Monday, December 04, 2006

 

The Name Of The Game

"He got turned around and I hit him," Ovechkin said Saturday. "I didn't want to give him some injury. It was an accident."


Alexander Ovechkin will not be suspended for his hit from behind on Daniel Briere. That line from Ovechkin is priceless. He makes it sound like Briere was facing him, or that it all happened in a flash. Of course, he threw up his hands when the penalty was called, in complete disbelief that he could receive a penalty, so we know where he stands on the issue.

Question: If Alexander Ovechkin's last name was Lemieux, and his first name was Claude, how many games do you think that hit on Daniel Briere would have cost him?




Comments:

I hadn't gotten a chance to see that Ovechkin hit until now. That's definitely a suspension if his name was Tie Domi. Don't know what this proves though, as everyone already knows that the NHL disciplinarians are jokes. I still can't understand how a guy like Colin Campbell gets paid.
 


Oh come on, I'm going to be a total bitch here because I can't believe the whole hoo-haa that it's all about. To be honest I heard about a hit but when I saw it, I have to say it looks overrated. I'm not saying that it's an acceptable hit but how many times have this happened and no one calls and the guy gets right back up and everyone pretends nothing happened. Ovechkin is suddenly a scapegoat and there are so many dirty names being called.

Sure I thought it was a terrible thing to happen, but people need to understand that Ovechkin isn't proud of the hit, nor did he smile after the victory as smugness. He smiled because his team won anyway without him. And it was not a pretty moment for Ovechkin but he's been given the leeway to hit people pretty hard as long as they get back up. And eventually someone will get hurt but hey, no one yelled at him beforehand. He's been told that he can do almost anything, he's Ovechkin. And now the officials are calling and everyone is getting their panties in a twist over this.

But nothing is getting fixed, even if Ovechkin gets suspended it doesn't mean that the NHL is taking notice of any of this. I don't mind Ovy getting suspended, the hit he did wasn't nice. But he's still learning and he's got his parents and a good team to tell him better. Look, he'll learn from it - I mean how many players are there out there who are still aiming to hurt but get away with it?
 


Just tell me the difference between the Lemieux hit and the Ovechkin hit, Jordi. I only see one thing: the degree that the victim was injured. That may* make the punishment less, but it should still demand a punishment.
 


I'm not saying there shouldn't be a punishment, I think a punishment would be good for Ovechkin.

But people are going a wee bit crazy over it. I mean Saku Koivu lives with the shadow of a near career-ending injury from Williams and he's cool with it. Whether Ovechkin aimed to injure is debatable, however a lot of other players do aim to injure and they do get away with it because they can make it seem like an accident. And some players are never called for what they do, forcing them to only assume that any hit they do is okay.

Look, I just want to say that it's unavoidable that Ovechkin ended up doing something like that. Players like him have been babied. But at the same time, I reckon Ovechkin will learn from this affair.
 


Williams' high stick was clearly accidental while Ovechkin had time to see Briere turn his back and he still hit him from behind.

Colin Campbell is a clown and Ovechkin gets off because he is a star and has no previous suspensions.
 


The NHL needs to take its pick: laissez-faire official punishment, and let the players sort themselves out (aka the pre-instigator NHL), or strict, predictable official punishment, and no/minimal fighting. Can't have it both ways.
 


Yeah the Williams high stick was very accidental, but then what about clean hits that result in large injuries? People are usually screaming for suspensions then. I mean everyone has their take on it but even if the NHL suspended Ovechkin would it make a huge huge difference in the long term?

And all the Ovechkin hate is kind of scaring me. It's painting an ugly picture of fans and I just think the hate posted on his websites is low.
 


Ovechkin hate?
 


Andy: I agree.
 


I like Ovechkin, but I still think he should be suspended. Especially since he's a superstar and one of the newest rolemodels for kids in minor hockey. What kind of message does this send to those kids? It's okay to have a dirty hit as long as you're a good player?
 


I mean everyone has their take on it but even if the NHL suspended Ovechkin would it make a huge huge difference in the long term?

I'm not following here. It was a dirty hit. He should have been suspended. Nowhere in there was "Ovie's a fucking dick" or "Ovie's a cheapshot artist." It's "Ovie made a mistake, let him receive the punishment he deserves and learn his lesson." Biiiiiig difference.

And yes, there is a difference between suspending him and not. It's the difference between sending a message that no one's above the law, or not.
 


Hey I have nothing against Ovy being suspended here. I mean I wouldn't mind a suspension for him considering it's nothing earthshattering to the team if he were. But I just think some fans are thinking that this will mean that the NHL will start taking steps towards recognising dirty hits. But they wont, I can bet my one hundred dollars that another hit like this will happen somewhere else and no one will bat an eye over it. And laying down the law? this is the NHL, no one gets the law.

And the mean comments towards Ovechkin weren't here, I was just mentioning about the backlash right after the game where Ovechkin was called many different names by other fans. Sure I know not all fans are like that but it still irked me a little.

I still think the fine was lame too, I'm sure anyone could've paid that thing. I just reckon people are zooming in on the wrong thing here.

Okay I'm tired. I talk too much. I know people want me to shut up. So I'll go waste someone else's time. That and after time I keep asking myself "what are we talking about again?"
 

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