Sidney Crosby responds to Alexander Semin's comments...sorta

by FrankD on Nov 4, 2008 10:10 PM EST in News

Semincrosby_medium

If you haven't seen it by now then you better have a good excuse. Alexander Semin of the Washington Capitals lashed out, intentional or not, at our boy Sidney Crosby this past weekend in what has easily become one of the more controversial statements to hit the Net/TV/Radio.

What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago ... [Kane] is a much more interesting player.

Washington Capitals' Alexander Semin

Well Sid fired back with a response of his own that wouldn't necessarily herald as much attention, but at least puts the situation to rest. Maybe...

“It’s not like I need a reason to be motivated,” Crosby said. “I feel like I’m a pretty motivated person anyways. I don’t feel like that kind of stuff changes the way I play. I’ve been criticized before. It’s one of those things I have to deal with. I don’t read into it a whole lot.”

Sidney Crosby
Penguins Web Site

So there ya have it. Nothing overly special, right?

There's been talk coming from all sides of this story that say Semin's translator may have misconstrued his intentional phrasing, others may say it carried "malicious" intent. Either way you look at it, this is all just part of the game.

Sean Leahy from Going Five Hole and Yahoo's PuckDaddy was pretty mad about the way in which the quote blew up. He has a few other examples of poor referencing by the mainstream media on his page. Fittingly, Sean was also upset that the media was constantly referencing Yahoo! and not Greg and the PuckDaddy blog. Rest assured though Sean, the Penguins' site references Greg and not just "Yahoo."

As for my two cents, how did this even get as big as it did?

I think it may have something to do with the general sense of modesty that surrounds hockey players on a regular basis compared to that of, say, a Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver who changed his name to literally mean eighty-five in Spanish.

No touchdown dances, no home run trots - hockey players know that whatever you say or do on or off the ice will eventually come full circle. Sid and Semin will both back it up on the ice. Crosby already said he doesn't need the motivation, and clearly with the way Semin's season is taking off for him, he doesn't either.

So I ask, can we finally put this thing to rest?

Tweet Comment 2 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

As for my two cents, how did this even get as big as it did?

I think it may have something to do with the general sense of modesty that surrounds hockey players on a regular basis

Bingo. I think this general sense you speak of is usually a good thing — I don’t go for Avery-ization of sports — but everyone’s taste is different. Semin’s comment, while a bit insane, didn’t cross any line with me. The difference for me (vs. the Bengal) was that it sounded honest; it didn’t sound like it was said to make headlines. I

Apparently Semin sees a good shot, great hockey sense, and off-the-chart competitiveness as “nothing else.” So we learned something about how Semin sees the game, or about how he’s quite capable of jealousy.

As far as judging a player by how interestingly he moves (like Kane) … Crosby should have replied, “Semin’s tush jiggles while he skates. It’s unsightly.”

SBN now has a NY Islanders blog at LighthouseHockey.com.

by Dominik on Nov 5, 2008 3:11 PM EST reply actions

One of the reasons I appreciate hockey is for that very reason. Players don’t play the media like other athletes do (Avery aside, as you mentioned). And I agree – Semin’s comment was honest, outright and probably what at least 70% of the league thinks about Crosby. As a Pens fan, and readers on this site will agree, you sometimes get a little tired and overwhelmed with seeing Crosby’s face on every commercial. It doesn’t make us any less a fan of our captain or team, but instead personifies a general love of the game. “Yes we get it, but there are other great players.”

I’ve been saying the entire offseason and I’ll say it here – Zach Parise on the Devils is my pick for next young star. If you took a guy like him and dropped him into an offense like the Red Wings, Penguins, Sharks or Capitals have he’d rack up 100 points this season. Instead he’s going to fight for every one he can get on the Devils and probably round out around 80-90. Just my guess.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com

by FrankD on Nov 5, 2008 4:39 PM EST up reply actions