Veteran Cup stars just being coy?
By AL STRACHAN -- Toronto Sun
At least when Team Canada goalie Roberto Luongo faces the Czech Republic tomorrow night, he won't have to worry about facing Jaromir Jagr.
Then again, maybe Martin Brodeur will. Who knows?
SWIRLING WITH RUMOURS
At the moment, the World Cup camps are swirling with rumours that may prove to be totally unfounded when the two teams battle tomorrow for a spot in the World Cup final.
But Jagr is believed to be suffering from a stomach-muscle injury and could be a game-time scratch. He didn't play in the third period of the Czechs' 6-1 victory over Sweden on Tuesday, but did make the trip to Canada.
He said yesterday he'll probably decide today whether he will play tomorrow.
Brodeur left the Air Canada Centre with his left hand bandaged yesterday, and reportedly incurred an injury stopping a Slovak shot on Wednesday. Like most of Canada's senior players, Brodeur did not practise yesterday.
Perhaps there's nothing to all this. Perhaps Jagr and Brodeur are just being coy. Such things have been known to happen around hockey teams.
Jagr did not practise with his teammates in the morning, a development which probably did not upset him in the least. Czech coach Vladimir Ruzicka, who is apparently demanding a lot more effort from his players than he ever exerted himself, put his team through a remarkably strenuous practice.
It almost looked like a punishment practice. However, there is a school of thought which holds that extreme physical activity is a good way to overcome the negative impact of jet lag.
If it works, if the Czechs play up to form, they'll provide a difficult test for the Canadians who probably still will be without Wade Redden, who has a shoulder injury.
Although Redden skated yesterday, team officials have not the slightest intention of rushing him, not only to err on the side of caution but also because there is no sense of urgency.
Management has been extremely impressed by the performances of Redden's replacement, Jay Bouwmeester.
There was never any doubt about Bouwmeester's talent.
He was a full-fledged phenom when he was playing junior hockey in Medicine Hat as a 15-year-old, and he was the third overall draft pick in 2002.
But it takes more than talent to excel at this level. It takes poise and maturity, and the coaching staff wasn't sure, since Bouwmeester is only 20, that he would be able to play under the kind of pressure that exists sudden-death elimination games at this level.
After all, through no fault of his own, Bouwmeester has never even appeared in a National Hockey League playoff game, let alone faced the seventh-game mentality that exists at this level of the World Cup.
But on Wednesday, he and defence partner Scott Hannan were regularly matched against the potentially explosive line of Marian Hossa, Ladislav Nagy and Pavel Demitra. And since Canada won 5-0, they obviously did their job well.
STRONG TEAM
So far, Team Canada has managed to overcome injuries without difficulty.
And even if Brodeur is out, which isn't likely, this is such a strong team that it'll probably be able to overcome his absence as well.
