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Pastimes : Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Buckey who wrote (103)	2/20/2002 4:43:10 PM
From: Tommy Moore	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 238

Swedes out, who would of thunk it. Maybe Gretzky & Co. will get to see the czechs again. Wide open to all now. Czech hockey fans find fault with Fleury Czechs and Gretzky find different villains Last Updated: Tue Feb 19 15:55:30 EST 2002 CBC SPORTS ONLINE - What was more scandalous in Monday's hockey game between Canada and the Czech Republic: Theoren Fleury's reluctance to move after landing on top of Czech goalie Dominik Hasek or Roman Hamrlik's retaliatory cross check across Fleury's back? Czech fans don't agree with Wayne Gretzky. (CP Photo) The answer depends on geography. While Canadian fans fume over Hamrlik's check, sharing the indignation voiced by Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky in a post-game press conference, Czech fans fixate on Fleury's starfish impersonation. Announcing the game on Czech national television, the commentator described Hamrlik's cross check as "brutal." But his words were lost in the swirl of invective surrounding Fleury. Boris Gomez, who works for ING Bank in Prague, watched the game in a crowded pub not far from his office. "There was an uproar when Fleury was laying on top of Hasek. People were shouting. I heard someone make a comment about it being 'a typical Canadian' move," says Gomez, who was born in Czechoslovakia and raised in Ottawa. On Tuesday, Gomez and other fans in the Czech Republic awoke to game reports emphasizing Fleury's use of Hasek as a living room couch. Hamrlik's check was mentioned only in passing, when Czech defenceman Pavel Kubina told reporters he would have gone further, and when Czech television broadcast a few minutes of Gretzky's press conference. The reporter noted that "Czechs have a different take on the game" from The Great One. Viewers then saw Dominik Hasek, hero of the 1998 Nagano Games, describe the Canadian play as chippy. He added that his team had received no help from the referees. As far as the Czech media are concerned, the biggest story of the game is not the Fleury-Hamrlik incident, but rather Canada's second goal, scored by Mario Lemieux. The referees ruled it legitimate but Czech fans aren't sure. Hasek himself told a Czech reporter he didn't know what happened. During the game, one of the people sharing a table with Gomez said he was thankful the goal was allowed. Otherwise, he reasoned, if the Canadians lost the game, they would use the disallowed goal as an excuse. Gomez agrees that Hamrlik's cross check was brutal, but isn't convinced Canadian outrage is justified. "Imagine if the roles were reversed. What if a Czech player landed on top of [Canadian goalie] Martin Brodeur and wouldn't get off? Do you think [teammate] Chris Pronger would stand for that?"