Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Jakub Kovář comments preseason

Jakub Kovář shares his thoughts about the preseason so far and comments his new situation as a starting goaltender now that previous starter, NHL veteran Roman Turek, has retired.

České Budějovice concluded a preseason tournament that was held in Switzerland last week. Kovář says the tournament was demanding because of the travel, but it also offered high quality games and prepared the team well for the upcoming season.

"I enjoyed the tournament, it was beneficial for me. I like games where I get shots frequently."

"They were definitely good enough games to prepare us. It was no different from the Czech league playoffs and it was good for us to get that kind of a test already now. It definitely benefitted us."

The long distances between the arenas was the only down side Kovář could think of.

"Most of the time we just traveled. There were long distancies no matter where we went. It was really difficult. We had 120 kilometers from the hotel to our first game and we traveled 25 kilometers four times a day."

Other than the logistical inconveniences, Kovář thinks the tournament offered good preparation for the upcoming season. Even if the team lost two of the three games.

Kovář blames the travel for the poor result in the first game, but also gives credit to the opposition, Swiss league team Geneva.

"It was terrible for us, knowing the way we spent the day before the game", Kovář recalls. "They were stronger and faster. But in the end we started to match them better and I think eventually we played a decent game."

Second game, loss against Lausanne, Kovář watched from the bench.

"We were clearly the better team, but lost in the end."

Kovář was back in net in the final game of the tournament, a 5-2 win over Fribourg.

"It was probably the best game we played there. It was a well balanced game, we pushed hard, put pressure on them and got chances on the power play."

Kovář himself had a solid tournament, but it didn't change his perception on his position.

"My position is still the same; I try to get to play as much as I can and every time it's my turn to play I want to play my very best."

But Roman Turek's sudden retirement just before preseason does have it's own effect. A mental effect, if nothing else.

"Now it's even more obvious that I have to lead the team and I have to earn the trust from the coaches."

There are still a handful of preseason games left for České Budějovice against other Czech league teams before the regular season begins on September 17th.

"In the last preseason games it will be important for us to do some tweaking. We're all looking forward to the start of the season."

This report was based off of a Czech-language story released by České Budějovice.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Timonen not mentally ready yet

Kimmo Timonen says he still hasn't completely gotten over the bitter ending of last season.

"It felt like ten months had gone down the drain. Actually, it still feels like that."

Timonen played well over a hundred games last season, including preseason, regular season, Olympics and playoffs. It was demanding physically, but possibly even more so mentally.

"It was the toughest season I've ever had. My body was pretty much broken in the end."

The summer so far has not been enough time to recover from all of that.

"My body is in a relatively good condition, but I haven't recovered mentally yet. The idea of having to jump back into a similar situation feels pretty hard right now."

Nonetheless, the Timonen family will be flying back to North America already this week.

Busy Summer

It takes time to get over the bitter memories of last season, but because the season ended so late, the summer has been shorter than usual for Timonen. It also meant that he had a tighter schedule in the summer.

"It's been quite the hassle. I had to do so many things during the vacation in a much shorter time than usual. Time ran up too fast."

"Though I deliberately didn't start training until the beginning of July. Earlier I've started already in June, but now I didn't have any energy left to do that."

The Kime 4 Kids charity fundraising event was something that Timonen wanted to fit into his summer schedule, no matter what.

"It was a warm and successful event and we plan to keep organizing it also in the future."

Future Goals & Kalpa Stories

Coming close to winning the Stanley Cup last season has left a lot of desire to win for Timonen.

"The dream lives on. Now I know concretely what it takes to win the Cup. It's a long and bumpy road, but I want to experience that feeling. We got so close that the will to go all the way motivates a lot."

Timonen has hinted earlier that he would retire after his current contract is up in three years. There is also one personal goal that he would like to achieve before retiring.

"One of my dreams is to reach 1000 NHL games. It requires playing out my current contract."

"I go one year at a time. I'm going to respect my contract, but also listen to all parties."

Timonen says that following in his friend Sami Kapanen's foot steps to finish his career with Kalpa in Finland is not an option for him.

"My games in Finland are played. Something very special would need to happen that I would play in Finland."

When talking about Kalpa, you can't help but think how in the world did also Scott Hartnell get involved with the Finnish club. We need to hear that story, too.

Timonen laughs.

"Well, that story is pretty short. I think we were in Boston, I was sitting with Scott and he was wondering what he would do with his money when it was piling up in his bank account. I told him that I have a good investment target; put your money in Kalpa! [laughs] He was just: "Absolutely! How do I do it?" So I informed Sami about it and he took care of all the paper work. So that's how Scott got on board."

Despite rumors, Timonen says he hasn't retired from the national team yet.

"After Vancouver I told [coach] Jukka [Jalonen] that I'm not retiring from the national team. We'll look at the tournaments case by case."

When the time does come to hang up the skates, Timonen thinks it's possible that he and his family will keep flying over the Atlantic.

"I could easily imagine that we would live the winters in the US and the summers in Finland after my career. The decision in the future will depend on the kids in any case. They've gone to school in the US and their friends are there, too."


Source: Savon Sanomat

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Ice cold Eriksson facing new challenge

Skellefteå goalie coach Stefan Ladhe shares his thoughts on Joacim Eriksson and the current situation the young goaltender is in.

"He's a great guy, it's very nice to get to work with him. He's a skilled goalie with a great attitude and that's a very important thing to have, especially for a goalie. Jocke won't become nervous if he has a big challenge ahead of him. He's ice cold."

Ladhe is a little surprised at how quickly Eriksson has developed. Eriksson became the starting goalie for Leksand last season and outplayed veteran goalie Timo Leinonen to take the job.

"I probably didn't expect it to happen so quickly. But I knew what caliber of a goalie Jocke is and how much potential he has because of his time with the junior national teams earlier. It was an achievement for him; he showed that he was better than Timo, so he earned the job."

Ladhe is confident in Eriksson's ability to repeat his success at a higher level this season.

"He showed as a rookie in the Allsvenskan what he can do and I'm convinced that he will do the same in the Elitserien. If he keeps developing like he has, there is no question that he's going to play in the Elitserien."

Ladhe doesn't expect it to be easy for Eriksson in Skellefteå where the young goalie has to battle with Andreas Hadelöv, 35, for ice time, but notes that Eriksson should get his chance.

"Skellefteå has a very good goalie tandem. I talked with Jocke after the season in Leksand and thought that he should think about what to do next. The Philadelphia Flyers organization was also an option for him. Skellefteå may not seem like a very good place for Jocke's development since they have Hadelöv who has been good there for many years, so you might wonder how many games Jocke will get. But from what I understand, Skellefteå will get a little younger and bring Jocke in and let both goalies play about as much."

Source: VF

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Word with Pyörälä

Mika Pyörälä tells why he signed with Frölunda this summer, takes a quick look back on his season with the Flyers and also shares his thoughts on ex-teammate Johan Backlund.

"Nothing had happened at the end of July and there were many other players without a contract. I didn't hear anything, so I started thinking about Europe again."

"There were only two options; Sweden or Russia. I tried to look at the big picture. Gothenburg is a good city and it's a good organization there with a good team that has the chance to go far. That's why I chose to go to Frölunda."

Pyörälä signed a three year contract, but he can leave Frölunda if he gets an offer from the NHL.

Pyörälä had a strong start last season, earning a roster spot on the Flyers, but finished the season in the AHL.

"There were several different reasons for that. The team didn't play so well and they switched coaches right before the holidays. I played less than ten games under the new coach and I think we lost every single one of them. Then all of the injured players became healthy and they made changes in the team and when they started winning games I was eating popcorn in the press box."

"It sucked, but at the same time it was still a fun season and most of all a great experience."

"In the last game with their farm team I broke my collarbone. I would've been one of the Flyers black aces; six or seven farm team players who train with the team and are ready to jump in if someone gets injured. I had bad luck being injured so I couldn't do anything more but just rehab and watch the games."

The Stanley Cup finals were fun to watch nonetheless.

"It was just fantastic. The arena was sold out every game and you could see orange everywhere on the streets. The whole city was into it. Unfortunately they didn't win."

Pyörälä also believes in Johan Backlund's chances to become an NHL player.

"I believe he has a good chance to become an established player in the NHL. He played great all season in the AHL. We didn't have a good team and without Johan we would've lost many more games. I think the Flyers have a plan for him in the future."

Hockeysverige

Monday, August 16, 2010

Catching up with Krajíček

Lukáš Krajíček says he wanted to stay in Philadelphia and it was close to happen.

"I wanted to stay. It was my first priority. I wanted to settle somewhere more permanently. We had agreed on the terms, but at this point we have nine defensemen in Philadelphia, so there was no commitment in the end."

"I'm not sure yet where I'm going to play. I'm negotiating with several teams. Of course we're mostly talking about money. Phoenix, Anaheim and Carolina in particular."

"I want to stay in the NHL. There is interest in me in Russia, but I want to stay in North America as long as I can. Only then when no one wants me in the NHL I will return to Europe. At this point I don't know whether it's going to be a year or five years."

Krajíček feels confident in finding a job in the NHL.

"Maybe it's been in my head a little bit, but I'm sure it will work out. There are still a lot of places in the NHL, though I'm not alone in this situation. I'm not afraid, I'm sure things will work out. But of course I have to be well prepared for the new season."

Krajíček hopes he could find a new team by the time he goes back to North America.

"I'm flying back there in about ten days. It would be nice if I knew the team by then."

Krajíček has spent the summer in Czech, mostly just relaxing.

"Yeah, I played for Jagr's soccer and hockey teams in Prostějov. I love these exhibition games. People are having fun and the players enjoy it, too. I also spent a lot of time on tennis courts."

"Having a couple of weeks with family and friends is great. It's always perfect to stay home in the offseason and recharge your energy."

Krajíček also celebrated his successful season with his friends.

"Obviously. Afterall, it was a great success for me and also the experience of a lifetime. Especially considering at the beginning of the year I was with Tampa, on their farm team. The six months in Philadelphia was fantastic from my perspective. I played hockey at the absolute highest level. It was such a pity that we lost to Chicago. We didn't miss by much. We were only two wins away. If we had done it, there probably would've been a huge party in Philadelphia."

There wasn't much of a party for the second place finish.

"After the last game there was nothing but silence in the locker room. Only later on we realized what we accomplished."

"We had a quick meeting with the players after the season, but it wasn't anything big and special. There is only one winner in America."


Source: HS

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Zherdev practicing with Ovechkin

"Come on, Kolya!", the ever so cheerful Alexander Ovechkin yells to the bench while speeding around the rink. "Come and play! One more time!"

"I wanna go eat", Nikolai Zherdev mumbles back, sitting tired on the bench. "I already did the shootout."

But in the end, slightly disgruntled as he may seem, Zherdev returns to the ice one more time to finish the easygoing practice, much to his friend Ovechkin's pleasure.

It's another day at the rink nearby Moscow where a bunch of Russian NHL players are having their summer practices.

"There's Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, Suglobov and some others", Zherdev lists his friends on the ice.

"Most likely I'm leaving Russia before the rest of the guys here. Somewhere in the beginning of September I'll already be in Philadelphia."

The vastly spread forest fires around the Moscow area have made practicing a little harder than usual. There's smoke everywhere.

"Of course it's hard to train when it's impossible to breathe normally. I hope that it's more normal in the States. Now we go train and run in the arena because it's hard to be on the streets. Like last night was good, but this morning it was bad again. Though sometimes there's smoke even indoors."

Zherdev says his goal was always to return to the NHL.

"NHL is the best hockey league in the world, so every hockey player dreams of playing there. I'm no exception in this case."

Zherdev also got married recently.

"Yeah, I'm a family man now. We didn't have a big wedding, there were only family and friends. My wife is now also preparing to move to Philadelphia."

"We haven't sought a house there yet. But it's not a problem. I think we can find a place to live."


Source: LS

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Simon Bertilsson excels at international level

Simon Bertilsson is back in Sweden after the four team U20 tournament that was held in Lake Placid in the beginning of August. Bertilsson thinks the tournament was tough, but a useful experience.

"We trained real hard", he sums up.

Bertilsson was also considered one of the best players not only on team Sweden, but in the whole tournament. Only Adam Larsson, the possible 1st overall draft pick in 2011, was thought to have played at Bertilsson's level.

"It felt really good, especially in the last game (4-1 win vs USA). I've become stronger during the summer and my shoulder isn't bothering me anymore."

Last year it was the injuries that prevented Bertilsson from playing at the World Junior Championships. He had already been named on the team, so it wasn't easy having to stay home instead.

"It was really tough. Now my goal is to be there this winter. But it won't be easy. I don't take anything for granted."

Source: AB

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Gustafsson defends the American route

The Swedish hockey federation is trying to stop 15-20 year old Swedish players from leaving the country to play in North American junior leagues by threatening to fine the players who leave before turning 22. Only leaving to play in the NHL would not be punished.

Erik Gustafsson says he's not a fan of the restriction and reminds that he wouldn't have an NHL contract now if he hadn't been allowed to go play in North America a few years ago.

"The federation is trying to work things so that the players would want to stay in Sweden instead. But it seems more like a threat", Gustafsson says.

"I can understand that the federation wants to keep the players in Sweden, but I never would've signed such a contract [with the Flyers]. It would be better if they could grow the interest towards junior hockey in Sweden instead."

"In the USA the interest is bigger, there can be 3000-4000 people in a game in the USHL, the league where most of the college teams take their players from. The level in that league is about as good, or a little better, than the J20 Superelit in Sweden."

"Maybe it's easier to get more people in games in the USA since there are more people there in general, but the junior and college teams there also have their own organizations. NHL organizations don't have their own junior teams there like Elitserien teams have their own J20 teams in Sweden. And the teams are often in other cities than the NHL teams and not competing for fans with them."

Gustafsson has noticed that he's not the only Swede who has taken the unusual road through North American junior leagues.

"There are more and more of those who do that. And it's not that stupid to go from that backdoor. Everyone is not ready for the Elitserien when they are 18-19 years old and finished playing in J20. Then it can be a good thing to play at a good level in North America and in college you have four years for yourself to develop."

"The college level is not better than the Allsvenskan, but not so much worse either. But it's better to be there because you're much closer to the NHL and you get noticed more easily. There are at least three NHL scouts in each game and all the organizations are there watching. If you play in the Allsvenskan it feels like you have to be up in the Elitserien first before you have a chance to get to the NHL."

Monday, August 9, 2010

Erik Gustafsson not in a hurry

Erik Gustafsson says it was a valuable experience for him to play with the Adirondack Phantoms at the end of last season. His instant success with the Phantoms caught him by surprise.

"Ha ha. I think I had scored seven goals total in three seasons before that. It was damn cool to be there and play and everyone was nice. I got to know them a little bit before this season and I also learned a little how some of them play."

Gustafsson was also given a chance to practice with the Flyers during the playoffs.

"I was totally nervous, and in the locker room I sat right next to Chris Pronger. I felt myself pretty small there then. But it was a lot of fun to be there."

Gustafsson says his training program has changed and looks a little different now that he's signed with the Flyers.

"There's a bunch of different training programs and other stuff. It's a little different to what I've been doing before so it's been cool to have some variation."

Gustafsson says his prospect camp was successful.

"The prospect camp went well and they were pleased. Now I'll be going over there and do my best. Then we'll see how far I can go. Hopefully I'll get to play in the NHL in a few years."

Gustafsson will likely play on the Phantoms, but he doesn't see it being a problem.

"That's not important. It's still a step forward for me compared to where I've played before. I also believe that it's a good thing to get to play a lot and gain experience rather than just play a few minutes in the NHL. Naturally I want to play at the highest level possible, but I'm not in a hurry."

Gustafsson signed with the Flyers in March, but he says it's still hard to believe it.

"It's totally surreal. Of course I'm happy, but the best thing in the end is that I can do what I love to do the most. I'm going to go as far as I can and then hopefully some day I will play in the NHL."

Source: ST

Andrei Popov getting ready for new season

Traktor Chelyabinsk returned home after training camp that was held in Pinsk, Belarus. Andrei Popov admits it was a tough camp.

"The practices we had in Belarus were quite severe, though I can be pretty confident in saying that every single one of us could handle the load. So everything is fine. Besides, after returning from Pinsk the team was given two days off. It was possible to spend that time with just relaxing and recovering. Two days was enough to rest."

"I was definitely satisfied with the conditions there. Everything was at hand and we didn't have to take the bus to go anywhere. We went to the pool and the sauna every day."

Traktor has a new coach for this season and Popov says the difference is noticeable already now after a couple practices.

"Yeah, the differences are visible. Every coach has their own approach in principle, as usual."

Traktor didn't only switch coaches, but rebuilt their whole team by adding a lot of key veteran players, such as the Czech world champion Petr Vampola, Slovakian Roman Kukumberg and ex-NHLer Vitali Yachmenev. Popov isn't afraid of the competition, but just happy that the team seems strengthened.

"The players we added are all good and well known. They all came from good teams where they had big roles. I'm confident that every one of them will strengthen the team."

Traktor starts playing preseason games on August 13th.

"First and foremost these games are important for coaches where they can test their tactics and try different line combinations for the season."

Popov is careful with his expectations for this season when the team has changed so much.

"It's difficult to draw any conclusions. We have another month of training, to reach the ideal condition, so let's wait for September."

Source: Traktor Chelyabinsk

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Backlund recovering slowly

Johan Backlund is still walking with crutches.

"They took an MRI from my hip and I was told that I had a cartilage in my hip joint and that I needed an operation after the season", Backlund explains. "But I was forced to keep playing because our other goalies also had injuries and it ended up making my injury worse."

The operation that was done in Nashville earlier this summer was successful. Backlund has to use crutches for five to eight weeks.

"I'm glad that everything went well, but it took a little longer than I had counted. First I was told that I could go home and be two weeks in Sweden. I was supposed to use crutches for two weeks and then go back to Philadelphia. But now it became eight weeks and I've been over there almost the whole time. Eight weeks was a little setback, it was a short summer in Sweden, but there will be more summers."

Backlund flies back to Philadelphia tonight.

"I'm going back and start rehabilitating together with our physical trainer, so I'm going to get a lot of help from him."

Backlund isn't sure how much the injury slows down his preseason training.

"I don't really know, we'll see. Teams in Sweden hit the ice right now and I would've liked to join them and play a little. At the same time, the season starts later in North America so there is time, but I would've liked to get some ice time already now."

Backlund's goal is to be back in practice when the Flyers training camp starts.

"It depends on what the doctors say, but the camp starts on September 11th and I hope to be there then. But I can't effect my recovery that much. The most important thing is to not stress about it, it won't be good then. I know some people who have gone through the same operation and then come back too early and have setbacks. The most important thing is to become healthy."

Backlund says he has good memories from his first season with the Flyers.

"I got my chance, but then I got hurt. But it was a lot of fun to be up there and I also got to stay up with the team during the playoffs. I look forward to this season since now I know what waits for me and what is demanded."

According to some other Phantoms, Backlund was a popular player on the team.

"Yeah, haha. I got some recognition there, but I was up with the Flyers then so I wasn't there, but it was really nice."

Backlund says there were some Swedish teams interested in signing him this summer, but his first choice was to remain in North America.

"Yeah, I heard from my agent that there were some inquiries. But it never became anything concrete. I told my agent that my goal is to stay in North America and give it one more chance. But I had to make a quick decision since Swedish teams want to sign their goaltenders early and in the NHL you can wait a little longer. I'm really glad that the Flyers wanted me to stay."

Source: DB

Meszároš trains with national team

Andrej Meszároš says the idea of him training with the Slovakian national team this week came from himself. Head coach, ex-NHL coach Glen Hanlon had named a young team consisting mostly of Slovakian league players to train for a tournament in Switzerland held later in the week. When Meszároš approached him, he had nothing against adding the NHL veteran on the team to show example for the younger guys.

"Andrej asked us politely if he could come to the camp in Piešťany with us", assistant coach Ľubomír Pokovič confirms. "Of course, we're happy to have him."

"I was in Trenčín last week and went on the ice with some of these young guys on the team and I met Hanlon and the other coaches", Meszároš recalls. "They told me they have a camp in Piešťany on Monday. I asked if I could come. They had nothing against it."

"They go to Switzerland for a tournament on Wednesday, but I thought I could come to Piešťany. It's good training and it's nice to talk with the guys I know."

Meszároš says it doesn't matter that the players on the team are inexperienced.

"It's not about that at all in this case. First and foremost I take it as summer training. It's about spending a lot of time on the ice. I take it from the standpoint that it improves my preparatory period before a long season."

Meszároš says he doesn't have a Flyers jersey yet.

"No, not yet. I don't have a Flyers logo anywhere yet. I'm going to Tampa at the end of August to take all the stuff I left there and then move to Philadelphia. We'll see about it then. Now I'm still trying to enjoy the summer and train the best I can."

Ice time and team success are the goals Meszároš have set for next season.

"It depends on which pairing I will play on, but naturally I'd like to be on the ice as often as possible and that I could help the team. When the team does well, I'll be happy, too."

Source: DS