Jaromir Jagr (c) Sovsport.Ru

The famous Czech player Jaromir Jagr is to continue his career in the Russian KHL team “Avangard” (which are also called “Hawks”). He has signed a one-year contract with the club, the official Avangard website reports.

Meanwhile, a Russian sports site Sovsport.Ru has published an article about what people in Omsk think about Jaromir after the dramatic final at IIHF Worlds. Russia lost all the chances after a Russian player “broke the rules” on Jagr and was sent off. Later the referees admitted their mistake, but the Czech Republic had become the new world champion.

The reporter took several pictures of Jagr and walked around Omsk with them.

REPORTAGE shop

- This is Jaromir Jagr, – said a salesman, – only a shaved one. We haven’t seen him for a long time. I think he was here last summer – he bought training shoes for 5 thousand rubles [~$160]. The ordinary shoes, even I can afford them.

GLAMOUR cafe

Jagr has a club card there and often visits their strip-hall.

- Jagr is a bit tired from this fame. He comes to us with his Czech fellow players and sits in the corner, – said the senior club administrator Larissa.

- He never ran close to the stage, but girls danced in his zone. Jagr often asked a girl named Lyalya for her private dancing, – said a manager.

- Before the world champs Jagr came here and was very disappointed. He told me: Lyalya! You’re pretty, you should dance! This is it, I say, I don’t dance anymore. But how come, he answers, you must dance, you’re so beautiful and such a good girl! And I’m not in dancing for only a month. I danced for three years, and I miss it. I danced for Jaromir three or four times during nights, – said Lyalya, a former dancer, who is now one of the managers.

CAR WASH

- The man from your photo is always in a hurry. When we wash his car, he never goes out. IS THIS JAGR??? I saw him on ice, but didn’t find anything common with our client. What shall we do now? To shout “Avangard is the champion” the next time? – asked a car washer.

SUPERMARKET “ASTOR”

- Jagr comes to us almost every midnight, he lives in a 9-storey block of flats. He has a discount card (7% off), his usual purchase is 300 rubles (~$10). He takes a small basket and takes children cake cheeses, five or six bottles of pure water, honey, jam, chocolate, and then he goes to bacon and sausages department, – said a security guard.

- Sure we know him, – smiles a saleswoman in the department. – His favorite weight is 300g, he always experiments, takes various sorts of bacon or sausages. Perhaps, Jaromir hasn’t yet found his bacon?

BEER RESTAUTANT “At Svejk”

- The favorite Jagr’s dish is the one with special cheese, Czech schnitzel with chicken and mashed potatoes, he can have two courses at a time, – said a waitress Julia. – Jagr both orders stuff to his home and has lunches here with his girlfriend Inna and a friend Nicas. He usually sits in the very corner with his back to the door, eats very fast and rushes out. He spent here a lot of time only once or twice. Jagr is friends with our Czech chef. When Jaroslav Psota was here, he was told ‘Jaromir has come!’, and he made special courses for the player. Now Jaroslav is back in Czech Republic. But when Jagr is back, the chef is back, too!

All the people of Omsk on the “Jagr route”, marks the reporter, were surprisingly good-willed to the Czech star. And in spite of the sad result of the IIHF final [for Russia] they’re waiting for Jaromir in autumn.

Photo: Jaromir Jagr by Sovsport.Ru

The Hockey Goddesses have thrown their hats into the ring, dropped the gloves, gone mano-a-mano … er, well, something like that, to bring you our Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey predictions. (We’d have done women’s hockey too, but were a little late in starting and they’ve already played too many games — given us a bit too much of a preview.)

So, herewith, and without consulting one another are our picks — a few bold ones in there. We’ve also picked our tournament MVP and a players we expect to surprise you — maybe for good or bad. Amy selected two possible MVPs — we’ll let her get away with that, but just this once. She also selected a second set of winners — BEEP — not gonna happen. You gotta go with your gut. So for the purposes of this table, it’s first instincts. For the record, Goddess Amy said her table would look different if the goalies wigged and stunk. For the purposes of our exercise, we are assuming everyone is firing on all cylinders. Maybe we’ll do the all-oops team picks tomorrow. Ha ha!

Anyway, let’s see who comes closest … and see if you agree with our picks. If not, tell us why.