Penguins’ Jagr Wanted Trade Before Lemieux Announcement

A slumping Jaromir Jagr twice asked the Pittsburgh Penguins to trade him recently, was turned down, then rescinded his request after learning team owner Mario Lemieux was coming out of retirement.

Jagr, discouraged by his inability to score as he did in winning the last three NHL scoring titles, initially asked Lemieux to trade him about two weeks ago.

Lemieux said he wouldn’t, then gave Jagr the same answer several days later when Jagr asked again. It was then that Lemieux told Jagr he was planning to end his 3 1/2-year retirement and return to the Penguins this season.

Lemieux also told Jagr he wouldn’t take away Jagr’s captaincy because “he’s our leader.”

“I love to play with Jagr,” Lemieux said. “We’ve played before, and the chemistry is there. I think we play alike. . . . [When] I talked to him about my comeback a couple of weeks ago, obviously, he was very excited. And I think he has been playing better since then.

“He’s gone through some emotional times the past couple of weeks, but he’s starting to get a lot better.”

Lemieux told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Jagr’s trade request was made out of frustration and that he never considered trading Jagr.

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The New York Islanders, who have won only two of their last 16 games, will be without leading scorer Brad Isbister for four to six weeks after he underwent surgery to repair a broken jaw. Isbister suffered the injury Tuesday, when he was hit in the mouth by a puck in the first period of a 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals. . . . The Capitals rewarded left wing Steve Konowalchuk for his offensive exploits this year by signing him to a four-year, $6.15-million contract. . . . NHL teams were warned that they could face lawsuits unless they pay more for European players. Rene Fasel, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, said European clubs may sue NHL franchises to try to recoup some of the cost of developing players later lured to North America.