Hockey

PRAGUE - New Jersey Devils winger Patrik Elias and NHL legend Jaromir Jagr will lead the Czechs in their quest for an Olympic medal in Vancouver, head coach Vladimir Ruzicka said Wednesday.

Ruzicka, a former NHL player himself, said his team for the Olympic tournament would comprise 16 players from the NHL and only seven from European leagues.

He added he would see any result other than a medal as a failure.

"Our ice-hockey nation always sees a medal as a token of success. We don't want to fool ourselves here, do we?" he said.

Jagr is the only member of the team with gold from the 1998 Nagano Olympics, at which the Czechs stunned the world when they eased past the star-laden US, Canadian and Russian teams to clinch their first-ever Olympic victory.

But nine players have bronze from the Turin Olympics four years ago.

Ruzicka said he would want Elias, a Stanley Cup winner with the Devils in 2000 and 2003, to be the team captain, but that Jagr and Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle would "also be taken as captains."

In any case, fans will get a chance to see the 37-year-old Jagr, the NHL's most valuable player in 1999, back in North America once again. He currently plays for Avangard Omsk in Russia.

He announced his retirement from international ice hockey after the 2006 Olympics, but changed his mind when Ruzicka -- the Nagano team captain -- took over as head coach two years later.

Jagr ended his NHL career in 2008 with two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins and five Art Ross Trophies. He was also the top point scorer between 1995 and 2001.

The Czechs will struggle hard to satisfy their fans, hungry for a success after a rather dry spell following Nagano and three successive World Championships victories in 1999-2001.

The fans are growing impatient after dismal national team showings in the past years, crowned with a 10-1 humiliation of the junior team by Sweden at the World Championships in Canada last Saturday.

The most notable omissions on the squad are forwards Milan Hejduk of the Colorado Avalanche and Vaclav Prospal of the New York Rangers.

Ruzicka said "Hejduk's got a knee problem'' and was worried that could limit him. The coach said he decided to select eight defencemen and 12 forwards because the team would otherwise be "too attack-minded'' with 13 forwards.

"We had to name 23 players, not 40,'' said Ruzicka, who also left out former Detroit Red Wings forward Jiri Hudler.

Tomas Vokoun of the Florida Panthers will be the first-choice goalie, with Ondrej Pavelec of the Atlanta Thrashers his backup.

Goaltender:
Tomas Vokoun (Florida Panthers/NHL), Ondrej Pavelec (Atlanta Thrashers/NHL), Jakub Stepanek (Vitkovice/CZE).

Defense:
Miroslav Blatak (Salavat Yulaev Ufa/RUS), Jan Hejda (Columbus Blue Jackets/NHL), Tomas Kaberle (Toronto Maple Leafs/NHL), Filip Kuba (Ottawa Senators/NHL), Pavel Kubina (Atlanta Thrashers/NHL), Zbynek Michalek (Phoenix Coyotes/NHL), Roman Polak (St Louis Blues/NHL), Marek Zidlicky (Minnesota Wild/NHL).

Forward:
Petr Cajanek (Saint-Pétersbourg/RUS), Roman Cervenka (Slavia Prague/CZE), Patrik Elias (New Jersey Devils/NHL), Martin Erat (Nashville Predators/NHL), Tomas Fleischmann (Washington Capitals/NHL), Martin Havlat (Minnesota Wild/NHL), Jaromir Jagr (Avangard Omsk/NHL), David Krejci (Boston Bruins/NHL), Milan Michalek (Ottawa Senators/NHL), Tomas Plekanec (Canadiens de Montréal/NHL), Tomas Rolinek (Magnitogorsk/RUS), Josef Vasicek (Yaroslavl/RUS).

- With files from AFP