| Oilers
announce that the German Ice Hockey Federation has decided that center
Jochen
Hecht will not compete for Germany in the qualifying round of the Olympic
Hockey Tournament. The Oilers' press release reads:
The
German Ice Hockey Federation has announced Jochen Hecht will not participate
in the qualifying round of the Olympic Hockey Tournament because of the
number of games he would have to play on consecutive days.
The
Edmonton Oilers had given Hecht permission to participate in the German
qualifying game against Slovakia on February 9th, however, with Oiler games
slated on February 7th in St. Louis, February 8th in Dallas and February
10th in Phoenix, he would have had to play four games in four days. The
schedule would also have forced Hecht to fly for three hours on the day
of the qualifying game in Salt Lake City, play the afternoon contest, and
then fly back to Phoenix that night.
The
Director of Sport for the German Ice Hockey Federation, Franz Reindl says
Hecht would have been exhausted and may have placed himself in physical
jeopardy by participating. Reindl says, "We really appreciate the Edmonton
Oilers allowing us to use Jochen, but the circumstances had us all agreeing
that it would not be possible for Jochen to play. We, of course, will still
welcome Jochen on the German team in the event we qualify."
Oilers'
General Manager Kevin Lowe says he is disappointed that Hecht will not
be able to participate in the qualifier, but agrees with the decision made
by Jochen and the German Federation.
Hecht
says he would have loved to play in the game, but says it would have been
next to impossible for him to play at a top level with four games in four
days in four different cities. He has wished his team every success, and
looks forward to participating in the Olympic Games in the event the German
team qualifies. |
