Translations by Tomas Jandik
Jagr about the death of the teammate (Interview with 'MF Dnes' daily) - 15-Oct-08
http://hokej.idnes.cz/jagr-o-smrti-spoluhrace-alexej-prijel-sedl-si-a-umrel-pcf-/evropa.asp?c=A081014_172441_evropa_ald

Q: Can you even describe how you feel?
A: It's extremely tough to talk about it. That shock is indescribable. I was close to Alexei. He was tremendously talented. A guy who constantly worked hard to improve.

Q: How did it happen?
A: Liosha got off the ice, sat on the bench. And died. {A long pause} We still don’t understand it. Something must have been very wrong with him. Otherwise it’s simply not possible.

Q: They say that substandard medical assistance was to be blamed.
A: I can’t comment on that. Based on what I saw, the doctors did a good job. I can’t blame anybody.

Q: Russian journalists initially claimed that he died after colliding with you.
A: Nothing like that ever happened. I don’t understand where it came from. Maybe somebody wanted to get attention and put name Jagr in the headline.

Q: So just a media blunder.
A: It could not even happen that way. I don't even play alongside Liosha. We are both right wings. Well – he was a right wing… {silence}. It’s terrible. Infuriating.

Q: Will you and your team even practice after such a tragedy?
A: I absolutely don’t know. We just got back to Omsk. I have no idea what will happen.

Q: Won’t the death of your friend take a desire to play hockey away from you?
A: You know what? That is…{looks for words} How to answer that? It's nothing pleasant, that's for sure. You constantly recollect this. Again and again. Just a few hours ago the guy was sitting next to you in the locker room, laughed and made jokes. And now he is gone.

Q: Can that pain even go away?
A: Hopefully time will heal it. Even though – I really don’t know. Hard to say.

Q: Is this the worst thing associated with hockey that ever happened to you?
A: Definitely. In addition, when you get older, you take those things differently.

Q: What do you mean?
A: Well, I don’t know whether I expressed myself correctly now. Things like that are hard to compare. I remember when I still played in the Czechoslovak league for Kladno, we went to play a match in the city that was called Gottwaldov at that time. It was the first game of the home team after their d-man Ludek Cajka died while playing hockey.

Q: That happened in 1990, in Kosice.
A: Yes, precisely. But Cajka’s death was something completely different. He was covering an icing at full speed, and hit the board with his head. Something happened. There was a clear reason.

Q: And this time the reason for the tragedy was not clear at a first sight.
A: Exactly. I can’t comprehend it at all. I’ll repeat myself: it’s horrible. Indescribably.

Tomas Jandik is the resident Czech on LetsGoPens.com and is a man who unifies all the goodies of the American dream - meaning, of course, being a Pitt graduate, a Razorback, and a Penguins fan.

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