« October 2004 | Main | December 2004 »
November 29, 2004
Dynamo Article
In four games for Dynamo, Havlat is yet to make any kind of dent on the scoresheet.
About a week ago, a Russian hockey site published an interview with Marty (as well as a nice picture of him and his sticks). I've run it through Babelfish and cleaned up the results, but please keep in mind that a lot can be lost in translation, especially through an automated translator.
Martin Havlat - Heir to Jagr on Dynamo
On Sunday, another great player arrived in Russia. Last Tuesday, Martin Havlat of the Ottawa Senators signed a contract with Dynamo. At 23 years of age, he's the champion of the planet, and Jagr considers him to be his successor.
- Martin, what do you know about your new team?
- Absolutely before making a decision, I was interested in the position of Dynamo. It is a well-known team with long history. Now, this team is the leader of the Russian league. I know the young guys from the NHL, Datsyuk, Afinogenov, Chubarov, Markov. I've also heard much about Ovechkin, and, of course, am familiar with [Rosa?] and Bartecko. I am glad to play with them.
- How long did it take you to decide to sign with Dynamo?
- I thought for several days. The offer was good. And I decided that until the NHL come back, the best hockey will be in Russia. In my opinion, right now, the Russian league is the strongest league, after the NHL.
- The alternatives were?
- It wouldn't be nice to name the other clubs, but there were contracts offered. I decided that Dynamo was the best choice, and also, Moscow.
- What were important factors for you?
- The main thing for me is to play hockey. To play on a good team, in the company of professionals, against tough opponents, in order to keep sharp. But we quickly agreed on the other terms, I didn't require anything special.
- How soon do you plan to take the ice?
- On Sunday I took my first practice, but it's up to the coach when I play my first game.
- Why, besides hockey, did you choose Russia?
- Russia is a world super power, an enormous, beautiful country. And I would be able to see how people live here, and to learn to speak better Russian. As you can see, my Russian is far from perfect!
Like the majority of Czech players, Havlat began the season in his native country, playing for Znojmo. In 12 games he collected 14 points. On Sunday, he had his first practice with his new team.
- Impressions?
- I would say the practices are longer here, but less intense than in the NHL. I skated with Datsyuk and Vorobyev. I know Pavel well from the NHL, he is a great, unique player. I would be very happy to play with him. Everything so far is good. Though I haven't seen the Red Square yet, that is terrible!
According to unofficial information, Dynamo will pay Havlat $1.2 million for the remainder of the season.
Posted by jz at 02:14 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2004
Articles
It has recently come to my attention that Canoe is starting to charge for old articles. While I evidently have little problem with (stealing) pictures for use on this site, I'm a little more squicky about stealing written words. I wasn't really comfortable with archiving the articles to begin with, but this news has made me decide to pretty much discontinue the archives.
Starting some time in the near future (possibly tonight but more likely tomorrow), I'm going to begin deleting and/or severely editing the articles in the archive. I'll probably save them for personal reference, but they'll no longer be available in their entirety on this site (or, more accurately, through the Blogger service).
I'm sorry to do this on such short notice, but I'm not interested in leaving myself open for more litigation than I already do.
Posted by jz at 06:12 PM | Comments (0)
First Practice
Dynamo and Babel Fish inform me that Havlat took his first practice with his new team yesterday. He may or may not play today's game against Molot; the coaching staff will decide after this morning's skate.
Edit: As you can see, Marty did indeed play today. According to the (Babel Fished) summary on Dynamo's site, he played with quite well with Datsyuk and Vorobyev, despite not showing up on the scoresheet.
My favorite line from the translation: But component Vorobyev - Datsyuk - Gavlat continued to terrorize defensive orders "the Hammer- Kama Region", directing genuine horror at the defenders of guests.
That's our Havlat, always directing genuine horror. None of that fake stuff for him.
Posted by jz at 04:10 AM | Comments (2688)
November 19, 2004
Dynamo
Sorry for the lack of updates, but there simply hasn't been a lot to say. As near as I can tell, the Russians aren't really into hockey photography, so I don't expect there will be a lot of pictures for the foreseeable future.
Havlat will probably play his first game for Dynamo on Monday, though I believe he's still at home in Brno right now, waiting for everything to be finalized.
Also, according to some sources, Marty is expected to be a participant in the Primus/IMG Worldstars Tour, which will be breezing through through Europe and Russia from December 7th through the 23rd. Further information indicates the games will be available for purchase in Canada on Pay Per View, $10 each or $60 for an 8 game package (though the tour involves 10 games). Alas, I'm in the US...
Posted by jz at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2004
Pictures & Russia
I've added a few new pictures. They're mostly old pictures, discovered once I learned the Cyrillic for Havlat. The Russian alphabet doesn't have a letter for H, so the majority of Russian sites call him Gavlat (Гавлат), though a small number think Khavlat (Хавлат) is a better translation. I hope he doesn't have an identity crisis.
Slam! offered another small article/interview regarding the transfer.
Posted by jz at 06:37 PM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2004
Dynamo
Marty has decided to leave Znojmo for Dynamo Moscow. I apologize that I wasn't able to give a heads up on this possibility, but I was caught as unawares as anyone.
And to think, just yesterday I was considering making a post to say that there probably wouldn't be any updates for a week or so, since there would be nothing to report.
My knowledge of Russian is roughly zero. I should be able to keep up with his stats, but that's about all.
Posted by jz at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)
November 03, 2004
Litvinov Karjala
It was actually looking pretty good for Znojmo yesterday. Rucinsky and Elias were given game misconducts late in the second, and at the 48 minute mark, Orli were still ahead by one with Havlat's second goal of the evening.
Then Litvinov scored four goals in about six minutes, one of which may have been batted in with a high stick, but was allowed to stand. The end of the game was ugly too, with five players getting misconducts with no time left.
In more damaging news to Znojmo, Karel Rachunek has decided to transfer to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Russian Super League, effective after the upcoming national break. For a team whose defense wasn't particularly outstanding to begin with, this is a big blow. Team officials say they will work hard to replace him, but with so many players already having European contracts, it will be difficult.
Speaking of the national break, the Czechs have finally announced their roster for the Karjala Cup. While the Russians have apparently loaded up with all their superstar talent and the Finns went almost the exact opposite by naming their best young prospects, both Sweden and the Czech Republic have taken sort of a middling approach. The Czech roster:
Goalies: Tomáš Duba, Adam Svoboda
Defense: Radim Bičánek, Miroslav Blaťák, Radek Hamr, Jan Hejda, Martin Hlavačka (replacing Martin Škoula), Rostislav Klesla, Karel Pilař, Marek Židlický
Forwards: Martin Chabada, Rostislav Olesz, David Výborný, Petr Průcha, Aleš Hemský, Martin Erat, Jaroslav Balaštík, Václav Nedorost, Václav Prospal, Radek Dvořák, Pavel Rosa, Jaroslav Hlinka, Zbyněk Irgl
Prospal and Dvorak are playing in the 1.liga, not the extraliga, which must have had something to do with their selection.
Posted by jz at 01:03 PM | Comments (0)