Olympic Preview #6

Today's Olympic Competitor: Team Jaromir Jagr

So that is a bit of a hyperbole, as the Czech Republic boasts numerous other impressive forwards of varying age. From the 2006 roster, some players who are likely to make a return to the team include Patrik Elias, Martin Erat, Milan Hejduk, Ales Hemsky, Jaromir Jagr, Rostislav Oleszn David Vyborny, and Ales Kotalik. Any lineup with this many stars is not only well balanced, but as with Teemu Selanne in my last recap, Jaromir Jagr is old, but still has the skills to take over a game all on his own. The addition of newer players such as Michael Frolik and Tomas Fleischmann can only help this team.

Defensively, this team has aged a lot since 2006, and while the Kaberle brothers are still capable defensmen, this is probably an era for the Czechs where the defensive leaders will be named Spacek, Malik, and Zidlicky, though they may be in the positions of the two Kaberles for the 2014 olympics.

The goaltending for this team could be shaky. Tomas Vokoun is the only returner from the 2006 team, and really the only NHL goaltender who I recognized as a potential starter for this team.

All and all, this will be a good offensive team, but the defense could have some liablities, and the goaltending almost definately will. Look for them to survive the round robin, but not make it too far into the actual tournament.