Don Cherry blasts Ovechkin on HNIC

[phunky_monkey 6]

Agreed, good call.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/607178

[fieldofdreams 0]

Some have tried to imitate Williams' memorable stick ride, most recently his 6-year-old grandson, Ethan, in a tyke game.

"I said, `How did it feel?'" said Williams. "And he said, `Grampa, it hurt my privates.'"

Ha ha! Classic!

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalsi...-leag.html#more

More in the link, this is just a bit of it

Bruce Boudreau - first 3 questions answered by him

Q: You said after the game in Tampa that you were going to talk to Alex about the celebration. Why did you feel it was necessary?

A: "I didn't really think it. Everyone else thought it. We talked ...I didn't even see it at first. I just heard everyone was all ticked off at him and everything. And when I saw it, I didn't think it was that big a deal. Because I didn't think he was trying to show up Tampa. He was celebrating his 50th goal. If he scores his 60th or 70th, I would expect him to do something because they are very special events. Other than that, everything else he's ever done was spontaneous. That was a one-time thing. But I wanted to talk to him [about] the perception of other people. He had no idea that people would be upset

Q: Why do you [people] want to kill the joy in a game that could really use someone who is joyous and emotional and enthusiastic?

A: "As Canadians, we have a tendency to be real conservative. It was 25 years ago that we got mad at all the Russians because they never showed any emotion. Now they show emotion, and that they enjoy and love the game, and now we get mad at them again.

Q: What about in this town 30 years ago when Tiger Williams used to ride his stick down the ice?

A: That was a Leafs guys doing it, so everybody loved it. If it was a Leafs guys scoring his 50th goal, any celebration he did, they would have embraced it tremendously, I think."

Ron Wilson

Q: Why has Ovechkin's celebration received so much attention?

A: "Because you guys have nothing better to talk about, to be perfectly honest. I haven't heard or seen on ESPN in the United States a big deal about this. It's up here. And I think Bruce Boudreau is right; you've got to find something else to talk about.

...

I don't think anybody wants to see orchestrated things in this league

...

But seeing how exciting he is when he scores, I think we need more people like that. Just the exuberance. He looks like he loves what he's doing. I think that's very important and we need more players like that."

Q: So why the criticism of Ovechkin's goal last week:

A: "Personally, I think you're just pointing at yourself, 'Look at me, look at great I am.' I don't think you need to do that. I think your action on the ice speaks volumes. If you just scored a fantastic goal, I don't think you need to stand up ... you might as well carry a spotlight and put it on yourself. I think at times that's what's wrong with our society in general -- 'It's all about me.'"

[chippa13 1844]

Bruce and the interviewer have their facts cloudy. Williams rode the stick as a member of the Canucks and he did it once.

[RiSeOnFiRe 0]

Doesn't change the fact that he was still a leafs guy and he did it in toronto, not at home, which was a big point in the criticism of OV. and technically he did it twice, once after the goal and again during the 3 stars. How much would OV get lashed if he pulled a stunt during his star announcement. It's even more of a 'me me me' move.

[mrusse01 0]

Doesn't change the fact that he was still a leafs guy and he did it in toronto, not at home, which was a big point in the criticism of OV. and technically he did it twice, once after the goal and again during the 3 stars. How much would OV get lashed if he pulled a stunt during his star announcement. It's even more of a 'me me me' move.

It was also 30 years ago.

And the riding the stick is way funnier than what Ovechkin did.

And, it was Tiger Williams, not the best player in the world.

[RiSeOnFiRe 0]

Doesn't change the fact that he was still a leafs guy and he did it in toronto, not at home, which was a big point in the criticism of OV. and technically he did it twice, once after the goal and again during the 3 stars. How much would OV get lashed if he pulled a stunt during his star announcement. It's even more of a 'me me me' move.

It was also 30 years ago.

And the riding the stick is way funnier than what Ovechkin did.

And, it was Tiger Williams, not the best player in the world.

If its not good for the game, it makes no difference when it occurred.

So style points determine whether or not its acceptable in today's game? That's interesting.

And wouldn't the best player in the world have more right than any other player to celebrate?

[NuggyBuggy 0]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?...e=lebrun_pierre

Quotes from Ron Wilson, some of which was missing in an earlier post:

I think everybody has spoken their piece on what he did in Tampa," said Wilson when pressed on the issue. "I think, in general, I don't think anybody wants to see orchestrated things in this league. If that's why people watch the NFL, I don't think people are really on to what the NFL is all about. You're not waiting to see what the celebration in the end zone is going to be. But seeing how exciting he is when he scores, I think we need more people like that. Just the exuberance. He looks like he loves what he's doing. I think that's very important and we need more players like that.

And

"Well, I don't ever want to see a guy whip out a Sharpie, sign a stick and throw it in a crowd, or pick up the puck and do the same thing with it," said Wilson. "But getting in a big pile with all of your teammates, I think that's great. Skating down the ice and doing a pumpernickel or something like that, this stuff's been going on forever in the league since I can remember. Tiger Williams riding his stick ... I was thinking today, Mike Foligno doing the big jump in the air ... everybody is excited when they score. I think this has been blown way out of proportion. ...

What I don't get is this: if Ovechkin's celebrations are so disrepectful to other players, why has noone taken him out yet ? It's not like this is the first time players in the league have seen him celebrating. And if his 50-th goal celebration was such an unthinkable show of disrespect to players on Ovechkin's team as well as the opposing team, why didn't someone knock his block off the next time he stepped on the ice ?

When TO danced on the Cowboys star at midfield, George Teague made him pay immediately.

And, what were the players on the benches doing while this happened ? Were the opposing players foaming at the mouth ? Were Ovechkin's teammates laughing and smiling, or were they looking away or shaking their heads in disgust ? Seems to me that people are way more worked about this now in hindsight than the players themselves were in the heat of the moment, and noone was worked up enough to do anything about it. If anything, it seems obvious that Cherry bragging that his cluckings forced Ovechkin to tone things down had a role in this way-over-the-top celebration: Cherry himself put Ovechkin in a position where he HAD to do something ridiculous just to flip the bird at the old fart.

Much has been made about Mike Green's supposed refusal to be a part of the celebration, but who knows what that means. Ovechkin has claimed that he cooked up the idea *with* Green. I've been a part of many gags that I would be too embarassed to actually do myself, but laughed my head off at anyways. I could swear I saw a quote of Green's saying he thought it was great, but I can't find it now.

[mrusse01 0]

Doesn't change the fact that he was still a leafs guy and he did it in toronto, not at home, which was a big point in the criticism of OV. and technically he did it twice, once after the goal and again during the 3 stars. How much would OV get lashed if he pulled a stunt during his star announcement. It's even more of a 'me me me' move.

It was also 30 years ago.

And the riding the stick is way funnier than what Ovechkin did.

And, it was Tiger Williams, not the best player in the world.

If its not good for the game, it makes no difference when it occurred.

So style points determine whether or not its acceptable in today's game? That's interesting.

And wouldn't the best player in the world have more right than any other player to celebrate?

It's 30 years ago. If you have to go back 30 years to try and validate your argument, I think your argument is weak. I don't even get what the point of that article in The Star is? Ovechkin does some stupid celebration, so they write a story about someone else who did a stupid celebration thirty years ago?

I don't like any pre-planned celebrations, but as they go, Ovechkin's sucked. He looked dumb. Like I said, at least when Owens pulled the Sharpie out of his sock and signed the ball, it was original and hilarious.

I would think the best player in the world would be a little bit more used to scoring goals and would thus respond like he's been there before. Where were the giant celebrations when he scored 50 the last two seasons? What about 60 last year? Wayne Gretzky scored 60+ goals in the midst of a 51 game point scoring streak, THAT'S something to celebrate. Not just a random 50 goal season. Wow, congrats Alex, you are 43 goals behind Wayne for the single season record, way to go.

Much has been made about Mike Green's supposed refusal to be a part of the celebration, but who knows what that means. Ovechkin has claimed that he cooked up the idea *with* Green. I've been a part of many gags that I would be too embarassed to actually do myself, but laughed my head off at anyways. I could swear I saw a quote of Green's saying he thought it was great, but I can't find it now.

Defenceman Mike Green knew what to expect when Ovechkin reached the milestone, but he preferred to admire it from a distance.

"He told me he was going to do it," Green said. "He wanted me to join in, but there was no way I'd join in on that. I just kind of stood back and let him do what he does."

Sounds like Green really enjoyed it. Ovechkin is the meal ticket for that whole franchise, he could pull his pants down at centre ice and take a dump and nobody on the team is going to say boo.

[thecat1792 0]

How silly this whole thing is. These guys would rather watch a Chris Drury (paint drying) interview than a bit of emotion in the game. Every time I hear Drury speak I change the channel, but Ovie keeps me glued to the screen. How can this be bad? He didn't go over and taunt anyone. He wasn't obnoxious like T.O. Good for him for saying screw you to all the jealous haters.

[furlanitalia 1]

I dunno, I reffed a buddy a mine who got down and did pushups beside the net after scoring. Stuff like that aggravates the other team (whether intently or not) and takes away from the game. It'd be nice if he had kept it classy and maybe raised he stick or jumped into the glass, but showboating by yourself isn't all that impressive. Specially when your teammates skate away from you.

[sabres48 0]

I think were looking at this whole thing out of context; I mean we got people telling stories about throwing kids our of RH games for taunting and the post aboive mine talking about someone doing pushups. Look at this at the level its on. We arent talking about some rec roller league, or even a AAA travel team for that matter... were talking about the NHL. Maybe we have credited the post lockout style of play and rule changes for the apparent increase in scoring, which undoubtedley has had some effect. BUT, the point is the kid (Ovechkin) scores 50 goals in the TOUHGEST league in the world and were gonna criticize how he celebrates this milestone? (and if he did it every season it would still be a milestone eachyear) We're just being silly about it, and taking credit away from the kid.

And after reading this people ARENT suppose to find Canadians as self-enveloped?

"It was also 30 years ago.

And the riding the stick is way funnier than what Ovechkin did.

And, it was Tiger Williams, not the best player in the world. "

And this...

It's 30 years ago. If you have to go back 30 years to try and validate your argument, I think your argument is weak.

So in 30 years will what Ovechkin did be ok? Cause if thats the case than call me ahead of my time but...your arguments weak.

[Ahriman 1]

If anything, it seems obvious that Cherry bragging that his cluckings forced Ovechkin to tone things down had a role in this way-over-the-top celebration: Cherry himself put Ovechkin in a position where he HAD to do something ridiculous just to flip the bird at the old fart.

I've seen a lot of interviews with Ov, I've watched him play, I've watched the clip of him driving a stadium cart into a closing door, while I'm no expert, I'm pretty sure he's the Buddha of the NHL, he's very much in the moment, every moment, and I dont think he was thinking of Don Cherry when he thought that one up, or when he does anything at all.

I would think the best player in the world would be a little bit more used to scoring goals and would thus respond like he's been there before.

Alex is a hockey player who plays hockey, he loves the game he plays, he's not working a job, he's living a dream and enjoying every second of it. And that's what makes him better than guys who just have talent. He's gonna celebrate and you better get used to it.

Wayne Gretzky scored 60+ goals in the midst of a 51 game point scoring streak, THAT'S something to celebrate. Not just a random 50 goal season. Wow, congrats Alex, you are 43 goals behind Wayne for the single season record, way to go.

Gretzky played with entirely different goaltending in a league with different players and different rule set. Set Ovechkin back 30 years and I bet he scores 2 goals every game; Bring Gretzky to the present and I bet he his numbers wouldn't nearly be as impressive. No matter how you want to slice it, the record book lies, when the game changes as much as it has in the last 30 years you bet your ass it's gonna take awhile for some records to change; it doesn't make Ovechkin or any other future hall of fame caliber player less impressive.

Sounds like Green really enjoyed it. Ovechkin is the meal ticket for that whole franchise, he could pull his pants down at centre ice and take a dump and nobody on the team is going to say boo.

The zamboni driver wouldn't like it one bit. Now, if you're done dropping your own duces on Ovechkin....

[top 1974 0]

I have enjoyed reading the varied opinions in this post regarding the Great # 8 and his post goal celebrations. I did watch Washington/Toronto on TSN last night. They interviewed Alex after the first. The reporter repeatedly asked Ovechkin about the post goal celebration circus. Ovechkin made it very clear he wanted to talk about the game and his team and not talk about himself. He looked like a guy that had a gag order imposed on him. I like his exuberance after scoring goals, especilly launching himself into the glass. I think the "hot stick" celebration would have had a different result had the celebration occured in Boston, Philly or Vancouver.

Running the NHL's most valuable asset is sure to get you a few games at least, and that is why it has not happened.

I believe this will take care of itself one night when the ovechkin post goal "show" spurs the emotion for a comeback from the opposing team during a critical game/or time. Kinda like December 31st when team usa were dominating Canada and scored to go up 2-0 at the World Juniors. Jimmy Hayes skated by the Canadian players bench with his hand to his ear in an obvious taunt. That became the rally-ing point for team Canada who eventually came back and won.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

By the way, some of the caps (ovie, feds, semin, backstrom, steckel) usually play football (soccer) before the game in the corridor.

Last night, Ovechkin was wearing a "Coaches Corner" t-shirt, with the word "Respect" on the back.

So, perhaps now we can let it end, he gave cherry his tip of the cap

[psh 25]

I took the shirt to be another one of Ovechkin's good-natured jokes, but I agree, this should end.

I think it would be perfect if Cherry and Ovechkin agreed to do an interview during the 2nd period of a HNIC broadcast. They are so much alike that I can almost guarantee they would love each other and that it would be a great and funny interview. It would be like the Malkin reconciliation part II.

[furlanitalia 1]

I guess in all fairness this is the NHL and it is an accomplishment, he does deserve a celebration.

But I would love to see that interview!

[CaptainFantastik 0]

Personally, I don't really have too much of a reaction to the celebration itself. What gets the reaction from me is the common thread that i'm seeing from the people on various sites who love what he did that tries to make out like nobody in the league is having fun except Ovechkin. They act like the league is filled with zombies and robots who not only don't celebrate when they score, but act like they're at a funeral when they score. They act like Ovechkin is the only ray of light in an otherwise dim, dark, and drab league. I think that is ludicrous. Everybody in the NHL celebrates when they or their teammates score. They laugh, they hug their teammates, they jump up and down and pump their fists. They all do it. Ovechkin isn't the only one celebrating, but he seems to be the only one making a spectacle of himself. If people like what he does then that's fine, but at least call a spade a spade and don't act like he's the only one in the league having any fun or the only one playing with passion because there's literally no evidence to support that notion.

[furlanitalia 1]

@ CaptainFantastik - Totally agree. I think people are just tired of seeing phenoms like Crosby be so proper. A guy like Ovechkin has fun, jokes around and takes the game for what it is: a game. Don't get me wrong, I love all the stars in the game, it's just nice to see someone take it in stride and be relaxed without the worry of being the face of league.

(I know this contradicts my post a little while back about Ovy's celebration, while I'm still not over the top about it, reading these posts I have lightened up a bit)

[Jason Harris 31]

It's obvious there are layers of celebration.

1) Drew Carey on the Price Is Right when the guy won both showcases for only the second time ever. If anything, I think Carey's pulse rate slowed as he congratulated the guy.

2) Barry Sanders flipping a TD ball to the ref.

3) Any player(s) celebrating an accomplishment; i.e., their team scored or the pitcher struck out a batter in a tense situation. Even then, each sport has its etiquette of how much celebration is tolerated.

4) The "look-at-me" antics like TO on the Cowboys' star.

The problem many of us have is when 3 becomes 4. Even at an away rink, some people are cheering when a goal is scored, but when it's scored at home, the roar is deafening. Which leads to the question of, "If we're already celebrating with you for your accomplishment -- scoring a goal, setting a milestone, stuffing a breakaway, etc -- why do you need to call to our attention that we're supposed to cheer for you?"

Because that is exactly what look-at-me stunts are. Level 3 is celebrating, but Level 4 is a request for even more adulation or notoriety. The problem is self-aggrandizing has become so prevalent throughout pro sports that young players begin to look forward to the day when they can make the spotlight shine on them, completely ignoring the fact the spotlight is already shining on them.

Clearly, Ovechkin's latest antic was a Level 4, while his jumping on the glass is a 3+.

[chippa13 1844]

Strange sidenote: While I was in college, a girl I knew won both showcases.

[furlanitalia 1]

Only second time ever while Drew has been hosting right? I mean it has to have been done many times before, hasn't it?

But I agree with the difference between levels 3 and 4. Attention doesn't need to be called to a guy that is the best goal scorer in the league, even in an away arena. I'm sure there were a lot of fans there to see him.

[Jason Harris 31]

I

it again. I misunderstood. The guy hit his guess on the dot, which Drew Carey says hadn't happened since '72 or '73. The best part is Carey is speaking in a monotone.

[fieldofdreams 0]

Wow, monotone isn't the word. It almost sounds like Carey is pissed.... like the prize money comes out of his pocket or something. Why can Drew Carey get a game show and Howard Stern can't?