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TORONTO -- Jaromir Jagrs mullet is older than half of the players on the Toronto Maple Leafs.No, seriously.Jagr, now with the Florida Panthers, played his first NHL game on Oct. 5, 1990. Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri was born the very next day. And at 26, hes one of Torontos veterans these days. Budding star Auston Matthews is 19; William Nylander is 20. In all, a dozen players on the Leafs current roster were born after Jagr made his NHL debut.But to be honest, when the 44-year-old Czech legend looks around, thats pretty much what hes seeing almost every night in the NHL these days.The invasion of youth around the NHL is truly the story of the hour.A lot of young guys are playing in the league and theyre getting opportunities, Jagr, gray-specked mullet wrapped up in a bun, told ESPN.com Wednesday after practice. Back then, there were so many good young players, too, but they just didnt get a chance.Well, he should know. He was there. He lived it as a teenage rookie in the NHL. Except Jagr was one of the few 18-year-olds who cracked an NHL roster in those days. Now, its commonplace.Unless you were drafted top-five in the world, I dont think you had a chance in your first year back then, in my opinion, said Jagr, the fifth overall pick in 1990. It doesnt mean they were bad players, its just that they didnt get a chance. It was a different game. It was a different style. But you had to get older to get your turn. Same with the money; you had to earn it [as players got older]. Same with the opportunity. It was different.The difference was the way in which the game was played, Jagr added.You needed strength back then. You didnt have to be quick; you had to be strong to play in that league back then, said Jagr. You dont have strength when youre 18. You have speed when youre 18. But you dont have strength. So you had to wait back then for a little bit. Now, because the game has changed, its more about the speed, so theres more opportunities for the guys. When youre 18, youre quick.Jagr truly is a rare specimen, an elite talent who has been able to adapt and thrive in a few different eras of the NHL. He had the physical strength as an 18-year-old to break through in 1990 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, plus the incredible hands and vision in his prime years to dominate the NHL, and now the smarts and regimented physical work habits to still have an impact while nearing his mid-40s.His durability is even more impressive, given how young the league is trending in the last few years.Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo -- who broke into the league in 1999 as a 20-year-old goalie with the New York Islanders -- smiles when asked about the kids taking over the league.It reminds me that Im old, said Luongo, 37. But its nice to see the game evolve. Its a faster game and a more skilled game.Luongo points to how prospects hone their individual skills with specialty coaching.Now everybody as a kid works on skills; theyve got private lessons and all that kind of stuff. I think thats why you see more and more kids come up that are ready at 18 and 19 years old to play, said Luongo. Because they have a skill set thats pretty high. Its nice to see the game evolve in that direction.Wholesale Coyotes Jerseys . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Cheap Arizona Coyotes Jerseys . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. http://www.cheapcoyotesjerseys.com/ . Ivanovic was leading 7-5, 1-0 when Hantuchova withdrew after falling 0-40 behind in the second game. The match started slowly for Ivanovic, who surrendered her first two serves as Hantuchova took a 5-3 lead. Cheap Coyotes Jerseys China . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. Cheap Coyotes Jerseys Authentic . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue.What is Tino Best most famous for? The title of his autobiography, Mind the Windows, suggests that Andrew Flintoffs cheeky sledge about Bests batting - he was stumped giving Ashley Giles the charge at Lords in 2004, as West Indies attempted to see out the final day of the Test for a draw - takes the prize.Then again, his 95 against England at Edgbaston in 2012 was also pretty memorable. Best briefly held the record for the highest score by a No. 11 in Tests, until Australias Ashton Agar - a number six, not a number eleven, Best grouses - waltzed his way to 98 the following summer. More recently, thanks to the serialisation of one of the chapters from his book, entitled The Playboy Lifestyle, he came to attention for his love of maidens. No, not that kind. As he writes: I was a man whore.There are many reasons to remember the name Tino la Bertram Best - not least because of that distinctive, flamboyant la Bertram in the middle, which Best claims means the greatest. Sadly his bowling is not right at the top of the list; and that really is a shame, given that, for a time at least, he was one of the quickest going around.Despite his relative lack of success at international level, it is impossible not to warm to Best and be impressed by his life story. Inspired by his uncle, the West Indies batsman Carlisle Best, and the example set by his mother and four aunts, Best overcame the apparent disadvantage of being 5ft 8in to open the bowling for Barbados - for whom he has an excellent record - and then West Indies. Capable of getting it through above 95mph, he rubbed shoulders with Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar in crickets fast lane.Growing up without the influence of his father, who struggled with drug addiction and never saw Best play for West Indies, he overcame rejection at the start of his career, having turned up late for a trial with Barbados Under-19s. Although he wanted to be like Uncle Carlisle - who hooked his third ball in Tests for six and scored 164 against England in Bridgetown in 1990 - Best discovered he could bowl at the sort of speed revered around the Caribbean as pace like fire.In his own, inimitable, words: I was as fast as a raccoon. Hard work in the gym, and on the army base that provided his early employment outside of cricket, meant Best was soon being talked about beyond his native island. He was, however, a Ferrari without a steering wheel, and it would not be long before he sped off course at one of the many bends in the road encountered over a 15-year career.After being called up to face Australia at the age of 21, he experienced the unique difficulties involved with representing a collection of countries under one flag. West Indies players are all from different nations, with different cultures and from different backgrounds, making team spirit harder to build. The fact that he saw Ricky Ponting dropped off his bowling by Shivnarine Chanderpaul - in tthe gully, where Best observes thered be no way his Barbados team-mate Sulieman Benn would have missed the chance - on his first day in Test cricket did not help.dddddddddddd It was my first big international match and I felt lonely.There was also the expectation that came with being a quick bowler from a lineage as rich as West Indies. It was more than a year later that Best bagged his first Test wicket - Englands Graeme Thorpe, caught at long leg attempting to hook, at Sabina Park - and his first crack at international cricket seemed to bring rewards inversely proportional to the effort Best put in. People said I was the next Malcolm Marshall before Id even played a Test, he writes. I just wanted to be Tino Best. This was when Bests off-field performances overtook his impact with bat or ball for West Indies. A father himself at the age of 19, Best cheated on his childhood sweetheart and subsequently decided to enjoy the opportunities afforded by the lifestyle of an international athlete. On a tour of Australia, he was overlooked by the coach, Bennett King. But I was bowling fast - at night.It all comes across as slightly cringe-worthy, despite Bests winning smile and apparent good nature. He says hes a deeply religious man, and observes towards the books conclusion: Ive done a few things that God might not like in my time. He says he is beginning to think about settling down, which might come as a relief to those who prefer to enjoy Best bowling fast in the daytime.Bests career may have added up to 57 caps and 97 wickets for West Indies but his love for the game pours out, and he certainly left a mark - on Makhaya Ntini, who was struck by his pace as a net bowler on South Africas 2001 tour; on Flintoff, who provides the foreword to Mind the Windows; on Sachin Tendulkar, who faced Best in his final Test. Yorkshire fans will remember his lung-busting contributions, too, and there are affectionate mentions for his polar-opposites bowling partner, Steve Patterson, and former coach Martyn Moxon.Bests philosophy is summed up when he discusses missing out on what would have been a remarkable Test hundred in 2012, when he was caught trying to damage the windows again:I dont play cricket for records. I enjoy the game and want to make people happy. I want to be spectacular. I want to be awesome… Theres a place for consolidating and working round: thats cricket. But I am West Indian and I will be flamboyant. If Im on ninety nine, Ill try and hit a boundary to get to a hundred. Its just how I think the game should be played.Tino la Bertram Best wanted to be a great entertainer, and in many ways he succeeded. He should always be remembered for that.Mind the Windows: Tino Best - My Story By Tino Best and Jack Wilson John Blake Publishing 228 pages, ￡18.99 ' ' '