Thursday, February 18, 2010

Go Czechs!!!! Sweet 3-1 Olympic victory over Slovakia!

These men make me so proud!
We Czechs have a passion for ice hockey and it has been a tradition of ours from the turn of the 20th century.  It was played quite differently then though...would you ever associate a ball and a golf-like swing with ice hockey?!  Nor would I, but that's how it was played in the very beginning when the Czech lands were still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  The game was then known as "bandy hokej" and skaters would hit the ball down the ice with a golf-like swing.   Hard to imagine, huh?   

Today's New York Times reports...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — It was a thrilling, nonstop celebration of hockey amid a festive atmosphere that felt like a holiday in Prague or Bratislava, and it provided a glimpse of why this Olympic tournament is expected to be the greatest in the history of the game.

In the Czech Republic’s 3-1 victory over their Slovak neighbors here on Wednesday night, the biggest, most fabulous star of the show was Jaromir Jagr, the former N.H.L. great and now the marquee name for the Russian K.H.L., who dazzled like he did in his youth even though he has just turned 38.

Jagr scored the go-ahead goal on a breakaway and set up the insurance goal. He swooped hawk-like across the ice, stole the puck and created constant goalmouth havoc on almost every shift.

He was terrific from the start of the game, even though he claimed that he was a little overwhelmed by the high level of competition.

“It was hard making the adjustment,” he said. “In the first period I felt like a soldier in Iraq. I didn’t know where the shots were coming from. It was tough, but I survived.”
Photo by Hans Deryk/Reuters
Jaromir Jagr of the Czech Republic scoring on goaltender Jaroslav Halak of Slovakia.

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