wins in their first 15 road games before this season.

Jagr has seen a lot and he seems to be enjoying this Flyers team, one that doesn't get rattled very easily.

Counting Tuesday's win, the Flyers are in a stretch of playing seven of their next eight on the road and the lone home game is against defending Stanley Cup champion Boston.

"The next two weeks we play so many great teams on the road, plus a home game against the champions," Jagr said. "Plus you lose Giroux and (Chris) Pronger. This will be kind of the next challenge for us."

It's a challenge that Jagr seems to enjoy. Not only has he enjoyed his brief time in Philadelphia, but Jagr admires the mental makeup of this team.

"What we've done says a lot about our team," Jagr said.

The Flyers have won while injured and won on a road. And most of all, they have won over a veteran like Jagr, who is enjoying how his new teammates go about their business, along with the accompanying results.