Is Alexander Ovechkin just making a fool of himself now?

Question

What kind of a celebration was that? Somebody please provide the video clip. His antics are brutal.






How about the post game interview? Going on about Cherry and "Coach's Room"? I don't doubt some of his teammates are starting to question him now. I'm wondering if Bruce Boudreau will defend him with the same vigor this time around?

Coach's "Room" should be pretty interesting this week-end!


A question in honour of Ovechkin's selfishness...........WHO was the most selfish player you can remember in the game?

Have a nice day.

Thank You.

Answer 1

Yes. Most people on here know who I am, and how I feel about Ovechkin, and no matter how much I love him and 99.9 percent of his celebrations he crossed the line this time. I don't think he intended to offend anyone at all, he gets positive feed back for celebrations and wanted to do something new. I wish he hadn't chosen to do that largely because the goalie he scored it against is new to the league and that can be a real shot to his confidence.



I think some of this is to **** off Don Cherry who quite frankly is a huge tool, and is becoming the Bill O'riely of hockey, but I would like to see Ovechkin not reduce himself whenever someone wants to show off what classless, buzz kill they are. (btw my hatred for Cherry isn't because of his comments on Ovechkin, but how he treats all European players).



Now do I think this is the end of the world? A factor in his MVP candidacy, or the most outragouse thing done on the ice? Hell no. However, if he continues that kind of celebration those things might change.

Answer 2

Hi



I somehow knew this would be brought up. In fact I almost came on here to find you and send you a message saying this one was over the top. Here is the thing though, you can think your hero, Don Cherry. Basicly Cherry is the driving force behind this. Ovechkin reminds me a lot of a kid in their early twenties with no respect for authority figures and "the institutions." The more Cherry rags on him, the more he is going to do. It is all a big middle finger and FU. Honestly, I can't blame him. Cherry gives him no respect, a lot of people don't actually, so why should he conform to them. I have a comment though, how is it ok for Cherry to personally attack him, yet he can't retort. Another thought, how good is this for hockey. Young Gun takes on the man. Bring in the young kids, get the old men watching. Its WWF style and we all can see how well that has done. Reality is this is nice clean drama, draws attention to the sport, draws attention to Cherry's points, draws attention to a young star. Imagine if (insert any of 100 foot ball players here) had had a war of words with Madden instead of doing something stupid. NFL would have loved it. This is almost as good as 50cents marketing team and him getting in some trouble and having some beef with someone before an album is released. You couldn't script it any better going into the play offs, and if Ovie makes it to the finals, which i doubt, could be even bigger. The league may not chose to market him the same as other players, but he is going to draw positve attention anyway.



As for the honourary question, Yashin without a doubt, in my mind



Thank You



ps I add the following else where and thought it worth sharing



I have an adage older the Cherry, "If you don't like it stop him." He went around 3 Tampa guys and a goalie. Not one of those three went for the body. The real story shouldn't be his celebration, but the lack of defense now a days. An ole fashion solid hip check at the blue line would have muted the whole story nice, cleanly, and most importantly legally.



pss Bob, it was a little jab more to do with your common interest or should it be disinterest. I do realise you disagree with him more then you agree.



Oh and to reinterate my point, the more I watch the replay the more I can't believe not one of the three Tampa players made a move. To me that should be the real talk here not the celebration. What happened to the days of hip check. When did they start coaching player to allow free access to your own zone. Three guys back and all give up the blue line like it was Avery's sloppy seconds. Tocchet seemes to be full of a lot of hot air to me, he had 50 minutes to punish Ovechkin and his guys did nothing. Heads should have rolled in that locker room in the first intermission if he was so fired up about it.

Answer 3

This isn't the first time Boudreau has been displeased with what he believes is overcelebrations, I recall a similar incident where they all mobbed Fedorov after he scored a goal while down 5-2 against Carolina a couple weeks ago or so (even though it looked like he fell down). Celebrating is a part of the game, and AO clearly has a passion for the game. I haven't seen the clip you are referring to yet, so I can't really say yes or no. If it was overexcessive, NFL style, then I'll agree.

Answer 4

Not any worse than Tiger Williams riding the stick, Selanne's duck hunting, Theoren Fleury's slide, or any of Eddie Shack's old antics. The difference is that he was able to get away with it.

Maybe he was lucky that Robbie has retired, O'B was traded away and Paul was out with an injury. None of these "local" boys would have put up with this foolishness.

Answer 5

It isn't like he never scored 50 goals in a season before. He even says that Cherry will be pissed off. Old coach, old system. He also says he didn't do it to get back at Cherry.



http://capitals.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=-5&id=37189



I'm sure many will disagree, but my nominee for selfish is Alexei Kovalev, just because of the faking injuries in the playoffs. Help your team and finish the shift. The second time he did it, it cost his team.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNK-5SuB5x8

Answer 6

I was honestly someone who didn't mind any of Ovechkin's celebrations...until now. This is seriously pushing it. I understand he is showing excitement for when he scores but what he's doing now is ridiculous. I haven't seen the post game interview but from what your describing it just looks like he's seeking attention. If Don Cherry doesn't mention this at all I will be shocked.



I think anybody who holds out based on contract disputes is pretty selfish because there not being a team player. Especially when they don't play for about half of the season. In my opinion it shows lack of respect towards your fans and your team mates.

Answer 7

That was pretty cheesy.. I think he is doing that more to mock Grapes and Syd, than anything else. If Syd's head is all into what Ovechkin is doing, he is not on top of his own game. Plus, when they meet, Ovechkin will be in his head even more. Myself, I dont like it. But I know I will be watching Caps/Pens the next time around. I guess any attention is good attention, in this case anyways.

Answer 8

Okay, if he is going to do the stupid celebrations he has to get an appointment with T. Owens to work on his act. That was pretty lame.



I don't mind the over the top celebrations that come from the heat of the moment, but this preplanned staged crap bothers me. Forget cracking down on staged fights, go after the staged celebrations.



Most Selfish



Gilbert Dionne. One goal in particular in the playoffs I think where a shot from the point may or may not have deflected in off of his @$$ and he is celebrating with pointing at himself and mouthing the "it was me" so that all can realize that its more important that he get credit for the goal than the fact his team scored. Lost what remaining respect I had for him at that point.

Answer 9

It is really ironic. I had to go kiss the butts of some clients after work. I missed a portion of the game. When I finally got into my car, I put the game on (like most NHL team towns they play all of the games on AM radio). They had Espo on as a special guest. You should have heard his comments during intermission. He said something like, "Ovie scored a goal, but by the looks of his celebration, you would have never guess that has ever happened to him."



The most selfish player......Nikolai Zherdev.



You have a nice day, as well.



You are welcome.

Answer 10

This whole thing is just getting overblown. As long as there's no taunting, who cares? I find it wierd that no player has yet to comment on this. If they do have a problem with it, somebody should've gave Ovechkin a shove, instead of having all these media guys get all hot and bothered. Let the players police themselves.

Answer 11

It honestly was the dumbest celebration I've ever seen. I don't mind the jumping into the boards and such but dropping you stick and faning it, I didn't even realize what he was trying to do.



Kids, you want to showboat after a goal, do it the Sean Avery way and drop down to the ice and give a couple of push ups.

Answer 12

I saw it, and hated it, because it was clearly not something that "just happened" out of emotion. Things that happen out of emotion...I'm generally okay with. That, on the other hand, I didn't like at all. Look, if Ovechkin wants to put on a routine...the All Star game is the appropriate venue for yuk-yuks.



Look- if you're a Capitals fan...if one of the Penguins, Flyers, or someone like Avery pulled a stunt like that in your barn...you're not finding that "entertaining". You're livid, and rightly so. Just because it's your guy doesn't make it right. I'm sure that if someone like Crosby pulled a stunt like that in Washington that the Capitals faithful wouldn't get pissed at all. Same with a whole host of other players. Right.



Folks...Grapes called Crosby out several years ago for being a hot dog so let's not pretend that Grapes would give Crosby a free pass. Robert G. Orr is the only "maybe" that gets a pass from Cherry, and again...that's a maybe.



If one of the Leafs pulled a stunt like that I'd feel the same way (like any of them could score 50 goals...but work with me).



I really want to like Ovechkin, but this stuff is a turnoff on so many levels. I don't mind the jumping around when he scores game-winners or OT winners, but a first-period goal against a last-place team? I'm not sweet with that at all.

Answer 13

I too look forward to "Coach's Room" this Saturday. Personally I think it's great what Alex is doing. He's having fun playing the game and that's the way it should be. Don Cherry is just a miserable old fart who should change his Depends and go have some Metamucil.



Hey Don, how many goals did you score in the NHL?

Answer 14

You Know he's not really making a fool of himself and he is having fun and that's the main thing about hockey you got to have fun and love the game, But he could cut down a little bit on the show bolting.

Answer 15

Somewhat arrogant, but meant with good intentions IMO. He seems to be walking the walk, so let the superstar talk the talk. The league has a way of policing itself, so if need be someone will step to the plate.



Bottom line, there is no doubt he just scored his 50th, he guaranteed a place in the news with his antics.



I agree with Joe on Lindros, he should have his name on the cup with Colorado because he was very influential in that victory.

Answer 16

That was the worst goal celebration I have seen since the Avery's pushup act. He scored a goal on a 1 on 3 that McKenna should have stopped.



He looked like an idiot - even his teammates, who apparently helped him think of the celebration, didn't want to join in. Not to mention doing it all right beside the net of a rookie goaltender on one of the worst teams in the NHL.



Well Done!



Most selfish player in the league? Jason Blake. Maybe he's trying to hard to live up to that contract.

Answer 17

Some of you guys are taking it overboard.



Yeah it was an embarassing celebration but guess what? ITS ALEXANDER OVECHKIN, probably the best player in the league today.



He should be able to do whatever he wants because he put his team into a great spot going into playoffs single handedly.



Don Cherry doesn't know anything about the new NHL so I think he needs to stop speaking on TV.

Answer 18

Okay when I clicked on the link Lubers provided I was expecting much worse..Was it as bad as Teemu throwing his glove in their air and shooting it when he got his 50 in his rookie year?No.I don't even know what he was doing but it was pre planned.I hate the pre planning celebrations... Nothing can be spontaneous anymore.I HATE when they act likes asses in the NFL,they make a tackle and act like they just stopped Jim Brown at the Super Bowl..Baseball with the showoff homeruns.Basketball,don't get me started.



What should have happened is-After that goal,on his next shift someone from the Ning should have dropped the gloves with him..NOBODY does that anymore..They drop them when someone lays a hard legal hit but not when someones hot dogging it.



I also think AO is now doing this to get under peoples' skin..Seems like its working.



Yashin is a good one but Lindros is my answer..Through Juniors,sitting out till he was traded,then to Quebec,to "Clarkie" to the Philly doctors..

Answer 19

This is on the Yahoo! highlights of the Capitals game.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl;_ylt=AjSRNYTpqKd24LZEzSjO3xE5nYcB



The celebration itself is pretty lame. I am not opposed to celebrating or even pushing the envelope with them a little. I don't like staged though and this was clearly pre-planned. Selanne's shooting the glove irked me, I loved Theo Fleury's celebration against the Oilers.



I am not sure if selfish is the right word or not but Marion Gaborik is maybe the player I hate the most. He has so much potential and seems like he is unwilling to play through injury.

Answer 20

Ovechkin credited Jose Theodore with giving him the idea to pretend the stick was hot. Boudreau seemed mildly displeased post game and said he would talk to him about it. He was specifically asked about what Cherry's reaction would be so it's not like he was just railing against him. I personally don't have a problem with it but you're entitled to your opinion.

Answer 21

I'm all for players spontaneously celebrating, I think it shows their passion for the game. But that was not spontaneous and on top of that it was lame.



So yes it made him look like a bit of a fool.

Answer 22

I'm sorry but I don't want the NHL to be like the NFL and ban celebrations. He's having fun and he isn't hurting anybody except maybe the goalies ego. The only knock I have on AO is that he has to take 15 shots a game to score.

Answer 23

WHOA there are way to many detailed answers above me... So I'll keep it short and sweet.



Ovechkin doesn't really bother me. If he is making a fool of himself, then he understands what he is doing. He makes me LMAO usually.

Answer 24

He says: "Hot hot hot"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa9vIQzzg38





Most selfish: Definitely not Adam Oates- that guy would have an empty net and still pass it.

I'll go with (although not a hockey player) A-ROD. That guy just seems to ooze selfishness: game night boozing, the affair he had on his wife, the gross bonuses and contracts.





BOB- I'm not making anything personal. I responded.

Answer 25

helovs the game, and he probabl gets that way cuse his older brother is watching from heaven.

Answer 26

The Lightning should be ashamed for letting him get away with that garbage. He should have been run numerous times. You can't let someone do that on your home ice.



The video can be seen on yahoo's front hockey page.

Answer 27

I can understand some antics but sometimes he just way over does it.



He's a former soccer player and most of his antics come from that.

Answer 28

don cherry shud shut his yap. he is such a tradilionist and keeps on critisizing good players. he thinks he noes everything. I think last weekend he was saying how ovechkin listened to him and celebrated less. haha, well, well, lookie who's wrong.



Owan Nolan was pretty selfish too. Whenever he scores, he keeps on celebrating crazy.

Answer 29

He definatly is trying to be funny but I see it as more of a retarded thing. Cmon did he not get enough attention when he was younger ?

Answer 30

you people are a bunch of b!tches. who cares let him celibrate however he wants as long as it dosent delay the game i think its fine

or we can ban celabration and it will be like the old red army team just score and skate off the ice.



i liked when donald brashire celebrated by knocking someone out now thats shomanship.

Answer 31

I see it as a big F U to Cherry. Good job AO. Funny shiznit.

If Golden Boy Crosby had done the same thing Cherry , or Betman, maybe both, would be givng him a rim job.





Selfish players = Teemu and Scott for their antics last season. I lost all respect for those two. It's such karma that the team blows now.

Answer 32

Well you've never scored 50 goals in a season, so you wouldn't know how it feels.



Alex Ovechkin is making hockey fun again.

Answer 33

I'm not even gonna read all that, I know you're a f@%#^^ing Ovie hater and all that,so just fook off.



GO RUSSIA

Answer 34

it was a great celebration im glad hes havin fun no room for fun in the nhl huh? it would be ok if sidney crosby did it tho

Answer 35

All I can say - GREAT JOB ALEX !!!