44 // VARSITY January 30, 2014
Pavelski's wife will be going, but not his parents.
"They will be home cheering," he said. "I know some
people are staying back because of it (potential se-
curity issues). But it's really out of our control. We're
expecting the Russians to put on a great Olympics."
What can Pavelski take
from Vancouver that might
have application in Sochi?
"Obviously just the whole
experience of being in the
Olympics ― just going
through it (once)," he said.
"The locker room (setup)
might not be ideal, your
stretch area might not be
ideal.
"There are different
things where you're not going to have what you're
kind of used to (in the NHL), so you just have to be
flexible and when game time comes you have to be
ready. You have to take as much as you can from
your normal routine and find a way to get it done."
Pavelski, who had 28 goals through 53 games
with the Sharks (his career high is 31), is focused,
for now, on playing out the rest of the schedule be-
fore the NHL breaks for the Olympics. The league
will not stage any games be-
tween Feb. 8 and Feb. 24.
San Jose will play Colum-
bus on Feb. 7 and Pavelski
will fly to Sochi on Feb. 9.
Team USA will open play
against Slovakia on Feb. 13.
It's going to be a whirlwind.
"Having already played on
the same team (in Vancou-
ver) with a lot of these guys,"
he said, "you've gotten to
know them a little better."
Pavelski can speak for Decker when he says "we
want to do better than a silver medal."
That's the gold, or rather the goal.
"That's what the Olympics bring. It
was cool being a part of Team USA (in
Vancouver)," said Pavelski. "You work
hard to hopefully get recognized over
your career and to play and perform
for your country on a stage like that,
it's pretty special."
AP
PHOTO
/
HANS
DERYK
