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RedWingAbner

Ovechkin=NHL's Real Ambassador

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He's a weasel out there, a showboating, narcissistic mongrel, displaying that devilish condescending grin from behind his tinted visor, knowing all the while he's better than you, he's better than me, and he'd just as soon be back in Russia than be imprisoned in a country so miserable, where the girls are stale and freedom and democracy are garbage.

Face of the NHL? Not in my lifetime.

So how do you REALLY feel about AO? ;)

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OVIE is the best player out there. I'd give up Hossa and Z for him

Ovie still has so many weaknesses.. I'm not sure our team would be better if we traded Hossa and Z for him.

He is the best goal-scorer in the league though, and when he's at his best he's almost unstoppable, definitely the player in the league who has the greatest power to single-handidly decide games.

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I agree, he has such an attractive personality too

Thats the difference between men and women right there. :lol:

To throw out another name the NHL should be marketing, how about Lucic? A 20 year old budding power forward. I think when the average person thinks of a hockey player, they think of a big body that can score and fight. Lucic seems to fit the bill pretty well. Personality wise I dont know much about him.

What about an old vet like Roenick? He's halarious off the ice. (would make a good commentator when he retires)

Point is the NHL needs to market players. Not force feed one.

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Given the choice between the two, Sid is the boy I'd take home to meet my parents; Ovie is the guy I'd take out to meet my friends (except Ruth- she's quite reserved).

Different strokes for different folks.

Market a bunch. There's no shortage of talent.

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Some of you make a good point that more than 1 player needs to be marketed. However, the face of the game is one guy-- Crosby-- and it should be Ovechkin.

BTW, Crosby found out about this post and Gary Bettman suspended me from watching one game.

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Guest Four

AO is my favourite russian player, along with Datsyuk. The ASG breakaway I saw in the highlights with the hat was very unexpected and funny. Good to see some players can have fun.

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Ovechkin has the personality and the skills to be one of the many faces of the NHL. He is likable and you can tell he is having a good time. Everytime he scores it looks like the first time he has ever scored. He really looks like he is enjoying himself.

Crosby has the skill, but not the personality. It really is too bad Crosby doesn't have Ovechkins personality, I probably wouldn't hate him so much. <_<

Anyone remember the commercial with a bunch of players in the hotel? That commercial was the best. I loved when Ovechkin ordered a bunch of food for Crosby. Funny stuff.

Edited by Wings_Rule_1010

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Yep, count me in on Team Ovechkin. Watching him at the All-Star game and skills competition won me over, and the bit with Malkin putting the funny hat and sunglasses on him was great. Plus I heard he DJed some party at a big club in Montreal last night?

Did anyone see the little promo VS taped in Montreal for the Bruins/Caps game on Tuesday? Savard, Chara, and Ovechkin are standing there, and Alex points to Savard and Chara and says "this guy cannot beat me, and this guy cannot beat me...." Something about it was hilarious, I guess its like you all say, he has a good personality to sell the game.

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Like it or not, it's true.

Umm, no, it's not.

4. "I Fight for Me! For Me!!!" - Rocky IV anyone? Those were the words angrily shouted by Dolph Lundgren's character Ivan Drago as disappointed Soviet Leaders watched their prized fighter fail to knockout Rocky. I'm going to get a little personal here and simply tell you this: I for one do not enjoy the constant selfish and immature behavior Ovechkin displays. It just doesn't win me over. He could score 80 goals, carry a team all the way through the playoffs, and score the winning tally while standing on his head in a straight jacket and I still wouldn't be impressed. Why? March 3, 2008. That's why.

That's the day the great AO lost any chance of having me in his corner. On their way to destroying the Boston Bruins by a final of 10-2, Ovechkin scored at 15:32 of the first period to make it 5-0 and he wont bonkers. #8 launched his arms in the air and propelled himself off the boards as though he'd just potted the most meaningful goal in the history of the National Hockey League. Truth be told it was just another tally in a game making it's way to blowout city. He was flaunting, he was showboating, he was grabbing salt from the cupboard and pouring it on each and every member of the Black and Gold's open wounds. It got their attention so much that Marco Sturm mimicked Ovie's entirely over the top and unnecessary celebration in a later matchup.

Fast forward to Saturday night, a night where the Bruins again found themselves in our Nation's Capital. #8 laid a ferocious hip check on Dennis Wideman that could have easily injured the B's stud defenseman. And prior to that, with a scrum developing in the corner, Ovechkin, free of the referee's line of sight, grabbed Chuck Kobasew and just laid him onto the ice for no apparent reason.

He's a weasel out there, a showboating, narcissistic mongrel, displaying that devilish condescending grin from behind his tinted visor, knowing all the while he's better than you, he's better than me, and he'd just as soon be back in Russia than be imprisoned in a country so miserable, where the girls are stale and freedom and democracy are garbage.

Face of the NHL? Not in my lifetime.

Funny how he manages to completely ignore Crosby's Mike Legg style goal when he played for Rimouski. Not only was Rimouski trouncing their opponent at the time Crosby decided to do it, he went on to celebrate the goal like it was the most amazing thing ever.

Ovechkin's crazy celebrations are because he's excited for his team. He does it just as much when other players score. This celebration by Crosby was because he knew he was going to make it onto TSN that night.

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I'm not convinced that Crosby, or Ovechkin have raised the game to new levels as the face of the NHL.

The NHL has experienced 39 years of growth in the last 40 (the lockout year was the exception). You read and hear non-hockey people talking all the time about what the league lost by locking out the players for a year but

- hockey revenues were up for the 40th straight year

- television ratings were their highest since 1993

- television viewership was the highest ever and increased for the 17th year in the last 20

- arena attendance was at it's highest level ever and increased for the 31st time in the last 40 years.

The most watched game in the US last year (aside from the Winter Classic - which only had above average ratings in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Las Vegas) was between the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes. No Crosby, no Ovechkin....no Iginla...no Luongo....no Toronto.....Sunrise, Florida vs Raleigh, North Carolina.

I think each team should be responsible for marketing itself in it's own region, and similar to what was done with the NHL Guide and Record Book in the early 2000s (different NHL regions had a player from their team on the cover instead of the Stanley Cup champion) the league should market itself accordingly.

Ryan Getzlaf and Anze Kopitar will sell more than Crosby and Ovechkin in LA. Crosby and Ovechkin are probably the last spokespeople you want in Philadelphia. In a recent poll here in Toronto, 8 hockey players made the top 10 most popular athletes....Crosby was #1............Ovechkin wasn't in the top 10.

All in all, I think it is impossible for one person to be the face of the NHL. If I had to pick one................I'd pick the comedian.,....Denis Leary.

Edited by Coolio Mendez

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The most watched game in the US last year (aside from the Winter Classic - which only had above average ratings in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Las Vegas) was between the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes. No Crosby, no Ovechkin....no Iginla...no Luongo....no Toronto.....Sunrise, Florida vs Raleigh, North Carolina.

I'm not saying I don't believe you, but uh, I don't believe that without seeing proof of it.

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Get ready for Crosby's LGW body guards to come in here and call you guys haters. Legitimate points be damned.

esteef

I think the majority of people that defend Crosby on this site do so because far too many members here seem to be obsessed with bashing him.

That being said, I couldn't agree more that the league is missing a golden opportunity in marketing. Ovechkin, aside from being the best goal scorer in the league has a personality that's intoxicating for not only fans of the NHL, but those that could become fans. There's no one in the league that seems to have more fun out there and no one gets more excited about scoring than him.

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2. From Russia With Love. Ovechkin was the focus of a recent article in Maxim Magazine, and while that publication carriers about as much credibility as Star or any of the other assorted magazines boasting headlines like "Elvis Found Living On Mars!", quotes are quotes and facts are facts. Ovechkin was very vocal about his distaste for America: It's girls, it's abundance of rules, it's utter inferiority to the way things are back home. His parents told the magazine that the Ovechkin family intends to jettison from North America back to the Motherland as soon as his playing career is over. Hasn't this country provided him with riches, fame, and the opportunity to brightly shine on the world's grandest hockey stage? Has he seen what's been going on in the KHL these days? If Russia is so fantastic, why doesn't he just bolt now? There's a line between have allegiance to your homeland and spitting in the face of the country you now call home.

While I disagree with almost all of what you said the point I most disagreed with was your "From Russia with Love" one. I found it to be a great over simplification of what he and his parents really said.

First off I agree on Maxims quality (esp. music countdowns) The only reason I bought it was the Ovie article

How much distaste can he really have for a country when he left his home and everthing he knew. He insisted on rooming with a N.A. player and watching American TV to learn Ennglish. His quote is "I watch American TV. I want to learn english, be able to talk to people, hang out with team mates." "talk with American girls too."

He then goes on to say his first year he would walk around D.C. and what a beautiful city it is w/ lots of memorials. He would also girl watch.

His Mothers quote on American "Americas treat my son wonderfully...but we not stay in America. Alex will give same answer" (neither will Nick but do you hold that against him?)

He says America has to many rules " America has too much rules. see cop, slow down. In America, you want to do something, you have to think. In Russia just do it." (would anyone disagree our society has too many rules?)

OK so this is getting to annoying to quote so the last one goes like this.

Americans don't care about fashion as much. Russian girls are hotter.

(Thats not a shot it's true most fashion and designers are European or European inspired. Moscow is a high fashion capital and the most expensive city in the world to live. I have been there and the women are F'N amazing very put together, high class, just killer looks.)

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So I generally get sick of all the Crosby hate around here BUT...

after 3 years of watching these guys how can people not love Ovechkin, what he did in the skills game was hilarious. This guy is amazing.

Also, the NHL is horrible at understanding how to market their own game so it will be hard for me to see them using this guy properly to market their game......

In fact.....

they were probably thinking during he and Malkin's mockery of the Canadian media in the skills competition as detrimental conduct to the league and may be suspending him shortly..... stay tuned.

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did anyone watch the video from the all star game where they cought ove watching the hot girls dance on the jumbotron. it was great, he's such a character!

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Guest Shoreline
I think the majority of people that defend Crosby on this site do so because far too many members here seem to be obsessed with bashing him.

Indeed.

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This is one discussion i have with my pen fan friends all the time. Best player in the league, face of the league, & why the pens suck so much with so much talent... Though the problem might lie in the fact that people who are Pittsburgh anything fans think that they are the best no matter what.

AO plays like he enjoys it and is having fun, who cares if he show boats he deserves too. On top of that, i dont know if anyone else has stated this, but he plays good solid physical hockey. He might not be a the best defensive forward, we all know who the top two are by far in the league, but he hits like a &$%*in tank. He plays hockey the way it should be.

Cindy is a great player but he is always looking for the extra pass, or the extra move, instead of using his great shot and taking over games like he can. I guess besides the fact that everyone it seems like is dating Cindy I feel he isnt living up to his potential, and that is why i think is unnecessary for the lovefest be so high.

When it comes to the face of the NHL, Cindy is mr. nice guy, right guy, and i think he has a lot of weight on his shoulders, and that might explain why he is looking for the highlight move, shot, or pass.Other sports dont have a face of a league, its outdated. The NHL needs to learn to promote the player, team, or story of the moment along with having the All-Star Players. Grab the best story at the moment, everything that has hockey fans saying holy @#$! and run with it and get the league behind it. Take time to get the players to not only discuss and diagnose the game they played, but for them to have opinions on what else is going on today in the league, if that takes some clinics then that is fine.

Also it might help if we start getting the girls who distracted AO at the all-star game to Bristol, Conn. and get on the good side of ESPN, cause hands down hockey is the fastest, hardest hitting, hardest to play, and best game to watch but Americans just need some help understanding the game. Looking at a hockey game it is very hard to follow it on the tv if you know nothing about the sport.

Red Wing fan going to Ohio State, so i am getting my student discount ticket throwing on the away Draper jersey and watching me some hockey

Go Wings

Edited by Winged_WheelNut

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