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Pleased Kubina a Czech Olympian

EDMONTON -- Pavel Kubina was not all that surprised he was named to the Czech Republic's Olympic team.

He has, after all, helped his country to gold medals at the 1999 and 2001 World Championships. Still, upon learning he will be at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, the Lightning defenseman could not help but gush.

"This is one of the best feelings of my life," Kubina said Thursday. "All the best players will be there. This will be the best tournament of my life, for sure."

Kubina, 24, is a real success story. He lost his position as alternate captain in preseason but has steadily improved his game.

He has three goals, 10 assists and is minus-1. He leads the team with an average ice time of 25:32 and 66 blocked shots.

"It's well-deserved," Lightning coach John Tortorella said of Kubina's Olympic designation. "His game has really grown. He's playing very well for us. I hope he does it for them."

Four Tampa Bay players have been named to Olympic teams, including defenseman Petr Svoboda (Czech Republic), goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin (Russia) and forward Juha Ylonen (Finland).

"This is like a bonus," Kubina said. "It's a great feeling to play with the Czech national team and have that jersey on."

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