If you don't know the back story, here's what happened when the Sabres came to Verizon Center on December 2:
Yeah, the hit looks bad on first watch, but A) it wasn't that late, B) Ovechkin didn't hit Briere that hard, C) it was made worse because Briere turned (I think to go to the bench) as soon as he got rid of the puck, D) it looked worse because Briere hit his head on the door and his helmet came off, E) despite laying on the ice for several minutes in such unbelievable excruciating pain, Briere DID NOT MISS A SHIFT.
All that being said ... if someone did the same thing to Ovechkin I'd probably be asking for the death penalty.
Ovechkin got a game misconduct for the hit and was fined $1,000.
To the credit of Buffalo fans, over at the popular Hockey's Future Boards, for every Buffalo fan who wants Ovechkin to be carried off on a stretcher there are two who say to get over it and that you can't fault an intense player for what was essentially a hustle play gone wrong.
As for Ovechkin, he's ready to go if someone wants to take a run at him.
"If it will be rough, I love play rough," he said. "I'm ready to fight if somebody want to fight me. I'm not afraid. I love make hits if somebody hit me. It's hockey. It's my game."The game is tonight at 7 on Comcast Sportsnet.
--The Washington Post
Here is some pre-game reading:
Ovechkin Awaits Sabres' Reception by Tarik El-Bashir, The Washington Post
JP of Japer's Rink says that "these events are always over-blown by the media and the fans. Players and coaches move on - they have games to win. This is the NHL, not 'Youngblood.'"
The Washington Times didn't even mention the hit.
3 comments:
Hey there, great blog. I'm a fan of all the teams on the website, most especially the O's, Skins and Terps.
Anyhow, to be quite honest I never got into hockey at all, even though I was born in British Columbia, Canada and I cannot skate.
I saw a game recently at the Verizon Center where I saw Ovechkin - is he amazing. Not that he's ready to become the next Gretzky, but he's on his way.
Take care and keep up th good work on the blog,
Anthony
Oh, I have a blog too called the Oriole Post at http://oriolepost.blogspot.com - and I have gone ahead and added your link.
Well that was an ugly first period.. six goals by Buffalo, two of the luckiest bounces you'll ever see in your life, a great hockey fight, and "Little Danny" Briere "extracting his revenge" on Ovechkin by spearing him (way to do it like man ... up six goals and stabbing someone with a hockey stick).
I want Brian Sutherby to deck Briere so bad right now.
6-3 final and Ovie scored. Not as bad as it looked like it would be through one period.
I have to say, anyone questioning Olie Kolzig's talents should review periods two and three of tonight's game. The Sabres could have touched double digits on a weaker goaltender. It's odd to say that a goalie had a great game in a 6-3 loss, but Kolzig was sharp and did a good job of keeping the intensity up despite the lopsided score, something he hasn't always done a great job of.
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