Don Cherry blasts Ovechkin on HNIC

[Neal 41]

This just in from the newsroom, pro sports are entertainment.

This just in from the newsroom, Don Cherry is an entertainer whose job it is to state opinions in a way that draws attention to his product.

His product is not hockey. His product is his intermission show and HNIC.

He has done a fine job drawing attention with his recent statements.

DarkStar50 is right, this is all entertainment and everyone involved are entertainers.

[minwookie 0]

This just in from the newsroom, pro sports are entertainment.

This just in from the newsroom, Don Cherry is an entertainer whose job it is to state opinions in a way that draws attention to his product.

His product is not hockey. His product is his intermission show and HNIC.

He has done a fine job drawing attention with his recent statements.

DarkStar50 is right, this is all entertainment and everyone involved are entertainers.

Great point.

The fact that so many people have already voiced their opinions backing OV proves something. Cherry, however idiotic he may come off, has one job, to fill space. Not to do anything constructive.

The OV haters will always hate OV (cough chippa), just like the Crosby fanboys will always hold their ground. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, it's just that some get to voice theirs on national TV.

I will state my opinion: anyone who doesn't think OV is good for the sport is very wrong.

[sniper#8 0]

also a good example of ovechkins good attitude is in the playoffs in game seven when they lost he couldve just went in the locker room and let the fans leave even more disapointed but he stayed on the ice and saluted the fans which i cant see crosby doin or many players in the leauge for that matter

(just a thought)

[chippa13 1844]

This just in from the newsroom, pro sports are entertainment.

This just in from the newsroom, Don Cherry is an entertainer whose job it is to state opinions in a way that draws attention to his product.

His product is not hockey. His product is his intermission show and HNIC.

He has done a fine job drawing attention with his recent statements.

DarkStar50 is right, this is all entertainment and everyone involved are entertainers.

Great point.

The fact that so many people have already voiced their opinions backing OV proves something. Cherry, however idiotic he may come off, has one job, to fill space. Not to do anything constructive.

The OV haters will always hate OV (cough chippa), just like the Crosby fanboys will always hold their ground. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, it's just that some get to voice theirs on national TV.

I will state my opinion: anyone who doesn't think OV is good for the sport is very wrong.

Great, now I'm labeled a hater. Fabulous. Criticize one part of a player and suddenly you hate that guy. I hope I never have you on a jury.

Is Overchkin good for the game? Yes. He is one of the top players, if not the top player, in the league (another discussion for another day). He hits, he scores, he is an exciting player. However, celebrating every goal like it is the game 7, overtime, Cup winner is something I don't see as useful. The fact that some here support him for going over-the-top doesn't prove anything. There is such a thing as the vocal minority. Some are doing so just because they can't stand Cherry, which is quite understandable. Most of what the guy says is rubbish. That said, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[OTHockey96 0]

The only reason Cherry says this bull at all is b/c Bobby Orr never used to celebrate much when he made entire NHL teams look like a joke. He should shut up about this though, b/c when you see Ovie play, and a lot of great Canadian/US guys, THEY LOVE HOCKEY AND THIS IS HOW THEY SHOW IT. If Cherry loves hockey as much as I think he does, he should just shut his trap and smile like the rest of us. I was never known for making a big deal when I scored, but I loved my teammates who were bigger personalities than me, that did the same kind of crap as Ovie....gives the team some life, some extra jump.

BTW - Bobby Orr wasn't human, therefore had no need of showing human emotion like the rest of us, Cherry should know this

[dsjunior1388 81]

The fact that so many people have already voiced their opinions backing OV proves something. Cherry, however idiotic he may come off, has one job, to fill space. Not to do anything constructive.

The OV haters will always hate OV (cough chippa), just like the Crosby fanboys will always hold their ground. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, it's just that some get to voice theirs on national TV.

I will state my opinion: anyone who doesn't think OV is good for the sport is very wrong.

We're 6 pages in. Cherry did his job

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

Hey I think what we are all forgetting here is that Ovechkin is still a kid...he's only 23.

It's comparable to when i got online and my home page is yahoo and people were criticizing Miley Cyrus for he dress at whatever it was..it was like come on she is still a child, there is no reason for people to critique what she wears..if i would say how unflattering another girls dress was out loud who was her age her parents would be all over my ass...we have to remember myself even being younger than Ovechkin, he is still growing up...

[chippa13 1844]

Age has nothing to do with this discussion. How does Patrice Bergeron celebrate a goal?

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

How does it not?

[chippa13 1844]

Go back to reading Teen Beat. You might get what I'm saying, eventually.

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

Dude I get what you're saying but Ovechkin plays the game with passion as younger plays tend to do. How bout you come up with a better argument other than the fact it doesn't bring in fans, cause I think you are obviously wrong, how many sellouts does Washington have since Ovechkin got there?

[chippa13 1844]

Has to be the goal celebrations. It can't be the fact that he is a great player and the team is second in the Conference.

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

Why are they good? Because he scores and is a threat on the ice and other people on his team score...People go to games to see him play.

Just like your arguments about billiards and bowling arent popular is because not everyone finds watching those entertaining. And I'm pretty sure after most strikes and nice shots in billiards people are celebrating. Like everyone has already stated he isnt disrespecting the other team by taunting them by pulling out a sharpie and signing the puck or throwing it in their face, he's celebrating because he loves to score and loves when his teammates score

[dsjunior1388 81]

Dude I get what you're saying but Ovechkin plays the game with passion as younger plays tend to do. How bout you come up with a better argument other than the fact it doesn't bring in fans, cause I think you are obviously wrong, how many sellouts does Washington have since Ovechkin got there?

Absolutely not an age thing. Passion for hockey is loving goal scoring at 23 like Ovie. Passion is also Chris Chelios Spending his summer in beautiful Malibu claifornia, surrounded by clelebrity friends, at age 46, and still riding an exercise bike in a sauna, even though everyone thought he should have retired in 2002.

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

Those arent even comparable...goal scoring to riding a bike in the sauna which is for staying in shape and the body

Two separate types of passion

[chippa13 1844]

You're all over the map here. What exactly are you answering in my post with this?

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

Everything is just gonna keep going in circles, so i'm just gonna stop arguing.

Don Cherry did what he gets paid to do. Which is why so many people like him, he's controversial and mildly entertaining. He'll come back probably with an apology like he always does when he rags on a player.

[chippa13 1844]

Everything is just gonna keep going in circles, so i'm just gonna stop arguing.

Don Cherry did what he gets paid to do. Which is why so many people like him, he's controversial and mildly entertaining. He'll come back probably with an apology like he always does when he rags on a player.

Doubtful, Ovechkin is a Euro AND wears a visor. Two strikes against in Cherry's head.

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

Everything is just gonna keep going in circles, so i'm just gonna stop arguing.

Don Cherry did what he gets paid to do. Which is why so many people like him, he's controversial and mildly entertaining. He'll come back probably with an apology like he always does when he rags on a player.

Doubtful, Ovechkin is a Euro AND wears a visor. Two strikes against in Cherry's head.

Haha and don't forget he's not on a Canadian team...strike 3..

[dsjunior1388 81]

Those arent even comparable...goal scoring to riding a bike in the sauna which is for staying in shape and the body

Two separate types of passion

You work your ass off to keep playing a game because you love it above everything else. You jump gleefully into hard plexiglass and pump your fist like a maniac because you love what you do. Accountants don't pump their fists and they certainly dont crunch numbers in a sauna. thats passion.

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

Those arent even comparable...goal scoring to riding a bike in the sauna which is for staying in shape and the body

Two separate types of passion

You work your ass off to keep playing a game because you love it above everything else. You jump gleefully into hard plexiglass and pump your fist like a maniac because you love what you do. Accountants don't pump their fists and they certainly dont crunch numbers in a sauna. thats passion.

Again two completely different types of passion. The passion you show on the ice is because of the energy from the game, the passion that Chelios shows is dedication to the sport...like i said two different types of passion

He maybe should think about just calling it quits he isnt helping the Wings at all.

[rinkrat94 1]

Getting excited and celebrating hard when the score is close is one thing, but Ovy even does it during a big lead or when he's trailing big. He's a clown and you can love him or hate him for it. But nevertheless, he is a clown and sometimes leads us to think that he enjoys the crowds attention more than he loves the game.

These words were written about Ovechkin, but I think they apply perfectly to Cherry. The best comparison to Cherry is Rush Limbaugh. While he purports to be taking part in the political dialog on a serious level, he is really just a bigoted, nationalistic, self-promoter. He can claim to be upholding certain ideals, but at the end of the day, he is doing nothing but increasing his own celebrity. And, at the end of the day, the political discourse is harmed by that. The same can be said of Cherry--he never turns down the opportunity to denegrate Europeans (or even French Canadians) or those who wear visors. His heart must have broken when Crosby showed up with a visor.

Cherry (and Limbaugh) is a tremendously entertaining guy, and I can't help but watch him on occasion, but he is a bigoted ignoramous who doesn't love hockey--he just loves his tiny, blinkered, outdated version of it. I have to say, it makes me happy to think about the depression Cherry must have felt when a European captain won the Cup last year and how he must feel to know that Europeans will win the points and goal scoring titles this year. That weekly venom he spits out every week is coming back at him hard. The greatest irony is that the game's success and growth is what he is ranting against. And the game, in its success, is leaving him far behind. Good riddance little angry ignorant man. The game will be far better off without you.

Well said, the game is much better off without idiots like cherry.

[cdoug55 0]

Everything is just gonna keep going in circles, so i'm just gonna stop arguing.

Don Cherry did what he gets paid to do. Which is why so many people like him, he's controversial and mildly entertaining. He'll come back probably with an apology like he always does when he rags on a player.

Doubtful, Ovechkin is a Euro AND wears a visor. Two strikes against in Cherry's head.

Yeah I think this topic has been beat to death. To each his own. But what is it about visors that he doesn't like? Sorry haven't heard about that before. Does he think its like a pansy move or does he just not like the tinted or mirrored visors?

[Larry54 243]

First, let's get some facts straight about Don Cherry, and let's back up our statements with facts.

He may hate european style of hockey but he doesn't hate Europeans. I remember him on several occasions praising some European players though they played north american style hockey. The most recent example I can site is on Coach's Corner Feb.21 2009. Go see it on the cbc.ca website and see how he praises Kiprusoff.

And about him hating the French, he once said that Vincent Lecavalier was one of his favorite players. The french media like to twist what he says because it sells newspapers just like they twisted Lindros' words. When Lindros said he didn't want to play in Quebec (city because of Marcel Aubut) the french press wrote that he said he didn't want to play in the province of Quebec as if he didn't like its french population. The quebec press are great at that kind of stuff for selling newspapers. In fact Lindros said he would have played in Montreal if possible.

Cherry doesn't hate players with visors, only players who fight with visors on. If you actually watched the Coach's Corner you would know that, because that's exactly what he said on a recent telecast. Even Gretzky agrees with him on that one.

Sure, sometimes he says stupid things but they're never as hateful as what media sensationalization makes it out to be. So let's be grown-up and stop making unfounded accusations and stick to the facts.

[CH_Hockey12 0]

I personally really enjoy Cherrys' coaches corner segments. He speaks his mind on his topics, even though it is not always well received. This is what he is paid to do, and there certainly is no reason for him to stop.

Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, his just happen to be on national television. He is a very educated analyst, but speaks more of his personal opinions.

I do not agree on his opinion on Ovechkin. Its "refreshing" to see a player so happy to score a goal. The passion, and love for the game, can really be seen through him. When I see someone react like that goal was nothing, it reminds me that their being paid to do this, so they don't really care. If hes so happy to score a goal, imagine when he gets his shot with the cup.