Blackhawks' Hossa marvels at veteran Jagr

Remember when we used cassette tapes and Walkmans to listen to music?

Or when President George Bush launched Operation Desert Storm?

Or when Magic Johnson announced he had HIV?

Or when the Bulls won their first NBA championship?

Amazingly, all those things were happening, or were about to happen, when Jaromir Jagr broke into the NHL during the 1990-91 season.

Twenty-six years later, the 44-year-old Jagr is on his eighth team and still going strong, a feat that the Blackhawks' Marian Hossa marvels at.

"You don't see many 44-year-olds skating around and playing world-class hockey," Hossa said before the Hawks played Jagr's Florida Panthers at the United Center on Tuesday. "He had such a great year last year and it's amazing what he's done."

Jagr is the third-oldest non-goalie to play in the NHL, behind only Gordie Howe (52) and Chris Chelios (48). He scored 27 times last season and ranks third all-time with 752 goals.

Hossa, who is off to a hot start with 11 goals and will turn 38 on Jan. 12, can't see playing as long as Jagr, saying "I'm a bunch of years younger than him."

Hossa, though, did admit he has more energy and drive this season thanks to a long off-season. The veteran winger is signed for four more seasons and while he won't even try to guess at a retirement date, he did say it's important that he keeps producing.

"It matters what level I'm playing at," Hossa said. "Right now if I wasn't playing at my level, I wouldn't probably enjoy it. If I'm playing at the level I feel like I'm playing, it's still fun."

Toews update:

Jonathan Toews did not play Tuesday against Florida, the third straight game the Blackhawks' captain has missed due to an upper-body body injury he suffered last Wednesday in San Jose.

Toews fell awkwardly along the boards in the second period and landed hard on his left shoulder. When the shift was over, he immediately raised his right hand, skated off the ice and did not return.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville used the "questionable" tag once again when asked if Toews could play Thursday against New Jersey. When pressed, Quenneville did not offer specifics on when Toews might return.

"Jonny wants to be out there in the worst way, so we'll do everything we can to get him back," Quenneville said.

Slap shots:

The Blackhawks and Penguins were the only teams who had three players with 20 or more points heading into Tuesday's games. For the Hawks, they are Patrick Kane (23), Artemi Panarin (21) and Artem Anisimov (20). … Kane's goal Saturday in Los Angeles was the 259th of his career and moved him past Bill Mosienko for eighth place in Hawks history. … Kane, who scored a career-high 46 goals last season, is on pace for 29.

He said it:

"This is a tremendous building. They have unbelievable fans and they've got a great hockey team. So I guess if you're going to coach your first NHL game, there's no better place than Chicago."

Florida's Tom Rowe, who took over for the recently fired Gerard Gallant

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