TORONTO — There are lies, damn lies and then there are statistics. Here are the pertinent numbers as they pertain to the Czech team which will play Canada in Saturday's World Cup semi-final:
In their last seven periods of hockey, dating back to a 4-3 round-robin loss to Sweden, the Czechs scored an eye-popping 16 goals, offensive numbers reminiscent of a different era when the Wayne Gretzkys and Mario Lemieuxs were shooting out the lights for Canada and the Sergei Makarovs and Igor Larionovs were returning fire for the Russians.
This is a delightfully 1980s trend and represents a far cry from the early days of the 2004 World Cup, when the exhibition games, here and abroad, were largely goalless and occasionally soulless. Lopsided wins over Germany and in their return match with the Swedes, represented a complete about-face for the enigmatic Czechs, who were a disorganized, listless bunch early on, seemingly unable to recover or overcome the death of their coach, Ivan Hlinka, in an automobile accident five days before the tournament opener.
Coaches tend to be the lightning rod for discontent when things go badly and that was especially evident for the European nations. The Russians ultimately dumped their first World Cup coach, Viktor Tikhonov, because so few of the players wanted to play for him. The Swedes added a popular former NHLer, Ulf Dahlen, to Hardy Nilson's staff so that he could act as a buffer between the players and coaches. The Finns survived a scare against the Germans, but not before defenceman Janne Niinimaa left the team following a spat with coach Raimo Summanen. Reports in Finland suggest the team is close to mutinying over Summanen's sharp tongue, but will refrain from saying anything publicly until the tournament is over.
Then there are the Czechs, who have former player Vladimir Ruzicka behind the bench. Ruzicka, the Sparta Prague coach, was an 11th-hour replacement for Hlinka, chosen mostly because of the high regard in which he is held in his homeland. Ruzicka was the captain of the Czech's 1998 Olympic champion team and is one of the most revered players of his generation, even though his fame in North America never matched that of Jaromir Jagr or Dominik Hasek.
The Czechs always represent a wild card at the highest level of international hockey, something that Canada's players know only too well. So many of the top Czech players - think Jagr, Martin Straka, Patrik Elias, Milan Hedjuk - can play at an elite level, when moved to do so. Jagr is a former NHL scoring champion. Hedjuk won the Rocket Richard award as the league's goal-scoring leader two years ago. Straka and Elias have both finished in the top five of the NHL scoring. Goalie Tomas Vokoun is a serviceable NHLer, a workhorse for his club team, the Nashville Predators.
So the Czechs can make life thoroughly miserable for any opponent that fails to take them seriously.
Conversely, they can just as easily surrender an early goal or two and shut it down.
From night to night and game to game, you just never know which team you'll see.
Dany Heatley, a standout on Canada's last two world championship teams, was asked: What makes the Czechs so wildly erratic?
"I don't know," answered Heatley, "but the thing is, you've got to be ready for them, either way, especially in a tournament like this, where one game takes all. They're so talented. They won the (1998) Olympics with a lot of the same guys. So you've got to be ready, whether they're going to bring it or not.
"I mean, they're dangerous. Jagr, when he wants to get it going, is scary dangerous. We've got to be ready for them Saturday."
Goaltender Martin Brodeur, who sports a tiny 0.75 goals-against average through the first four games of the tournament, couldn't put his finger on what makes the Czechs either.
"I know we played them in the Olympics and they played us pretty good," said Brodeur. "It's definitely a team with a lot of skill. They're not the type of team that's going to hit and play hard. Sometimes, when you're able to bang them, you might be able to take advantage of that.
"On the other hand, when they do have their game on, they're hard to touch. They're hard to get to. So we're going to have to be well prepared defensively, but be physical on them also."
Brodeur, who took part in Thursday's optional practice at the Air Canada Centre, talked how quickly the chemistry developed on the team.
"I'm not on the bench, but from the locker room, it's unbelievable," he said. "It's a fun atmosphere, but any winning team will tell you the same thing. It's a lot of fun to play when you win. I think the chemistry has been good. We have a good mix of young and older guys, who like each other and that's real important."
Brodeur plays for the New Jersey Devils, a team renowned for its defensive commitment. What impresses him most about this edition of Canada's team is how well the forwards are playing at both ends.
"Guys are coming back, back-checking, making sure they're in the right position in our zone, going after rebounds, after turnovers," said Brodeur. "We're doing a lot of good things and we're going to face a bigger test with the Czechs and we're going to need to be on top of our game if we want to be successful.
"We can't get into shootouts with European teams, because they love to play that way. It's all about us, about how we play. We walked in here in August and everybody checked their egos at the door. We decided to do whatever it took to be successful and I think now, everybody is doing it."
