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By KEVIN KELLY
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 26, 2001
TAMPA -- Though he wasn't one of the eight players selected to represent the Czech Republic in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina hopes he'll be added later this year.
"Of course, I'd like to be there," he said. "It's going to be one of the best Olympics ever, especially because it's going to be probably 90 percent NHL players."
Lightning defenseman Petr Svoboda, Pittsburgh forwards Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka, New Jersey forwards Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora, Colorado forward Milan Hejduk, Montreal forward Martin Rucinsky and Buffalo goalie Dominik Hasek were the first eight players officially announced Sunday as members of the Czech Republic team.
The remaining players will be named Dec. 20.
"It would mean a lot to me," said the 23-year-old Kubina, who was born in Caledna, Czech Republic. "That's in my heart to play for them and the whole country since I grew up there. I think each guy wants to play for the national team, especially the Olympics."
With 27 points, 120 blocked shots and 99 penalty minutes this season, Kubina has been mentioned as a possible addition to the Czech Republic's entry in the IIHF World Championships, which starts April 28 in Germany.
NOW, THE REAL TEST: The Lightning's seven-game unbeaten streak screeched to a halt with two losses against Southeast Division opponents last week.
The schedule only gets tougher: New Jersey visits Tuesday.
"It's tough to go through," Lightning center Ryan Johnson said. "The biggest thing you've got to do is learn from them and take what you can from them, forget about them and move on to the next game. We'll go over tape, review it and learn and we'll start focusing on New Jersey."
The Lightning is 6-28-4 all-time against the defending Stanley Cup champion Devils and has lost dropped all three games against New Jersey this season by a combined score of 18-3.
TAKE YOUR TIME: Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin may be at least a week away from getting back in game shape, but coach John Tortorella wouldn't be upset if he wanted to wait until next season to make his season debut.
"If he does play (this year), good," Tortorella said. "But it's not of the utmost importance for him to play because it would be nice to start fresh with him next year and (the organization) almost can market him a little bit during the summertime. ... We'll see. But he's anxious."
ODDS AND ENDS: Defenseman Andrei Zyuzin has missed 11 games this season because of head injuries. He missed four in November with a concussion, five in December with post-concussion syndrome and the past two with a low-grade concussion. ... The Lightning has killed 52 of its past 55 penalties. ... If the Lightning wins at least one of its three remaining games this month, it will set a franchise record for wins in any month. It is 7-4-0-1 in March.