Hlinka
No, his English has not noticeably improved.
That is evident on a daily basis, but perhaps never moreso than with this gem of a quote following the Saturday loss to the Mighty Ducks: "I think it should be the stupid team on the other side if you can win the game and we gave them everything in the first period."
What he meant to say, of course, was that Anaheim would have had to play terribly to squander the early 3-0 lead the Penguins handed to them. But it could have been taken any number of ways, certainly by people involved with the Mighty Ducks.
This isn't to pick on anyone for not having exemplary command of English -- you can bet that Hlinka's English is, after all, better than most Pittsburghers' Czech -- but that's not what's important here. The issue is that Hlinka received orders from his bosses and did not follow them. Mario Lemieux and Craig Patrick made it abundantly clear after last season they wanted him to take lessons and, by his account, he did nothing more than watch videotapes at home.
That bit of borderline insubordination has not gone unnoticed by anyone associated with the Penguins.
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Q: I don't understand what Penguins management and Ivan Hlinka think they're accomplishing by pulling Johan Hedberg after just two games. If they want to see Hedberg live up to his incredible potential, the way to do it is let him absorb his losses and learn from them. How can he improve if he has to spend more time worrying about job security off the ice than improving his performance on the ice?
