Sunday, February 10, 2002
Slovaks shut down
By BRUCE GARRIOCH -- Team Sun
SALT LAKE CITY -- The darkhorse in the Olympic hockey tournament came up lame.
A complicated plan by Slovakia general manager Peter Stastny to juggle his roster to make room for NHL players in the Olympic Games blew up last night as his club dropped a shocking 3-0 decision to Germany in the opener of the preliminary round.
Unable to beat German goaltender Marc Seliger after peppering him with 29 shots, Slovakia had only 16 players on the bench -- including four NHLers -- but they also came up short on the scoreboard.
"We couldn't score and that's a (bleeping) joke," said Atlanta Thrashers forward Lubos Bartecko, who arrived here hours before the game yesterday. "You've got to score goals if you're going to win these games and we couldn't get it done.
"It's tough. You've got guys who played last night, they're coming in here with no rest and it's a tough situation to be in. That's hard for us to take. I don't know who makes the decisions, but the system isn't fair."
The Slovaks will have a fresh batch of players against the Latvians today, who will be without goalie Arturs Irbe. The Ottawa Senators' Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara, along with the St. Louis Blues' Pavol Demitra and Boston Bruins' Jozef Stumpel, arrive today.
But if the Slovaks want to have the Washington Capitals' Peter Bondra play Tuesday against Austria, it's possible one of those four players will be scratched tonight because Stastny may have to leave a spot open on his 23-man roster.
What will be interesting to watch is the use of Los Angeles Kings winger Ziggy Palffy. The agreement with the Kings was that Palffy wouldn't play yesterday, but that plan was thrown out the window. He sat on the bench until midway through the second period when Slovakia was down 2-0.
Palffy didn't even have a helmet on until the Germans took control of the game and that's when the philosophy changed. It's believed Palffy made the decision to play.
"We were down 2-0 in a game that we had to win no matter what," Palffy said. "But you guys aren't going to tell (Kings general manager) Dave Taylor I played, so he's not going to know it. We needed to win that game."
However, Taylor did find out, and wasn't amused, calling Stastny during the game to complain.
"That was not my understanding (that Palffy was going to play)," Taylor said. "It is very disappointing."
Palffy will re-join the Kings Monday for a game against the Dallas Stars. He has the potential to play five games in five nights, and Slovakia needed the firepower.
Still, all hope is not dead for Slovakia. Yes, they nearly missed the roster filing deadline before getting a special ruling from the International Ice Hockey Federation, but if they win tonight Latvia and Germany still have to play each other which could impact the overall standings. Eight teams, including Slovakia, play three games in the tournament's round robin to determine which two teams qualify for the men's final round.
The Germans were thrilled to win.
"Our goalie played great," German defenceman Erich Goldmann said. "The one thing we talked about before the game was making sure we limited their chances. We did a good job and he made the saves. That was the difference."
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
