Czechs Cash In on Jagr’s Birthday

Germany, the surprise qualifier of the Olympic hockey tournament, learned two things about the defending champion Czech Republic at the Peaks Ice Arena here Friday night:

* Don’t play Jaromir Jagr on his birthday.

* Don’t give the Czechs any power plays.

The Germans, who had sailed into the final round with qualifying victories over Slovakia, Austria and Latvia, couldn’t have been knocked any flatter by the Zamboni than they were by the Czechs, who scored early and often in their Olympic opener, a rousing 8-2 success in Group C.

Jagr, the five-time NHL scoring champion who has been having a so-so season with the Washington Capitals, looked very much like his old self as he turned 30, scoring twice and getting a couple of assists.

And goalie Dominik Hasek, who powered the Czechs to their surprising triumph in Nagano, blanking Canada in their semifinal shootout, then shutting out the Russians for the gold medal in a 1-0 thriller, was on his game in the big international rink, stopping 18 of the Germans’ 20 shots.

“He’s probably the best goalie in the world,” said Germany’s Marco Sturm, who plays against Hasek in the NHL, Sturm with the San Jose Sharks, Hasek with the Detroit Redwings. “That’s why I think no matter what team he for plays for is good.”

German goalies Christian Kunast and Marc Seliger, meanwhile, found out what it’s like to play against NHL-caliber players.

Kunast started in goal, gave up the first four Czech goals, two of them on power plays, then gave way to Seliger midway through the second period.

Seliger fared no better, giving up a power-play goal three minutes after stepping into the crease.

Altogether, the efficient Czechs scored four times on the power play, in five opportunities, getting things rolling on a goal by Jagr only a second before the first penalty of the game was over, beating Kunast from the right face-off circle.

“We watched Germany the last two games, and they play very disciplined hockey,” Jagr said.

“It was important for us to get off to a good start, and we wanted to be sure we scored the first goal, because if you don’t, they can be a very dangerous team.”

Not nearly as dangerous as a fired-up Jagr, however.

“Everybody says, when you have your birthday, it should be your easiest day to play,” he said. “I feel pretty good today.”

The victory set the Czech Republic up for a game Sunday against Sweden, which earlier in the day had upset favored Canada, 5-2, as much a shock to Jagr as to everyone else.

“Of course I’m surprised,” he said. “Canada, they have big names on the team and are supposed to be one of the favorites.

“But it’s the first game and everybody has to learn to play on a big rink, and it’s a big difference [from the smaller NHL rinks]. They’re going to be back. I know it, they’re going to be back.”

That might not be the case for Germany, which will face Canada next.

Germany’s Jochen Hecht said, “They expect to win gold and they lost big today, so they are going to come out flying Sunday and they want to make a big statement.”

However bad it might be facing the Canadians, it can’t be as bad as playing the Czechs, whose rooting section, when the score became 6-1, began chanting, “Rub it in! Rub it in!”

Not wanting to offend a faithful rooting section, the Czechs obliged.