Tragedy strikes the tight group of friends known as 'The Traveling Jagrs'

If you've never heard of 'The Travelling Jagrs', buckle up. You're in for a treat.

The group of friends from Calgary, Alberta have followed NHL superstar and future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr for years now in his pro hockey exploits, traveling across the words to watch $68 play. The best part? They all don classic Jagr mullet wigs and wear jerseys from each of the 9 NHL teams he has suited up for, plus a 10th for his native Czech national team.

Six years ago in 2017 when Jagr played his final NHL game, people thought that the jig was up and that the 'Traveling Jagrs' would have to call it quits. Not so, though.

“Everybody is talking about lemons and we’re making lemonade,” Trevor Freeman, a ringleader of the group, told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis back in 2017. Freeman, known as "Dallas Jagr" because he wore the future Hall of Famer’s Stars jersey, said, “We’re going to regroup. The plan for a Czech tour was always in the works because we knew he would eventually end up finishing his playing days there.”

Last month, the boys finally made it happen. They made their pilgrimage to Kladno in Czechia to watch their namesake leader play for his hometown Kladno Knights. It was a bittersweet moment for this tight knit group of friends though. Freeman was unable to travel with his compatriots as he was suffering from late stage lung cancer. Tragically, Freeman passed away at home while his friends were on their penultimate trip.

“This was meant to be for him,” said Tylor Keller 'Rangers Jagr', who is Freeman’s cousin, said Tuesday night from Prague. “To go to Czech Republic as Jagrs, I was crying the whole trip. He created this, he wanted this. He wanted to come and coach, but it couldn’t happen.”

What did happen though is the boys celebrated their friends life with the man whose approval he sought so dearly. The boys got to meet Jagr in Kladno and shared the tragic story of their friend's passing. "He remembered Trevor", Keller said, "and expressed his condolences."

With their Czech journey now over the boys have just one more gathering planned for the future: Jagr's eventual Hall of Fame induction.

“We need to be there,” Keller said.

Amen.