I was watching Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night (surprise) and I saw Don Cherry talking about Alexander Ovechkin and his crazy goal celebrations. Until that point, I had never really thought too much about his celebrations, except maybe his first goal in the league but that was because he truly just looked like a kid who scored his first goal in Tyke.
If you aren’t familiar with Cherry and his views (you’re definitely not Canadian) but he is probably the definition of OLD SCHOOL. He was a coach of the notoriously “chippy” Boston Bruins in the ’70s and lets just say he wasn’t shy when it came to letting his “opinion” be heard. When his coaching days ended, he continued to let his opinions be heard every Saturday night after the first period of hockey games on the CBC for the past 20 some odd years.
Continuing with his trend of outspoken tirades that more often then not fall on European shoulders, he went after AO for celebrating too much like a soccer player. Cherry suggested someone may/should take it to the physical level to deter such things in the future. When Ovechkin was asked by the Washington Post about it, he said, “I think he is a funny guy (Cherry), old guy. He likes old fashioned hockey, so he don’t like probably my celebrations” (just so you know that is the wording he used).
So what is your stance on the matter? Does Cherry have a point? Should Alex the Great turn down the celebration meter to a 6 instead of a 10? Is Ovechkin right and Cherry is just a old miser that can’t get used to the now?
Personally, I like the way Alex makes every goal seem as though its his first and as far as I know he isn’t one of those guys skating by the other teams bench and rubbing it in. He is just jumping around on the ice and usually slamming his face in the boards trying to get to the crowd or just trying to pump them up, home or away. Like we have said here before, hockey could use a little more life in its players and Ovechkin always supplies that. So I say, leave him be Cherry, if hes not being a sore sport and ruining the game then let it be. At least he’s not fighting, right Reefer???
Peace!
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you got it GOAT! I have no problem with him celebrating the way he does at all. Ovechkin is by far the most exciting player to watch since the days of Pavel Bure. Watching his boyish enthusiasm every time he scores a goal is a big part of what endears fans to him. His passion for the game is incredible and other superstars could learn a thing or two from him instead of looking like automatons out there.
I don’t want to call Cherry out on this because I think he would make a similar statement even if it were Sidney Crosby celebrating too much, but Cherry is clearly out of touch with the modern hockey fan (in the United States at least). The fans eat Ovechkin’s antics up, and in a league struggling to maintain it’s market share in the US, he should be looked at as a savior–not getting ripped on for putting on an entertaining show.