Hockey-crazed Europeans? Czech.

Byline: EMMA NELSON-MUNSON 20Below News Team / The Register-Guard

The first question for me on the first day of school in the Czech Republic.

"Do you like hockey?"

"Umm ...,' came my unsure answer, "don't really know much about the sport."

"Well, what about Jagr?"

"Who's Jagr?" was my daft reply.

Hockey, as I was soon to learn, is as big a part of Czech culture as the beer. Not only do they have amazing hockey teams in the Czech Republic, but many native Czechs are star players on National Hockey League teams.

These findings helped explain the country's fascination with the sport - a fascination that has rubbed off on me a little.

The Olympics really gave me my first taste of hockey. You don't have to be an avid Czech hockey fan to get excited about the national pastime.

Even those few Czechs I met who hate sports (such as my host sister) eagerly told me that the Czechs won the Olympic gold medal in Nagano, Japan, four years ago, lost to the Russians at the World Championships the year after, and then went on to win the next three World Championships.

Hockey is so big that the final games of the Olympics are broadcast on a huge screen in Old Town Square in Prague, where thousands of Czechs gather to support their boys. I needed to begin paying more attention to this sport, I concluded.

I started by watching the preliminary games, even though neither the Czechs nor the Americans were playing. I wanted to root for the Slovaks, the Czech Republic's southern neighbor, but was sadly disappointed when they gave a horrible performance.

The Slovaks were part of the Czech Republic during the gold medal run four years ago, and I wondered how they could manage to do so badly. But I learned that the Slovaks had very little practice time together - players coming over from the NHL had little or no knowledge of how to play with their teammates and had to adjust to the larger Olympic hockey rink.

I became an avid hockey watcher during the Olympics and followed the standings on the Internet. I paid particular attention to the U.S. and Czech teams, hoping that one of my countries would come out on top.

But watching the games took its toll. I would get about three hours of sleep a night because the games were showed live; I faithfully watched games that started at 10 p.m., midnight, 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.

I set my alarm and watched the small TV in my bedroom (often to my host sister's dismay, because we share the bedroom). But she watched when the Czechs were playing.

My Czech friends were more than willing to inform me about hockey trivia. I learned that all of the Olympic hockey pucks (about 8,000) were manufactured in the southern Czech Republic.

I also picked a favorite player: Jaromir Jagr. Jagr wears No. 68, chosen for the year his grandfather was killed when the Russians marched into the Czech Republic. I even bought a messenger bag that displays the number.

Jagr is a tall man with good looks and a deep voice, and a magician on the ice. I often debated my host sister, who thought Czech goalie Dominik Hasek was a better player. But we never doubted the Czechs would take gold.

I watched the game with Canada positive the Czechs would come out on top, but I was surprised when the game ended in a tie. I called a Canadian friend, who lives in Prague, to tell her that the Czechs were merely going easy on the poor maple-leafers.

I also started to worry about the strong Swedish team. Coincidentally, I had just dyed my hair blue around the edges (it was blond), which brought the inevitable comments that I looked like the Swedish flag. But my fears quickly ended when the Swedes lost to Belarus in a surprising upset.

With Sweden out, how could the Czechs lose? All they had to do was beat Russia and they'd be on their way to gold. But they couldn't take Russia, losing in a bitter nail-biter, 1-0.

My hopes were then placed on the Americans, who eventually won silver. Not bad, but not gold.

Sure enough, I heard from my Canadian friend, who proudly walked around in her "Canada" sweatshirt for a week to celebrate her team's gold medal.

But I'm hanging on to my Czech hockey team jersey and scarf; they'll come in handy in four years. I expect the players will be different at the next Olympics, but I know my loyalties will still be the same.

Emma Nelson-Munson is a junior at Sheldon High who is studying in the Czech Republic this year. She can be reached by e-mail at [e-mail].