‘94 Winter Olympic Games / Lillehammer : NOTEBOOK

Swedish defenseman Tomas Jonsson has a chance to become only the second player ever to win an Olympic gold medal and have his name on the Stanley Cup. Jonsson, who played on the New York Islanders’ Stanley Cup championship teams in 1982 and ‘83, can share the distinction with by Ken Morrow, who won a gold medal with the U.S. in 1980 at Lake Placid and was a member of the Islanders’ four Cup-winning teams.

“For a European guy, an Olympic gold medal is really big,” said Jonsson, who assisted on Sweden’s first goal Sunday. “There is no comparison.”

But to win that medal, Jonsson said Sweden will have to improve its play over its tournament-opening effort Sunday. Sweden fell behind Slovakia, 3-2, before scoring twice in the third period. A goal by Roman Kontsek with 5:48 to play brought Slovakia even.

*

Peter Forsberg, the Swedish center who signed a three-year, $6.9-million (Canadian) contract with the Nordiques, did not impress one knowledgeable observer Sunday.

“He doesn’t play every night,” said Finnish center Raimo Helminen, who plays against Forsberg in the Swedish Elite League. “Some nights he’s not so good.”

Although widely rated the best young player in the world, Forsberg has also been criticized for being inconsistent. He played well at the Izvestia tournament in December, but was not a factor in the pre-Olympic Globen Cup competition in Sweden. His future Nordique teammates have publicly groused about the money given him by Quebec’s management, creating the potential for discord.

“I feel sorry for him,” said his teammate, Jonsson. “There’s too much pressure on him for a guy who’s only 21. He’s going to be a great hockey player, but it’s tough for him.”

*

Mikko Makela is hoping to catch the eye of NHL general managers and scouts at the Olympics and get an offer to return to the NHL.

“I want to go back there, that’s no secret. If I play good here and in the world championships, maybe that will open some doors for me,” said Makela, who had a 36-goal season for the Islanders in 1987-88 but never became the prolific scorer they though he would. He had seven goals in 45 games with the Kings in 1989-90 before being traded to Buffalo.

Makela’s Finnish team, seeded seventh, opened the Olympics with a 3-1 upset of the Czech Republic, which is seeded third. That has made Finland a new medal favorite. The Finns play Russia today.

“It’s going to be tough for us, playing two good teams right away, but we’re all excited about playing Russia,” he said. “I think they have a good team. Always in Russia the margin was really small between their (worst) team and first team. Now, maybe the margin is a little bigger, but they’re still a good team. Four or five teams can win here, and I think we have a strong team.”

Finland’s best Olympic showing was a silver medal in 1988.

*

Being chosen the first flag-bearer in Slovakia’s first Olympic appearance was beautiful,” said Peter Stastny, the former Quebec Nordique and New Jersey Devil standout.

“It wasn’t only spectacular, it was a lifetime experience,” he said.

The only achievement he could imagine that might surpass it would be for Slovakia to win an Olympic game here, an accomplishment it narrowly missed Sunday in a 4-4 tie with Sweden. Slovakia is seeded 12th in the 12-team Olympic field. Sweden is seeded second.

“We could have won, but I’ll take it,” said Stastny, who scored Slovakia’s third goal. “I’m very proud today.”

Slovakia became an independent nation in July, 1992, and was not represented at the 1993 World Championships. Stastny, a fervent backer of Slovakian independence, agreed to represent the new country last fall even though he was 37 and had planned to return to Quebec this season.

“You have to understand, we were over 1,000 years out of independence,” he said. “During World War II we had five years of a Slovak state, but that was all. . . .

“All my dreams came true. To carry the flag, play for my national team and helping the country enjoy the sport, that’s very, very special to me.”