Montreal's Jan Bulis will get to play for the Czech National team for the first time at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

Scoring outburst boosts
Bulis' stock
By John McGourty | NHL.com
Feb. 10, 2006

Jan Bulis was getting a little nervous, and so was his coach, Montreal Canadiens GM/coach Bob Gainey. Bulis had scored only two goals in January and six since Oct. 15. He wasn't doing what is expected of him -- score -- and his job in Montreal was on the line.

Plus, he's scheduled to play for the Czech National team for the first time, at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

"I played in those European tournaments with the Czech team last year in Sweden," Bulis said. "I played in three games with them before the World Championship. But in the big tournaments, yes, this is the first time I've been asked to play for our national team."

Bulis was disappointed, but not surprised, when Gainey told him he'd be a healthy scratch for the Jan. 25 game in Philadelphia. Bulis protested, and when he returned to the dressing room in the late afternoon, Gainey told him he'd be on a line with Niklas Sundstrom and Radek Bonk.

Bulis responded with the first four-goal game of his career in Montreal's 5-3 victory. The Canadiens had lost eight of their previous 11 games, a stretch in which Gainey decided to replace coach Claude Julien. Plus, Montreal had lost 16 of its past 17 games on the road and hadn't won away from home since beating Tampa Bay on Dec. 28.

"My first hat trick," Bulis said. "It took me nine years to get it. I had a little meeting with Bob and he told me he wasn't expecting me to play. I was upset. We talked and then I was playing."

The scoring spree made Bulis the center of postgame media attention and it lifted his spirits regarding the Olympics. Bulis, 27, has been a good player for a long time and probably a worthy candidate for Czech teams in the past, but a variety of obstacles prevented that.

"I came over to play North American juniors at Barrie, Ontario, at 16-years-old," Bulis explained. "At that time, the national junior team didn't take guys who were playing overseas. Now, that's changed and they are bringing over the players in the Canadian junior leagues. Before, they wouldn't do that. One year, I won a scoring title, but they wouldn't put me on the team for that reason."

Bulis also was happy to learn that Alois Hadamczik replaced former NHL star Vladimir "Rosie" Ruzicka as Czech coach.

"I think that's why I'm there this time and not before," Bulis explained. "I had problems with (Ruzicka) the past two years. Even last year, when I finished third in scoring in the Czech league with all the Czech guys playing there, and he never even called me. The change in coaches has helped me."

Bulis knows he won't be on the Czech's first line at Turin. That responsibility likely will go to Jaromir Jagr, Martin Rucinsky and Martin Straka, teammates on the New York Rangers, along with fellow Czech Olympians Marek Malik and rookie Petr Prucha, who was recently KO'ed from the Olympics by a knee injury. Bulis said the Czech Olympic team will benefit from the Rangers' season-long collaboration.

"I was talking to the national-team coach and he said that's what he's looking for. Those guys are going to be the main group and he'll build the team around that," Bulis said. "We have the best player in Jaromir Jagr and that's one of our strengths. I know all the guys on the team and I'm looking forward to playing with them for the Czech Republic. I think it's going to be a really good time."

"I know all the guys on the team and I'm looking forward to playing with them for the Czech Republic. I think it's going to be a really good time." -- Jan Bulis

Bulis knows that only Canada, with Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Marty Turco, comes close to rivaling the Czech goaltending trio of Dominik Hasek, Tomas Vokoun and Milan Hnilicka. He expects Hasek will start, but knows the team would feel comfortable in front of Vokoun. Hnilicka, a former NHL player with Atlanta, is back playing in the Czech Republic.

"We not only have Dominik Hasek, but also Tomas Vokoun," Bulis emphasized. "That's two goalies who are pretty hot right now and they are both No. 1 goalies in the NHL. I think Hasek will be our No. 1 goalie, but if he doesn't perform, we have a pretty good backup. I think we're pretty confident in our goaltending."

The Czech defense is excellent with Malik, the Kaberle brothers Frantisek and Tomas, Filip Kuba, Pavel Kubina, Jaroslav Spacek and Marek Zidlicky. But he knows it could have been a little stronger.

"I think our defense is very good too, a lot of good players, skill players," Bulis said. "The only thing that might hurt us there is that Jiri Fischer and Roman Hamrlik are not going and they are big guys. They add a tough presence that I think we'll be missing a little bit. Overall, I think we're in pretty good shape, even missing a couple of good players on the defense."

Eight Czech players remain from the team that won the 1998 gold medal at Nagano, Japan. They are Jagr, Hasek, Hnilicka, Spacek, Rucinsky, Straka, Robert Lang and Milan Hejduk. The Czechs were eliminated by Russia, 1-0, in the quarterfinals of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. They rebounded at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey when they took the eventual winner, Canada, to overtime in the semifinal game. Vokoun was outstanding at the World Cup.

Bulis said the Czechs are well stocked up front with Jagr, Straka, Rucinsky, Hejduk, Lang, Prucha, Petr Cajanek, Martin Erat, David Vyborny, Vaclav Prospal, Rostislav Olesz and Ales Hemsky.

"We've got a good team and we've done well in the past," Bulis said. "If we stay healthy, we can win again."