Czech ice hockey star Jaromir Jagr announced Sunday he was calling time on his international career after his team lost 3-0 to Sweden in the bronze medal match of the world championships in Minsk.
The 42-year-old New Jersey Devils right wing said he would not play for the national side next season, even though the worlds will take place at home in Prague and Ostrava.
“That was my last game for the Czech Republic,” Jagr said after the defeat, which left the former six-time world champions empty-handed for the second straight worlds.
“I’ll be back to play in the NHL next year, but I won’t play for my country again.”
Jagr won the Olympic gold medal in 1998 in Nagano along with two Stanley Cups in 1991-92 and two world crowns during his career.
The Czech flag bearer at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, he finished the world championship in Minsk as his team’s top scorer with four goals and four assists.
He has played in the NHL since joining the Pittsburg Penguins in 1990, going on to play for the Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars and the Boston Bruins, before signing for the New Jersey Devils last year.