Does Don Cherry's opinion even matter anymore?(03/24/09)
Posted 4:47 PM ET | Comments 9
First off, I will not BS you, I am on Ovechkin's side in this little saga, so yes, there is bias in this Blog.
We all know about Don Cherry recent criticism toward Alexander Ovechkin for his 50th goal celebration...if you've watched Coach's Corner(or Coach's Room as OV likes to call it) in the last three weeks you will know about this, heck if you've watched TSN, Versus, Score, Sportsnet, looked at your hockey buzz lately, you'll know about this. Just to summarize for those who don't know about what I'm talking about, let's start from the beginning.
Ovechkin loves to score...everyone knows that, everyone has heard that line, and he is especially famous for his passionate leaps into the boards after he scores them. Most just accept this as Ovie's personality, but this seems to bother Don Cherry. In a game approximately 3 weeks ago(Pittsburgh vs. Washington comes to mind, but correct me if I'm wrong) Ovechkin did something different that seemed to infuriate Cherry, and he went on to chastise Ovechkin on Coach's Corner.(Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5ZPa_wmkyI. Ovechkin's goal celebrations for the week following this were...well, rather calm comparative to what they usually are, and Cherry in all his glorified arrogance went on to say on his program the following Saturday that "Ovechkin was listening to him, this is why the kids listen to me" something along that line, and then Ovechkin countered with his 50th goal celebration:
(This video is of both Cherry's 2nd Saturday reaction, and Ovechkin's 50th goal celebration.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA6sAdrlH-U
Now, I love how this video is set up because it shows Cherry basically saying "case closed" and then Ovechkin countering with the "hot hot hot!" 50th Goal celebration. Cherry counters with this last Saturday night.
Where do I start?
Don, what exactly is this "Canadian Way" you talk about, and try to teach kids? Because all I see on your program is bias and fallacy... you're trying to bring kid's up to think ignorantly, are you? You admit that you don't think Ovechkin is meaning to make anyone feel bad, but you tell Ovi "Think about how Tampa feels? How the rookie goalie feels." Well Don, guess what, even the worst players in the NHL are getting paid $450 000 dollars a year to play hockey, let alone the Lecavaliers and St. Louis who are getting 5 plus, these guys can suck it up and take this kind of stuff, on top of that I don't see this discouraging the rookie goalie to the point where he's lost all confidence in himself, if it has, then he's going to have a pretty harsh NHL Career, because the pressure gets a lot worse than some guy's goal celebration.
I think one key thing that Cherry seemed to skip over on Saturday night is that this was Ovechkin 50th goal of the season, that's reason enough for a good celebration. Unbeknownst to a lot, he also set a new record that night in becoming the first Capital in franchise history to have three 50 goal seasons, so why can't he let go a little? So what if he jumps into the boards when he scores? You never seemed to criticize Ontario-born Shean Donovan when he used to do the same thing in the 2004 playoffs? You even glorified Teemu Selanne's Glove shoot in one of your Rock em, Sock ems. I mean, Donovan makes sense, because he's Canadian, so obviously you're going to give him a break, but what of Selanne? Why are you biased against Ovechkin? Oh right...because he ended up being more more famous and more well liked than your
good ol' boy Crosby.
At the end of the day, Cherry will continue to be a Canadian icon, kids will unfortunately look up to him and follow what he says. Having said that, he CAN be very entertaining, and has almost made nationalism a cool thing, but honestly Don, get that stick out of your behind, and remember that in 15 years when you've retired, Ovechkin could still very well still be in the league scoring 50 goals a season and still giving us his trade mark celebrations.
-hockeycore
We all know about Don Cherry recent criticism toward Alexander Ovechkin for his 50th goal celebration...if you've watched Coach's Corner(or Coach's Room as OV likes to call it) in the last three weeks you will know about this, heck if you've watched TSN, Versus, Score, Sportsnet, looked at your hockey buzz lately, you'll know about this. Just to summarize for those who don't know about what I'm talking about, let's start from the beginning.
Ovechkin loves to score...everyone knows that, everyone has heard that line, and he is especially famous for his passionate leaps into the boards after he scores them. Most just accept this as Ovie's personality, but this seems to bother Don Cherry. In a game approximately 3 weeks ago(Pittsburgh vs. Washington comes to mind, but correct me if I'm wrong) Ovechkin did something different that seemed to infuriate Cherry, and he went on to chastise Ovechkin on Coach's Corner.(Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5ZPa_wmkyI. Ovechkin's goal celebrations for the week following this were...well, rather calm comparative to what they usually are, and Cherry in all his glorified arrogance went on to say on his program the following Saturday that "Ovechkin was listening to him, this is why the kids listen to me" something along that line, and then Ovechkin countered with his 50th goal celebration:
(This video is of both Cherry's 2nd Saturday reaction, and Ovechkin's 50th goal celebration.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA6sAdrlH-U
Now, I love how this video is set up because it shows Cherry basically saying "case closed" and then Ovechkin countering with the "hot hot hot!" 50th Goal celebration. Cherry counters with this last Saturday night.
Where do I start?
Don, what exactly is this "Canadian Way" you talk about, and try to teach kids? Because all I see on your program is bias and fallacy... you're trying to bring kid's up to think ignorantly, are you? You admit that you don't think Ovechkin is meaning to make anyone feel bad, but you tell Ovi "Think about how Tampa feels? How the rookie goalie feels." Well Don, guess what, even the worst players in the NHL are getting paid $450 000 dollars a year to play hockey, let alone the Lecavaliers and St. Louis who are getting 5 plus, these guys can suck it up and take this kind of stuff, on top of that I don't see this discouraging the rookie goalie to the point where he's lost all confidence in himself, if it has, then he's going to have a pretty harsh NHL Career, because the pressure gets a lot worse than some guy's goal celebration.
I think one key thing that Cherry seemed to skip over on Saturday night is that this was Ovechkin 50th goal of the season, that's reason enough for a good celebration. Unbeknownst to a lot, he also set a new record that night in becoming the first Capital in franchise history to have three 50 goal seasons, so why can't he let go a little? So what if he jumps into the boards when he scores? You never seemed to criticize Ontario-born Shean Donovan when he used to do the same thing in the 2004 playoffs? You even glorified Teemu Selanne's Glove shoot in one of your Rock em, Sock ems. I mean, Donovan makes sense, because he's Canadian, so obviously you're going to give him a break, but what of Selanne? Why are you biased against Ovechkin? Oh right...because he ended up being more more famous and more well liked than your
good ol' boy Crosby.
At the end of the day, Cherry will continue to be a Canadian icon, kids will unfortunately look up to him and follow what he says. Having said that, he CAN be very entertaining, and has almost made nationalism a cool thing, but honestly Don, get that stick out of your behind, and remember that in 15 years when you've retired, Ovechkin could still very well still be in the league scoring 50 goals a season and still giving us his trade mark celebrations.
-hockeycore
If you are a real hockey fan whatsoever then Don Cherry's opinion should matter! Especially if you are Canadian!ps. I don't like Crosby at all. They made the "new nhl" for him and he still whines!
Cherry is a caricature. I have a ton of respect for the charity work that he does and the obvious passion he has for the troops that go over seas and die for their country, but other than that, the guy is a buffoon. He is ridculously opinionated and acts like a jerk more often than not. But, he is interesteing, I'll give him that. I tune in just about every Saturday night to watch him, so he must be doing something right.
I trust Cherry 50/50.
I enjoy Ovechkin's unleashed and genuine enthusiasm when he scores a goal. What I don't like is choreographed celebrations ala the NFL. I really hope he doesn't start a trend with his 50th celebration. Hockey players dancing after goals would be horrendous. If Cherry's criticisms stemmed from the choreographed celebrations then I would obviously agree with him, however, genuine enthusiasm is great.
it obviously does because you are writing about it.