ovechkin gets # 50

[TheOwl 77]

Modesty is important, that's why guys like Dats, Lidstrom and Zetterberg are such classy people. But the fact is Ovechkin is undeniably the best goal scorer in the league, he is the best, no one is close, and for that reason he's the only guy I don't find annoying openly gloating after his achievements.

[puckloo39 5,686]

Dont know how long you've had that Dom pic and quote up, haha, but that put the biggest smile on my face.

I put Dom up there just prior to Ozzie suddenly remembering how to play goal a few games back.

I believe the threat may have worked!!

[Shaman 713]

When people start saying he 'sucks'... I'd say he is underrated. Btw I'm saying he has been so overvalued by the media, that people aren't logically watching his play. In a sense he has become so overrated, he is now underrated in a lot of fans' minds.

When i say he sucks, I dont mean his offensive hockey skills, i mean his lips on bettman's body.

[j.hoop 64]

lol i just wanted to post a thread to celebrate ovechkins achievement, and this is what it turns into

[finalfilppula 2]

lol i just wanted to post a thread to celebrate ovechkins achievement, and this is what it turns into

this forum has a propensity to entropy.

[TheSupafly 50]

The NHL needs any kind of publicity it can get. I'll take some controversial goal celebrations any day over the usual fight/injury highlights that usually get coverage on ESPN.

[Reds4Life 51]

haha that was pretty good. Nice and big FU to that old crazy fooker.

Edited March 20, 2009 by Reds4Life

[Drake_Marcus 890]

i don't know, drake. did it beside opposition goal, premeditated, etc.

Well perhaps it wasn't "tame", but I've seen more elaborate celebrations.

All that being said- I think he would have been better off just playing it cool and minimizing the celebrations. But I can't criticize him for hit- he's earned the ability to be a cocky bastard- he's the best goal scorer in the league by a country mile.

[Earthhuman 8]

"He's the game's most dominant scorer, but to do that, especially on our ice, I took it as an insult," Lightning wing Ryan Malone told the Tampa Tribune. "It's embarrassing. This isn't football." XD

I thought it was pretty funny, taking into consideration that it wasn't his idea in the first place, and he does it in part to annoy Cherry and the rest.

[Electrophile 3,554]

Malone is wrong about one thing, though. In football, you will get penalized for celebrating after a touchdown. No spiking the ball, no taking off your helmet, no dancing. The Packers have the Lambeau Leap, but that's not considered OTT.

[Pskov Wings Fan 71]

Did not see OV celebration myself yet. I hope he did it specifically to stick it Don Cherry and I am all for it.

[Cern 0]

Did not see OV celebration myself yet. I hope he did it specifically to stick it Don Cherry and I am all for it.

"Oh yeah, he's going to be (ticked) off for sure," he said. "I love it. I can't wait until he says something about me. Old coaches, old system, you know?"

He dosen't give a s*** about his reaction one way or the other. Why should he, he's arguably the best forward in the NHL right now and Don Cherry is riding his fame on the coattails of his own gaudy suits. If I scored 50 goals in a season I'd probably do a little showboating too.

[sureWhyNot 19]

I'm pretty iffy on Gomez. I'd probably stick him in there ahead of Drury or, heaven help us, Modano, but I'm not very high on any of Team USA's options at center. Except for Kessel, he's an excellent goal scorer, but I don't know enough about his two-way game.

That said, Parise and Kane are a pretty dynamite pair of wingers.

I hear you about Gomez for sure. We have some depth in the middle when you think about it: I mean we got Paul Stansney in the mix who could easily center the Parise - Kane line. Maybe look a little something like this:

2010 USA Olympic Lineup:

Zach Parise - Paul Statsny - Patrick Kane

Bobby Ryan - Tim Connolly - Phil Kessel

Dustin Brown - Joe Pavelski - Jamie Langenbrunner ©

David Booth - Ryan Kesler (A) - David Backes

Brian Rafalski - Paul Martin

Ryan Suter - Keith Ballard

Mike Komisarek (A) - Tom Gilbert

Brooks Orpik

Ryan Miller

Tim Thomas

Rick Dipietro

The NHL needs any kind of publicity it can get. I'll take some controversial goal celebrations any day over the usual fight/injury highlights that usually get coverage on ESPN.

Then watch the NFL, with a emphasis on the Cincinnati Bengal's Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson. The following videos pretty much sum it up:

Yzerman's 500th career goal:

Modano's 500th Goal:

Mats Sundin Scores His 400th Goal:

Hossa's 300th career goal as well as an OT game winner:

Jaromir Jagr's 600th Career Goal:

Yzerman's 600th Goal:

I mean you could keep going with examples of guys who hit pretty big milestones, and undoubtedly were happy about it -- at times celebrating it -- but none of these guys did anything close to the showboating and tacky celebration we saw last night.

I really don't care much, I don't have a dog in the fight. I just think that hockey is different then other pro sports, where the swagger and "look at me, I'm so good" mentality is not as prevalent and dominating then say the NFL.

[Yzermania 156]

I don't know why people are making such a big deal about this, what do you expect from a guy who slams himself into the boards after normal, possibly meaningless goals when he gest his 50th of the season?

[Pskov Wings Fan 71]

I don't know why people are making such a big deal about this, what do you expect from a guy who slams himself into the boards after normal, possibly meaningless goals when he gest his 50th of the season?

He should have started real fire. That would have been original.

[Booster313 138]

Crosby is so underrated it's amazing. No use to argue it people, refuse to accept that a player that was as highly touted will ever be good. They enjoy exploiting negative attributes of player and dwell on it so they can feel indignant as they hopefully hurt the career of a hell of hockey player. People love seeing players fall from grace. It's a unfortunate thing the society has grown in the modern era...

The problem with Crosby is that since before his first day in the league he has been marketed as Gretzky part 2, something unfortunately he will never live up to. He is an amazing player, but he certainly can't be fairly compared to Wayne Gretzky...but then no one really can...and I don't even like the guy. Crosby has been billed by the media, the fans, the league, and the numerous companies who use him for endorsements as "the next great one" and unfortunately he'll never been that, he's not even the best player of his time.

I would give best all around right now to Datsyuk...I would have given it to Ovechkin or even Crosby until today, but after finding out that Malkin, Crosby, and Ovie lead the league in ice time for forwards and that Datsyuk is 49th it really sheds some light on what kind of special player he is. Add that along with the fact that he is by far the best defensively of the group and he gets my vote.

Edited March 21, 2009 by Booster313

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

Boudreau: Sick and Tired.

[b.shanafan14 733]

Boudreau: Sick and Tired.

Saw this today and couldn't agree more. The hockey media makes mountains out of mole-hills constantly. Seriously, get over it. How did this somehow get as much press as Avery's sloppy seconds?

[RedArmy 4]

the fact that this is an issue it is the stupidest thing I ever heard... who cares opposition players should focus on their game not on Ovechkin...

[Opie 308]

I hear you about Gomez for sure. We have some depth in the middle when you think about it: I mean we got Paul Stansney in the mix who could easily center the Parise - Kane line. Maybe look a little something like this:

2010 USA Olympic Lineup:

Zach Parise - Paul Statsny - Patrick Kane

Bobby Ryan - Tim Connolly - Phil Kessel

Dustin Brown - Joe Pavelski - Jamie Langenbrunner ©

David Booth - Ryan Kesler (A) - David Backes

Brian Rafalski - Paul Martin

Ryan Suter - Keith Ballard

Mike Komisarek (A) - Tom Gilbert

Brooks Orpik

Ryan Miller

Tim Thomas

Rick Dipietro

NO Cheli??

Am I missing something?

[Guest Shoreline]

I hear you about Gomez for sure. We have some depth in the middle when you think about it: I mean we got Paul Stansney in the mix who could easily center the Parise - Kane line. Maybe look a little something like this:

2010 USA Olympic Lineup:

Zach Parise - Paul Statsny - Patrick Kane

Bobby Ryan - Tim Connolly - Phil Kessel

Dustin Brown - Joe Pavelski - Jamie Langenbrunner ©

David Booth - Ryan Kesler (A) - David Backes

Brian Rafalski - Paul Martin

Ryan Suter - Keith Ballard

Mike Komisarek (A) - Tom Gilbert

Brooks Orpik

Ryan Miller

Tim Thomas

Rick Dipietro

Then watch the NFL, with a emphasis on the Cincinnati Bengal's Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson. The following videos pretty much sum it up:

Yzerman's 500th career goal:

Modano's 500th Goal:

Mats Sundin Scores His 400th Goal:

Hossa's 300th career goal as well as an OT game winner:

Jaromir Jagr's 600th Career Goal:

Yzerman's 600th Goal:

I mean you could keep going with examples of guys who hit pretty big milestones, and undoubtedly were happy about it -- at times celebrating it -- but none of these guys did anything close to the showboating and tacky celebration we saw last night.

I really don't care much, I don't have a dog in the fight. I just think that hockey is different then other pro sports, where the swagger and "look at me, I'm so good" mentality is not as prevalent and dominating then say the NFL.

Your suggestion that crazy celebrations are not just as much as part of the NHL as "classy", do-nothing celebrations is patently false. Just in this video alone shows Bossy, Selanne, Theo Fleury, and Tiger Williams, amongst a handful of well known players from today and of yore doing unique celebrations that are considered classics, rather than unclassy.

The only thing that's evident here is the media has a lot of sway on people's opinions, and in this case yours and Grapes' opinion that NHL players quietly celebrate to themselves is BS.

Edited March 27, 2009 by Shoreline

[Guest Shoreline]

And if you don't believe it's a media-induced stigma, they bank on the self-made controversy. Just look at how much space this s*** takes of the game preview even well after the fact:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/preview?gid=2009032723

The commotion following Alex Ovechkin’s celebration of his 50th goal appears to have calmed down. For the Washington Capitals, it’s back to trying to move up in the Eastern Conference and closer to a second straight Southeast Division title.

Facing Tampa Bay for the first time since Ovechkin’s milestone tally, the Capitals will look to extend their dominance over the visiting Lightning on Friday night.

Ovechkin’s on-ice theatrics have sparked debate during the season, and he added to that in a 5-2 win in Tampa Bay on March 19. After scoring his 50th early in the game, Ovechkin placed his stick on the ice and pretended he couldn’t pick it up because it was too hot to touch.

“I think he’s a terrific player. He went down a notch in my books after that,†Lightning interim coach Rick Tocchet said following the game. “It’s not something I like. It’s hard for me to accept, to see something like that in our building.â€

Washington coach Bruce Boudreau erupted at Thursday’s practice when asked about possible payback.

“There should be no retribution at all. He scored his 50th goal in a 0-0 game. It wasn’t 8-0 where he made a mockery,†Boudreau said. “If Tampa scores a couple of goals and wants to do a celebration, go for it. It’s a done deal as far as I’m concerned, and that’s it.â€

Tocchet responded by saying the best payback is to top the Capitals with their play on the ice.

“Sure, you like to see players react, but reacting is beating Washington and playing abrasive,†he said. “It’s not being stupid.â€

In these 8 or so paragraphs to open up their preview, only one sentence really even detailed actual important aspects surrounding this game.

Edited March 27, 2009 by Shoreline

[Opie 308]

The only very small issue I have with his celebration was location, doing it right behind the net was a little bit too close for my liking, but as someone who likes to score 5 -hole and then run around with my 5 fingers between my legs, I say this celebration was tame.

If you don't like him celebrating behind your net or after he scores on you, I have an idea don't let him, oh wait he is too good for you to stop him, too bad.

The only way to shut this kid up would be to stop him from scoring, hitting him to hurt him is going to be very very difficult, not saying he will never get caught with his head down. But part of what makes him so gifted offensively is he knows where everyone is on the ice, he is very alert of his surroundings, it would have to be a very dirty, very unclean hit to hurt him, and the league would absolutely crush the hitter.

BTW the TD celebration reference was a good one, because fans love TD celebrations, except that is when it is your team being scored on, then it is brash and rude, but when your guy does his look at me dance what are you doing, looking at him, high fiving your buddies, cheers-ing with beers!

If AO was a wing and did this people would be loving it!!

The kid (he is a kid) is young and full of piss and vinegar, let him have fun, he brings energy to the game, an energy that I feel needs to be in the game.

From Selanne celebrating his 54th to Cam Neely's fist pump Celebrations are all over the game's history and never has it been so scrutinized as it is right now.

It dancing or what AO did next to the net any different than a bunch of guys hugging and laughing right next to the net, does it offend Malone when guys tackle each other after a game winner (or loser from his POV)? This kid just scored 50 for the 3rd of 4 years. What on earth does Malone or Cherry know about that. Until they can score 50, I don't care what their take on it is.

Malone had his feelings hurt because AO celebrated, WOW how did he feel when Malkin did it to them on 2/4 when he did the AO in to the glass jump?

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EDIT: Spelling and clarity!

Edited March 27, 2009 by Opie

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

If AO was a wing and did this people would be loving it!!

I don't think so. And I'm pretty sure the Club wouldn't think too much of it either. This might be a good "Poll" question.

[Guest Shoreline]

And he just scored #52.