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TORONTO -- Jaromir Jagrs mullet is older than half of the players on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Anthony Hitchens Jersey .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. Jamal Custis Jersey . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. Andrew Wylie Jersey . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. http:///...rashad-fenton-jersey . DAmigo scored twice in regulation and added the shootout winner as the Toronto Marlies edged the San Antonio Rampage 5-4 in American Hockey League action. Its rare for a pitcher to win an MVP award.For the same pitcher to win it twice is almost unheard of.If the season ended now, Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers would have a good chance to do just that. With an 11-2 record and a 1.79 ERA, the left-hander is putting up numbers awfully similar to those of his MVP campaign in 2014. The big question now is how quickly he can come back from a back injury that landed him on the disabled list.In 2014, Kershaw became the first pitcher to win the National League MVP since Bob Gibson in 1968. It isnt exactly common in the AL either, and for one pitcher to win twice in three years would be a staggering achievement. Since the MVP was first awarded by the BBWAA in 1931, only two pitchers have won the award more than once. Hal Newhouser took AL honors in 1944 and 1945, and Carl Hubbell won the NL version in 1933 and 1936.Both those players did it before there was a Cy Young Award for pitchers to win. So Kershaw faces an additional obstacle: Now that pitchers have their own award, theres always a debate over whether they should have a chance to be the MVP as well.Working in Kershaws favor is the fact that no position player in the NL has emerged in the way Bryce Harper did last year, when he won MVP honors. Among NL position players in 2016, the best candidates might be batting leader Daniel Murphy or home run leader Kris Bryant. Neither is having the type of transcendent year that would keep Kershaw out of the conversation.Heres a look at some other major award races:NL Cy Young: Its still possible for Kershaw to miss out on the MVP and the Cy Young. He has plenty of competition for the latter, be it from San Franciscos duo of Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto or Jose Fernandez of Miami. And then theres Stephen Strasburg of Washington, who is 12-0 with a 2. Darius Harris Jersey. 62 ERA.AL MVP: Josh Donaldson of Toronto edged Mike Trout of Los Angeles for this award last year, and they might finish 1-2 again. Like in 2015, Donaldsons team is playing better than Trouts -- which could swing the race in the Toronto sluggers favor.AL Cy Young: Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox has the eye-opening record (14-3) but his 3.38 ERA is high enough to leave the door open for other candidates. Oaklands Rich Hill is 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA, but hes thrown only 76 innings. Clevelands Danny Salazar could also factor into this wide open race, and there might even be room for a reliever to make a case -- Baltimores Zach Britton has 27 saves and an 0.72 ERA.Here are a few other developments from around baseball this past week:STRUGGLING CHAMPSThe Kansas City Royals lost arguably their most intimidating player when closer Wade Davis went on the disabled list with a strained right forearm. Davis is 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 19 saves -- and thats actually a higher ERA than he had in 2014 or 2015. Kansas City is tied for third in the AL Central, seven games out of first place. The Royals are also 4 1/2 games out of a wild card.FANTASY FOCUSSpeaking of injured closers, Boston lost Craig Kimbrel to a knee problem, and the Red Sox acquired Brad Ziegler from Arizona to fill in. Ziegler is expected to share closing duties with Koji Uehara.LINE OF THE WEEKYasmani Grandal of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit three home runs and had six RBI in a 10-6 win over San Diego on Friday night. He became the third Dodgers catcher to hit three homers in a game, joining Mike Piazza and Roy Campanella.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister Wholeslae Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys ' ' '