When Will Ovechkin’s Passion Convert To Whine?
Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins
May 8, 10:05 AM | Hype this story!
Twenty-four hours ago, the buzz of the NHL surrounded the Penguins, who escaped falling behind 3-0 in their second round series against the Capitals with an overtime goal.
But the way the Capitals – and specifically Alexander Ovechkin – saw it, the game was decided by the referees.
“…it’s kind of a joke,” he said referring to the seven penalties called on his team in comparison to the two called on the Penguins.
He “didn’t want to talk about it.”
Or anything else, for that matter.
Really, he reminded a whiny eight-year-old whose mom just took away his lollipop.
The only thing better would have been if he crossed his arms real high on his chest and lowered his head.
What’s funnier is that by midday yesterday, Ovechkin still hadn’t finished whining, but had changed his tune.
What once was a bellyache about the officials had changed to a beef over the ice surface.
The following quote, including the description of Ovechkin, comes directly from the Washington Post, the Capitals’ hometown paper:
“In overtime, ice was just a mess, pucks just bouncing and stuff,” Ovechkin said, a touch grumpily, after his team’s 3-2 overtime loss Wednesday. “We have three-on-two, [Hal] Gill goes down and I have probably 100% chance to score goal. But puck just stopped moving.”
Poor guy.
The puck stopped moving. It just stopped.
I mean, had it not stopped, he would have had probably a 100 percent chance of scoring.
One hundered percent.
Like zero chance of not scoring.
That’s how good of a chance he had.
But that *#$@% ice! It had to be a mess, didn’t it?
It’s a joke that the ice isn’t perfect after 60 minutes of action-packed hockey.
Okay, let me turn off the sarcasm now.
That bad ice surface didn’t keep the Capitals from scoring late in the third, right?
It didn’t keep the Penguins from scoring in overtime, either, right?
Dictionary.com’s 11th definition of the word excuse reads, “a pretext or subterfuge: He uses his poor health as an excuse for evading all responsibility.”
Maybe they’ll soon change that to: “Alexander Ovechkin uses poor ice as an excuse for losing.”
Instead of crediting the Penguins for a hard-fought victory and acknowledging that he hadn’t played up to his potential (five shots and one essentially empty net goal Wednesday compared to 12 shots and three laser goals Monday), he blamed everything else.
Watch you don’t strain your back, there, Alex. That’s an awkward position you’ve put yourself in while reaching.
What’s interesting, though, is that all of his childish complaints and excuses have gone relatively unnoticed in the media.
Had another player in the same series – though in a different sweater – said the same things after the Penguins’ two losses, he might have been tarred and feathered on the scene.
Let’s face it, Ovechkin is passionate. He’s not whiney. He’s passionate.
Or so we’re told.
But sooner or later that “passion” will ferment and people will see him for what he is: a self-centered, showboat who doesn’t understand that he has to work in the playoffs.
Until then, enjoy this beauty of a picture brought to us by our good friends at The Pensblog.
Comments
Dan_40
May 8, 11:48 AM
Matt, good article. I agree, if 87 was doing all that whining he would be getting blasted by the media. I was hoping someone would write about this. It doesn’t stop with OV though, baby Bruce is whining to just about anyone with a pen or camera who will listen and Mcphee has jumped on the whiners band wagon as well. It doesn’t end.
SprJudd
May 8, 11:56 AM
I don’t know why folks are so concerned about them whining. I’d much rather the Capitals continue to blame everything but their own poor play and over-reliance on a hot (though still a rookie) goaltender. The more they focus on everything else and the less time they spend focusing on the Penguins statistical dominance, the better that bodes for the good guys.
Nathan
May 8, 02:48 PM
I really enjoy this quote from Boudreau about the ice:
“This ice is going to be slow tonight. Although it wasn’t slow for them, it seemed slower to us.”
Matt Bodenschatz
May 8, 03:15 PM
@Dan, thanks. It just seems like no matter what happens, Crosby whines, Ovechkin exudes passion to the media and casual fan.
@Sprjudd, I agree that the Caps whining is a sign they are on their heels. It’s still interesting to write about, though.
@Nathan, while that quote likely lost a bit in translation, it is darn funny in print, that’s for sure!
Zack Dawson
May 8, 07:54 PM
Ovechkin better be suspended for what he just did to Gonchar. I don’t care about the “superstar” treatment. He blatantly put his knee out to hit Gonch. That is an intent to injure. Period.
Let’s see what the NHL does with this…
JRad
May 8, 09:59 PM
Matt, great write up. And Zack, you know the NHL will do nothing because Ovechkin is their pride and joy. If Gonchar is deemed out for the rest of the series or playoffs, I think it someone’s gotta pull an Adam Graves.
bag o' pucks
May 8, 10:21 PM
The good news is two wins in a row and VarLAmov is starting to crack. Ovie is frustrated, Semin is still MIA. All good things.
The bad news is Sarge’s injury. The D was really erratic after he went out and the power play?? It was so bad it made the old awful Yeo PP look good by comparison. Without Gonchar, Malkin is the only guy who can lug the puck. They let Letang try it once and that was the last time he did anything aside from dump it in. I hope Sarge is feeling better tomorrow morning…
DaBich
May 8, 11:28 PM
If nothing is done about AO and his errant knee and despicable act, then the team should take it upon themselves to take care of it. Period.
Love the article Matt, good job!
TheOneAndOnlySurge
May 9, 12:10 AM
I would typically disagree with head hunting on Ovechkin but do to the lack of calls late and if Gonch is severely injured, I see no choice. Dress Godard and let him take Ovechkin out of the game, series and hoepfully his head hunting days will be over. I understand Ovie is not a horrible guy but he needs to learn that when you play dirty you get dirty.
bag o' pucks
May 9, 12:17 AM
Godard may see some action, anyway. Now that there’s a game six, Brashear will be eligible to play Monday night. Boudreau will almost certainly dress him, and he’ll go right after Sid and/or Geno.
Albert
May 9, 12:22 AM
Larry Murphy said it was a dirty hit on NHL Network.
I don’t think Sarge is coming back for a while. Not this series, at least.
If the Pens are without Gonchar, the Caps should be w/o Ovechkin.
Suspend him 3 games.
If the NHL takes no action, they will give the Penguins no option but to take matters into their own hands.
I don’t want to see that…but I fear the NHL has no guts when it comes to their “superstar.”
Zack Dawson
May 9, 03:20 AM
I agree Albert, something needs to be done. This is a chance for the NHL to take a stand and show that no one is exempt from punishment. Guaranteed, if it were someone other than Ovechkin, the talk would be about how long he would be suspended, not if he would.
I also agree with the consensus on here. Based on some stuff I read , it may be in Ovechkin’s best interest to be forced to sit out.
If the NHL does nothing, it will look very bad and promote that certain players are given a few get out of jail frees. Hockey cannot promote that image.
Pens1967
May 9, 06:19 AM
I only saw the replay once on Versus, but it sure looked like Ovechkin skated right toward Sarge and then stuck his leg out. Ovechkin must have been 5 or 6’ away from Gonchar when he started his “check”. It wasn’t like he was nearby and tried a hip check that went awry or accidentally got tangled up with Sarge. I really don’t see a lot of difference between that hit and the elbow Brashear threw on Blair Betts.
TheOneAndOnlySurge
May 9, 09:00 AM
I think a suspension depends on the status of Gonchar. This may also mean that we know exactly what is wrong with Gonch and how long he will be out. The hit was definetly knee on knee and Ovie did stick his right leg out to make contact. Every angle I saw showed this and in every angle I saw he did try to lead with his shoulder. The problem lies in the leg being stuck out, it seemed once he couldn’t get his shoulder on Gonch then he just stuck his leg out so Gonch couldn’t head up ice. Was it intent to injure, I don’t think but it was intent to make contact, maybe not knee on knee but contact. If Gonch plays then Ovie will get a fine, if Gonch is expected to miss the game or series then Ovie should miss a game or two. Most likely Pittsburgh will have to settle this. Oh yeah don’t forget what happened last time something like this happened and it was the regular season. If you don’t know that incident, well lets just say a players career was ended by a sucker punch to the back of the head.
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