The US Junior team edged the Czech Rep. last night 3-2 in the
last exhibition game prior to the World Junior Tournament for both
teams.  Mike Greer did not dress for the game.  I asked him what was
wrong and he said he had hurt his knee but would be ready for the tournament.
        Michal Marik and John Grahame of Lake Superior started in goal.
Please correct any team affiliations I give.  I am relying on the program
in most cases rather than personal knowledge.
        The first three minutes were played without a whistle.  Deron
Quint gave Malik a scare firing in from centre ice and almost putting the
puck past him.  Malik compounded his error by trying to freeze the puck
on the boards.  The resulting loose puck was cleared by a teammate.
Loose play by the Czechs continued until Petr Sykora took a tripping
penalty at the six minute mark.
        Jamie Langenbrunner had a good shot on the power play but Kevin
Hilton of Michigan missed the rebound.  The resulting action created a
brief two man advantage for the US when Petr Buzek was sent of for high
sticking.  Deron Quint got off another clear shot, from closer in this
time, which was easily saved by Malik.
        Good puck movement resulted in a score by the USA's Kevin Hilton
who had a shot with Malik out of position from the good US passing.  The
score was at 9:50 with an assist to Dan Tompkins of Wisconsin.  I did not
catch the second assist on the PA.
        Following the first really good Czech rush and threat Jason
Bonsignore took a high sticking penalty at 11:40.  During the "power
play" the US forechecking kept the Czechs for the most part bottled up in
their own end.  The Yanks even got a good scoring chance themselves.
                At 16:00 Malik was forced to make  a quick glove save on
a wrister by BU's Chris Kelleher.  The Czechs had a good chance in the
last minute, but Grahame was up to the task.  Persistant US forechecking
kept the Czechs off their guard in the first period.  I can see why teams
the past few years have disliked playing Lake Superior.
 
        Within 10 seconds of the start of the second period Rory
Fitzpatrick got a hard shot from the point.  Perhaps this initial flurry,
and the first period success, put the USA to sleep as Patrik Elias
slipped behind the defence for a breakaway which was stopped nicely by
Grahame.  The Czechs had a couple of good shifts following this chance,
gaining the momentum.
        Then Shawn Bates of BU had two consecutive breaks into the clear,
but took his shots too far out and without support, giving the Czechs
chances to clear the puck.  However, the fourth line produced still
another good chance on the same shift.
        On the next shift Langenbrunner had two golden opportunities from
the slot.  He and Kevin Hilton were making it happen for the US.  Dan
Tompkins, the third member of the line, however, took a high sticking
penalty just after this at 5:43.
        Jan Hlavac got off a nice shot at the start of the power play, but
the remainder was killed off effectively.  Then the US got another power
play when Marek Malik (not the goalie who is Michal Marik) was sent off
for tripping at 8:28.  Bonsignore got off a good long shot which was not
controlled by Marik, but the net moved off its morings (sp?) as it did
all too often throughout the game.  At 9:45 the USA scored on the power
play when Deron Quint's shot was tipped in by Adam Deadmarsh.
        At this point Coach Jackson replaced Grahame with Doug Bonner.
Grahame was up to the task in net, but was not severely tested for the
most part.  The same will not be said for Bonner.
        Bonner did have to wait, however, until the 15 minute mark for
his first tough chance off a shot by Blazek.  Shortly afterwards Jon
Battaglia of Lake State just missed a tip from close in.  The Czechs then
skated right back giving Hejduk a good chance.  On the ensuing faceoff
the US's Rory Fitzpatrick took and interference penalty at 16:09.
        Josef Marha got an open shot in front of Bonner but he was able
to make the save.  Jason Bonsignore then got a good shot off just after
the penalty ended, and again the Czechs counterattacked well with Bonner
making the save.  This stretch had great end to end action.
        At 18:57 the Czechs picked up an important goal to narrow the gap
to 2-1.  Jaroslav Kudrna finished off a nice tic-tac-toe passing play to
get the Czechs on the board, deservedly so as they were producing more
chances this period.  Assists on the goal to Vaclav Prospal and Angel
Nikolov.
        Mike Crowley of Minnesota got off a good shot to end the period.
 
        Adam Deadmarsh got the first good chance of the third period in
front of the net but shot weakly wide on the backhand.  At 3:01 the
Czechs gave the US another power play when Miroslav Guren drew an
interference penalty.  Deadmarsh skated right in on goal on the power
play, but Marik was in position for the save.  There was a lot of sloppy
puck handling by the US on this penalty kill.
        As the Czechs picked up their offense they caused an icing from
their pressure, and emotions started running high as the players got
even more into what was an intriguing game.  At 5:52 matching penalties
were called, Nedved for crosschecking and Bates for roughing, creating a
4x4.  Most of the play was then in the Czech end until 8:17 when Hejduk
was called for high sticking.
        Landon Wilson of North Dakota got a couple of good chances in
front on the power play, but the US got a penalty at 9:50 in a scuffle
when Wilson was sent to the box. (did not catch the call.)
        Bonner made a nice save on Czech superstar (according to local
media anyway) Petr Sykora, but tonight the Czechs were not finishing, as
they did in previous games.  At least part of this is attributable to
Bonner's goaltending, he had by far the tougher chances to deal with.
Still again at 13:00 Bonner made a great 1x1 save against Hejduk who must
still be dreaming about lost opportunities.  The Czechs got another
chance when Landon Wilson again was penalized at 13:03, this time for
high sticking.  The penalty was effectively killed off.
        Just before 16:00 BU's Shawn Bates had another break, but again
could not finish it off.  At 16:30 Bonner made another good save on
Blazek, then Petr Sykora was sent off for high sticking along with the
US's Rory Fitzpatick for roughing.  Just after full strength resumed Mike
Crowley scored an empty net goal on an assist by Bonner, creating a nice
bonus for him on the scoresheet at 18:35, which seemed a little early to
be pulling the goaltender for the Czechs.
        Imagine how they felt when they got a goal to bring the game back
to 3-2 at 19:27, with the goalie in nets, Jaroslav Kudrna put it past
Bonner with assists to Marha and Prospal.  Just at the end of the game a
disputed icing call precipitated Blazek banging the glass with his stick,
and he was sent off.
 
        I was very impressed with the US this game, although their
defensive intensity, for which Jeff Jackson is so well known, was not
maintained with the level of the first period, which is as good an effort
as I've seen.  The Czechs played the previous night, which may have been
a problem, but nevertheless US play this game should be a source of
confidence for the team and its fans.
 
Arthur Berman  [log in to unmask]
THE MAPLE LEAF FOREVER!!!
GO BU!!!