Hey, when did we turn into an Alex Ovechkin fanboy site? Good grief. Anyway, A.O. scored his 50th goal last night (for the third time), and celebrated by pretending to warm his hands over his burning stick. (It’s on fire! Get it?)
Apparently this didn’t sit well with a lot of people. Reactions among those opposed range from accusations of poor sportsmanship to lamenting a lack of violent retribution from Tampa players. Don Cherry is sure to foam at the mouth about it on Saturday. (Hey Grapes, ever wonder why no one talks about Sidney Crosby’s 50th goal celebrations? Because he’s never had one.)
My reaction is basically this: Who cares? The kid’s just having some fun. He just scored his 50th goal of the season. He’s in a class of his own. Yes, he’s prone to over-the-top goal celebrations. Even so, it isn’t like he does this kind of thing all the time. The NHL could use more characters like him. It would go a lot further toward promoting the game than shoving that wiener Crosby down our throats all the time.
Some people act as though Ovechkin’s antics are ruining the game. News flash: Gary Bettman is ruining the game. Stupid scheduling, ineffectual marketing, idiotic overtime rules – these things are all more important than how A.O. celebrates his goals. If you want to be outraged, do something useful and rail about one of those issues instead of getting your jockstrap in a knot over a goal celebration.
- The Sieve
I expect a few people on Tampa Bay to have something to say about it, and those guys seem to be the only hockey players crying about it. How about Sam Gagner getting super-excited when he scores his first career hat-trick when the Oilers are up 7-1? Of course Gagner’s going to celebrate! You didn’t hear the Avalanche whining about it afterwards.
Sorry you suck, Tampa.
I like it better when you talk about non-sports topics like road construction.