Jagr Says He Made ‘Mistakes’ Gambling

Jaromir Jagr acknowledged Wednesday that he made mistakes when he lost $500,000 betting through an Internet gambling site, but he insisted he paid the debt four years ago and did nothing illegal.

“It was 1998, and I made mistakes,” Jagr told reporters after the Washington Capitals’ practice. “I just wasn’t smart. It was stupid. It wasn’t illegal, and it was five years ago. Everything was taken care of in 1999. That’s all I can tell you.”

Jagr owed the money to William Caesar, owner of the gambling Web site CaribSports, based in Belize. Sports Illustrated reported that Jagr agreed to pay $450,000, split into monthly payments, to settle the debt -- and that Caesar leaked the story after Jagr stopped making the payments.

Jagr disputed that part of the magazine’s story, reiterating that the debt was settled in 1999, and that he didn’t know why the story was coming out now.

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Dallas Stars’ forward Scott Young was suspended for two games by the NHL for hitting Jaroslav Spacek in the face with his stick.... Phoenix Coyote forward Andrei Nazarov was suspended two games for receiving a match penalty after elbowing San Jose’s Dan McGillis in the jaw, but served the second game of that punishment Wednesday against Detroit.