Olympic Report: 2/20
Matt Bodenschatz | General Hockey (IIHF, Olympics, etc)
Feb 20, 01:02 PM | Hype this story!
Teemu Selanne becomes the leading scorer in Olympic history with a Friday afternoon assist, Jaromir Jagr continues to impress with another goal, and more.
Today’s Schedule
- Norway vs. Switzerland – 3:00 pm EST on MSNBC, V, SNET
- Latvia vs. Slovakia – 7:30 pm EST on MSNBC, RDS, SNET
- Germany vs. Belarus – 11:55 pm EST on MSNBC, TSN, V
Friday’s Results
Sweden defeats Belarus 4-2
- Sweden Goals: D. Sedin, D. Alfredsson 2 (PP, EV), J. Franzen
- Belarus Goals: D. Meleshko 2 (PP, EV)
Czech Republic defeats Latvia 5-2
- Czech Republic Goals: D. Krejci, T. Plekanec, J. Jagr, T. Kaberle (PPG), P. Elias (ENG)
- Latvia Goals: K. Sotnieks, G. Ankipans (PPG)
Finland defeats Germany 5-0
- Finland Goals: T. Ruutu (PPG), K. Timonen 2 (PPG), J. Ruutu, J. Pitkanen
- Germany Goals: N/A
Crucial Link
- Dejan Kovacevic: At The Olympics. Kovacevic does a liveblog for each game, then seeks out Penguins and ex-Penguins for post-game interviews. I highly recommend following his first-hand blog.
Selanne Sets Olympic Record
With an assist in Sweden’s 4-2 win Friday afternoon, Teemu Selanne moved out of a four-way tie for first place in all-time Olympic scoring and now holds the record on is own.
Selanne, who remains quite humble despite an amazing professional and Olympic career, has avoided talking about his accomplishment, but his coach didn’t.
“It’s very difficult to think he’s almost 40-years-old,” Finnish coach Jukka Jalonen said to NHL.com. “He plays like he’s 30-years-old. Great athlete. Great leader. Great person.”
Jagr Back To NHL?
It’s nearly impossible to overlook Jaromir Jagr in his first stint on North American ice in nearly two years.
Quite simply, the 38-year-old is rejuvenated and has a lot left to offer, both as an Olympian and a professional.
Yesterday, Jagr told NHL.com he’s pondering a return to the NHL, though he doesn’t want to look beyond his current two-year KHL contract, which expires this spring.
“NHL is a special League, no question about it. It has a lot of history and I think I was playing 18 years in the NHL and then I decided I am going to go back to Russia, and I can not say anything about my decision because I said I am not going to look back,” Jagr said. “I’m just going to finish my contract there and then I am going to make a decision what I’m going to do next. But they treat me so well in Russia that it would be tough to leave them. On the other side, I want to maybe try to come here.”
Comments
Pens1967
Feb 20, 02:27 PM
Would still love to see JJ finish his career in Pgh and get that 1600th career point, too.
Just out of curiosity, but there’s a picture of Malkin and Ovechkin standing together at the end of the SO loss to Slovakia and Malkin looks to be at least half a head taller than Ovechkin. So is Geno taller than listed or Ovechkin shorter? If they are 6’3” and 6’2” respectively, it sure didn’t look like it.
Ray aka WildcatRay
Feb 20, 03:32 PM
One possibility is that one was on the ice and the other on the bench or something like that, but I did not see the picture/video so I cannot say.
As to Jogger :-)~ the P-G’s Molinari was asked about that. What he cautioned against was his past petulance and boorish behavior that got him traded to the Caps and then the Rangers. On a team with the likes of Crosby, Malkin, Gonchar, Staal & Fleury drawing the spotlight, how long before Jogger would begin chaffing under such circumstances?
Pens1967
Feb 20, 05:43 PM
Pic:
http://www.daylife.com/photo/09kW9VW5kD9yK
Matt Bodenschatz
Feb 20, 07:13 PM
@Ray, Jagr’s recent comments seem to indicate he’s much happier of late to be out of the spotlight, leaving others to do the heavy lifting. I plan to write on this later tonight or tomorrow, time permitting.
Pens1967
Feb 20, 08:20 PM
I agree. After all, Jags isn’t even the Czech team captain, Patrick Elias is.
Moq
Feb 20, 09:02 PM
To be honest, I think it’s embarrassing that some – or quite a few – Penguins fans lets the unfortunate Jagr exit overshadow what he’s done for the franchise.
If there’s even a remote chance to bring him back, then it’s worth pursuing. End of story.
Pens1967
Feb 20, 09:41 PM
By the time Jagr was traded, the whole team he’d won 2 Cups with had mostly been dismantled due to finances. I’ve just always interpreted Jagr’s comments as frustration with what was going on. Of course, it didn’t help that the media focused on only part of what Jagr said. It’s rarely been reported since in context which is why so many Penguin fans are now hostile to Jagr.
Pens1967
Feb 21, 06:23 AM
Looks like Sid and Geno have some old foes for new linemates. Mike Richards for Sid. Ovechkin AND Semin for Geno. :)
Nate
Feb 21, 08:54 AM
Uh-oh, looks like FF is starting to get spammed. I don’t think any of us need term papers written, do we?
Matt Bodenschatz
Feb 21, 10:54 AM
@Nate, taken care of!
Brock
Feb 21, 03:53 PM
Pens, that looks like a perspective issue. If Malkin is close enough to be out of focus in the image, it could be that Ovechkin is far enough away for it to just look like he’s shorter. The angle of the shot would just exacerbate the effect.
Ray aka WildcatRay
Feb 22, 08:50 AM
The Old-vetch-kin/Malkin photo could very well be about the photographic perspective. Malkin, being much closer to the camera—he is slightly out of focus compared to Old-vetch-kin—can appear much taller than Old-vetch-kin than he actually is.
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