Busting Cherry

Alright I am going to touch on a number of issues here. I apologize that the IOC took down the video of Ovechkin upending Jagr at mid-ice off this blog but I assure you it was awesome. Jagr has the reputation of being "elusive" but OV literally broke his visor in a clean hit. I'm sure Don Cherry could find something wrong with it, but he is the Keith Olbermann of hockey; overbearing, wrong, and if you do not agree with him, well why bother. He said after Canada's catastrophic loss to the numer 1 seeded Americans that if Canada had run 3 lines instead of 4, they would have won. Well try to see yourself to a medal Cherry because when Russia knocks your boys out I hope your tears don't spill onto whatever stupid outfit you picked out that day. And people wonder why he always talks down the Great 8. His bias is worse then Rather's.

Canada has paid $118 million for their Olympic teams (I honestly don't know if that is adjusted for Canadian dollars or not) while USA spent just $58 million. But we are still winning the most, even on Canada's ice (or lack thereof.) Canada's slogan going into Vancouver was "we are going to own the podium." No one has ever known what you are talking aboot, especially now. Go sniff a maple leaf and hope Ovechkin falls down an empty elevator shaft, otherwise, you will win nothing in hockey this time around.

The detractors of Ovechkin who obviously know nothing about hockey say that he is a selfish player. Nothing could be further from the truth and he is proving it in this tournament. He is letting Malkin and Semin go free, and he is playing the role of tough guy which is what they need. However, he has still scored 5 goals in 8 games. I'll go to the NHL stats because Olympic stats seem impossible to pull up.

In the 08-09 season when the Caps were less talented, OV averaged 6.68 shots on goal a game playing over 20 minutes every night. This year, with a more talented team, he averages a 5.24 SOG per game, giving the puck to his teammates more often because that is what puts you at the top of the league. In the meantime, he leads the league in goals per game at .78, but is also sixth in the league in assists. All the while playing a style of hockey where he breaks people's visors from time to time.

Maybe you could say that he doesn't play defense, but if you did you would be stupid. He leads the league in +/- at +43, 6 points ahead of Schultz, 11 higher then Backstrom, 15 more then Green, and then we get to Sedin who trails by 16. I guess the Caps are kind of good, I hope they come through on their potential. The Great 8 is amazing on either side of the blueline.

I don't mean to build up the Crushin Russian too much, but I want to dispell any thought that he is not the best player in the world. I hope the game for the gold is USA-Russia and USA pulls it out. A. Because that is my team until the NHL starts up again. and B. I want OV, Semin, and Gnarly Varly to feel unsatisfied. So they can feel satisfied once they bring the Cup here. God that would make Don Cherry so angry. But maybe he wouldn't wear red again.