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Tuesday, December 04, 2001

Compiled by Dave Molinari

He is having a perfectly solid and respectable season, in a Jan Hrdina sort of way.He has put up six goals and five assists in 26 games. Contributes at each end of the ice and on special teams. Continues to be the Penguins' best faceoff man, winning 68 of 116.

Hrdina, it would seem, is the kind of guy who could be a valuable role player for the Czech Republic when that country defends its gold medal at the Salt Lake City Olympics in a few months.

Hrdina, though, figures the chances of him playing for his homeland in that tournament are about the same as those of him being a late addition to the Jamaican bobsled team. Perhaps a bit less.

"I have no chance," he said. "I've never played for a national team and I know the guys there, the coaches, have their [favorites]."

If cliques and politics don't snuff whatever chance Hrdina has of receiving an invitation, he insists he would accept it. Without reservation. Still, he doesn't plan to hover over the telephone until the final Olympic rosters are submitted to the International Ice Hockey Federation Dec. 22.

"I would [go]," he said. "But I just know I have no chance."

Center Robert Lang, the Penguins' best forward for most of this season, has played for the Czechs before. Was on the 1998 gold-medal team.

He hasn't been offered a spot on the 2002 squad yet. And, like Hrdina, hasn't devoted much time or energy to wondering where he'll spend the Olympic break.

"The [NHL] season is so long that it's really way, way back [in the mind]," Lang said. "It's not really a focus. Whatever happens, happens. It would be great but, I'll be honest, I've never really thought about it."

That doesn't mean he'll need much time to think if the invitation comes. Lang knows how he'll answer the question, even if no one from the Czech federation ever asks it.

"I would go," he said. "It's nice, a great honor and all that. I've played in two [Olympics]. We won the last one, so it was great. Obviously, it would be great if you get to go again and defend it but playing here and having a long, tough season here is really important."

Martin Straka already has a spot on the Czech team but will miss the Games because of a broken leg. Defenseman Josef Melichar is an extreme long shot to be added to the team.

Center Mario Lemieux has been named captain of Team Canada, while Alexei Kovalev and Darius Kasparaitis are on the Russian squad. Aleksey Morozov, who played for Russia in 1998, is a dark horse whose chances of being on the team will be influenced by whether prominent forwards like Sergei Fedorov and the Bure brothers, Pavel and Valeri, opt to participate.

Goalie Johan Hedberg seems a virtual lock to play for Sweden, and there's an outside possibility defenseman Hans Jonsson will join him. Konstantin Koltsov, the Penguins' No. 1 draft choice in 1999, is a logical choice for Belarus, although Penguins officials say they have no confirmation he'll be on the team.

Defenseman Janne Laukkanen likely will play for Finland if team officials can be convinced his surgically repaired knee won't be an issue by February.

Laukkanen has played in three Olympics -- 1992, '94 and '98 -- and doesn't hide his passion for the Games. Other players have a different perspective on their importance.

"It's just one tournament," Lang said. "I mean, it will be a great tournament, I'm sure, but I think the season is a lot more important than that."

Trivia question

Mario Lemieux has posted the three highest power-play point totals in franchise history, getting 80 twice and 79 once. Which Penguin, aside from Lemieux, had the highest single-season total? Answer at end.

Stick approval

Hockey players have been blaming their equipment for sabotaging scoring chances since long before the invention of artificial ice.

Countless thousands, upon shanking a shot or fanning on a pass with an empty net just a few feet in front of them, have reacted by glaring at their stick, then subjecting it to an intense examination. The kind pedestrians who have stumbled for no apparent reason give to the sidewalk behind them.

Left winger Dan LaCouture, conversely, actually credited his stick for making his second goal of the season possible.

LaCouture deflected an Ian Moran shot past Phoenix goalie Sean Burke early in the first period of the Penguins' 5-2 loss Saturday to the Coyotes and later insisted he wouldn't have gotten the goal if he hadn't changed stick blades after last season.

Running out of his brand of stick shafts and having to borrow one of Alexei Kovalev's helped, too.

"They're a lot stronger, and I feel like I have more control and accuracy on my shot," LaCouture said. "The stick I was using [Saturday] was a lot stronger than the other one. If I didn't have that stick ... it would have bounced right off my other one.

"This stick's a lot stronger. I had a good grip on it, it hit my stick and went in."

Family line

Rookie defenseman Josef Melichar didn't have to look far to find a player to pattern himself after as a boy in the Czech Republic.

He made a point of studying every move of Josef Melichar.

Not the Josef Melichar in his mirror. The one who played second-division hockey in his homeland. The one Melichar calls "Josef III." When he isn't calling him, "Dad," that is.

"They say it's hard to tell the difference between us," Melichar said. "My dad is a little smaller than me, but we skate the same way."

Melichar's father still appears alongside his son in an occasional exhibition, although it's impossible to predict how long that will continue.

If he hangs around long enough, the elder Melichar might be able to skate a couple of shifts alongside a budding 5-month old defenseman named Josef Melichar V.

Baby steps needed

When the American Hockey League season began last month, fans of the Penguins' Wilkes-Barre/Scranton minor-league team were wondering if the Baby Penguins would be able to repeat -- or even improve upon -- their remarkable run to the Calder Cup final last spring.

Now, with the team sputtering along with a 3-16-4-2 record, the only real question is why anyone would believe Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has a realistic shot at even qualifying for the playoffs.

Penguins General Manager Craig Patrick probably hasn't spent too much time pondering that, although he insists the Baby Penguins' plight isn't a valid cause for panic just yet.

"That's a concern, sure," he said. "But we think there's good enough personnel there to get into the playoffs and have another good run."

Patrick has a vested interest in seeing the Baby Penguins qualify for postseason play -- "It's a big part of [prospects'] development" -- and believes there are similarities between the challenges confronting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and those facing the Penguins.

"They're like we are," Patrick said. "They have nine new faces, and it's an adjustment. It takes time for everyone to get together, to understand what's going on."

Trivia answer

Defenseman Paul Coffey piled up 64 power-play points in the 1988-89 season, the most by any Penguin except Lemieux.