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Daniel Alfredsson has a chance to win a goal medal with Sweden and the Stanley Cup with the Ottawa Senators.
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Alfredsson wants the Cup too
By Phil Coffey | NHL.com
Feb. 23, 2006
TORINO, Italy -- Sweden's Daniel Alfredsson is one step closer to a gold medal now that his team has advanced to the Olympic finals, but the big prize Alfredsson is seeking will be awarded in June.
"The No. 1 trophy in the world for me is the Stanley Cup," the Ottawa Senators' captain said. "It is just so much harder to win. You have a whole season and then four playoff rounds. But that's not to say the Olympic gold is not big. I'm here to win gold."
It's the country stupid! -- Jaromir Jagr was taken aback when asked if the Czech Republic's semifinal game with the Swedes was actually a New York Rangers-Detroit Red Wings game in disguise since the Czechs have four Rangers on their roster and the Swedes have four Red Wings.
"The last I looked, it was Sweden against the Czech Republic," Jagr said. "There are a lot of great players in this game. It will be a hard game. The Swedes have a lot of great players, guys like (Mats) Sundin and (Peter) Forsberg."
New moves needed -- Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka, Martin Rucinsky and Marek Malik will need to come up with some different moves if they face Swedish goalie Henrik Lundqvist on a breakaway or in a shootout Friday since they are all teammates.
Earlier this season, Malik won a game for the Rangers in a shootout against the Washington Capitals when he used a nifty puck-between-the-legs stickhandling move. Malik said he won't try it against Lundqvist.
"He already knows about it!" Malik laughed.
"Hey, I don't know where I am going to shoot," Jagr said. "How is he going to know? There will be no pretty goals."
Going big? -- Adjusting to the big ice has been a factor in these Games.
"Especially on the big ice it's harder," Malik said. "The ice is bad, soft, you lose a lot of speed in the corners. On a big surface like that, don't stop, don't hit the brakes."
"It is a different game," Jaromir Jagr said of the big sheet. "You skate more on the big ice and you have to be smart. If you have a chance, you go for it. If not, sit back and preserve energy."
Among old friends -- Swedish coach Bengt Gustafsson noted the preponderance of NHL players in the Olympic semifinals.
"In the four teams (in the semis), 80 percent of the players play in the NHL and make an impact in the NHL."
Team play wins -- Russian defenseman Darius Kasparaitis boils down his team"s chances for success to a simple equation.
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Darius Kasparaitis knows what it takes for his team to win.
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"When our forwards concentrate on playing defense, we win."
Don't forget us! -- Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk was a little miffed after the quarterfinal win over Canada when he was asked how it felt to beat a team with so many great players.
"We have great players too," he said. "When you win, it doesn't matter. We were ready for everything. Last year at the World Championships we were a little scared, but now we are ready."
Toothless in Torino -- Teemu Selanne's been blessed throughout his career with terrific scoring touch, off-road racing skills and model-good looks. Two out of three ain't bad after an errant stick from Team USA's Derian Hatcher deftly removed three of Selanne's teeth.
"They are OK," Selanne said. "My mouth is still sore, but losing three teeth is not that bad. I've played more than 1,000 games in the NHL and Europe and have lost only three teeth. That's not bad. You can always get new teeth."
Finns want to avoid Russian roulette -- The 6-0 Finns will take on a Russian team that might be peaking at the right time.
"Russia has the best individual players in the tournament, but that doesn't really mean much because it is a team game," Selanne said. "We want to play our best game and we know we can't get into a scoring race with them or it will be over early. We will be in trouble if we run and gun with the Russians."
The Russians thought the same thing when facing Canada and played solid defense. This could be a low-scoring game as both teams play it close to the vest, but Finland coach Erkka Westerlund reminds us all that the puck must move forward at some point.
"Play tight defense, but our offense has to be going. We can't let them (the Russians) be on offense all the time," Westerlund said.
"I think we have been playing well as a team and our effort has been great," Selanne said. "There were a couple of things against the United States that we have to correct. We have a lot of confidence as a team."
Finland is chasing its first gold medal. The Finns often prove to be pesky in these international tournaments, but often end up with a bronze or silver. With all eyes on the next two games, they realize that this is an opportunity to showcase what they can do.
"It will be a great day," Selanne said. "We have a chance to show the world how good we can be.
Paul Kariya calling -- When asked if his good friend and former Canadian international Paul Kariya has called him at the Olympics Selanne quipped: "No, he knows how expensive overseas calls are."
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