Brodeur, Jagr hurting
Will both be ready for semi?
 |
Team Canada goaltender Martin Brodeur makes a save against Team Slovakia during second period World Cup of Hockey Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2004 in Toronto. (CP PHOTO/Adrian Wyld) |
Both team Canada and the Czech Republic have stars who are not flickering as bright as they should right now.
Injury questions surrounding Canadian goalie Martin Brodeur and Czech sniper Jaromir Jagr swirled through the Air Canada Centre yesterday as the teams prepared to meet in tomorrow's sudden-death semi-final of the World Cup.
While the Canadians held an optional practice yesterday, Brodeur left the arena with his left catching hand heavily bandaged.
"It's still a little sensitive so we're just going to have it checked and make sure its fine," Brodeur said.
Brodeur was seen icing his left hand after Canada's 5-0 win over Slovakia Wednesday.
"It's probably just a big bruise," he said.
Jagr, meanwhile, has not been on the ice since sitting out the third period Tuesday of his team's 6-1 waxing of the Swedes. He'll test his upper body injury today before deciding if he'll face Canada.
"I'd like to play," he said. "I hurt my hip in our first game against Finland. I tried to compensate for it after that, and that kind of gave me a stomach (muscle) strain."
In any event, nobody inside the Team Canada dressing room is taking the Czechs for granted. This is a team that snoozed through the preliminary round but rebounded with a dominant effort against the Swedes.
The Czech lineup includes offensive NHL standouts Jagr, Martin Straka, Martin Havlat and Milan Hejduk. But more than just strong individual players, the Czechs play as a team once they come together.
"The skill level of those guys, well, there aren't too many countries that have more," defenceman Wade Redden said. "They're big, strong guys who can skate and handle the puck. They're a dangerous team."
The other question mark for tomorrow's game for Canada is Redden, who missed Wednesday's quarter-final game because of a sore left shoulder. Redden skated yesterday and is hopeful he'll play.
"It's a little restrictive," he said. "We're just trying to stay progressive with it and see how it reacts to different things (out on the ice)."
The decision on Redden will be a difficult one for coach Pat Quinn and his staff. If the Ottawa Senators standout returns to action, either Scott Hannan or Jay Bouwmeester will have to sit, and both have played very well.
As for Jagr, the Canadians believe he is dangerous no matter how sore he is and, when healthy, can be a game-breaker.
When told that Jagr didn't skate with his team yesterday, Ryan Smyth scoffed and said: "Hey neither did Mario (Lemieux). Rest is a weapon, that's what they say."
