Wednesday links: When the Pens go to Western Canada it's all Crosby all the time
by Hooks Orpik on Jan 13, 2010 11:39 AM EST
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(Pic at courtesy of penguins.com)
For only the second time in his going on five year NHL career, Sidney Crosby and the Pens are coming to Western Canada. And people are excited:
Pumped for the Pens [Calgary Sun]
Flames fired up to face Champs [Canadian Press]
Crosby's star keeps shining brighter [National Post]
Offering the west a glimpse [National Post]
Penguins site recaps yesterday's presser [Penguins.nhl.com]
Keeping a low profile [Winnipeg Free Press]
The highlight of tonight's games [NHL.com]
Crosby remains #1 in the league in clutch scoring [The Hockey News]
Crosby on pace to score 50 goals [TSN]
If you've got Twitter, why not throw out a guess on this contest? Also be sure to follow @Pensburgh and @Hooks_Orpik! [The Pensblog]
Replay-gate continues to hang around. [CBC -- Friedman]
USA's David Backes seems to be fighting Team Canada one player at a time. [The Common Room]
Matt Bradley steps in for Alex Ovechkin in a fight against Steve Downie. Everyone seems to be cool with this, but I could only imagine if you changed the first name to Mike Rupp and the second name to Sidney Crosby there'd be a lot of heckling why someone can't/won't be allowed to fight their own battles. [Puck Daddy]
Shooting down dumb trade rumors. [Spectors Hockey]
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My thoughts exactly on the Ovechkin/Bradley thing. I wouldn’t expect Ovechkin to fight Downie and frankly I admire Bradley jumping into the mix on behalf of his superstar. But you’re spot on with the Rupp/Crosby assessment.
But as Sid has shown before, he doesn’t need people to step in for him. See also: Andrew Ference, Keith Ballard (waiting for some retort on that one) and Marek Zidlicky
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I still laugh at how Crosby got the shield taken off his helmet and made Marc Savard shut up during a Bruins game.
I don’t know. I understand why Bradley did it, I admire Bradley for it, but I’m still laughing just a little at Ovechkin’s expense.
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by GreenEyedLilo on Jan 13, 2010 12:27 PM EST up reply actions
I guess I understand why Crosby would get mocked for that, but I think it’s stupid. He has his questionable fighting moments but I don’t deny that he’s willing to drop ‘em. I think Guerin was trying to jump in on the Ballard hit, fwiw, but wasn’t fast enough to get there. It’s irrelevant though, because in my mind the whole point was that Sid was the guy to step up to Malkin’s defense. He shouldn’t be fighting, but he’s put the league on notice that he’s willing to do it. I do want AO to fight someone, but not Steve Downie. Crosby fought guys that are hockey players, guys that their team will miss for 5 minutes. AO needs to do the same. Fight a guy that doesn’t fight to keep his job and a guy that isn’t a laughably one-sided trade in terms of missing the guy for 5 min.
LOVE David Backes going through Team Canada man by man. I had basically the same thought as Hooks when I saw it last night, Brian Burke can’t be too upset with this.
Now let's say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor.
Everyone seems to be cool with this, but I could only imagine if you changed the first name to Mike Rupp and the second name to Sidney Crosby there’d be a lot of heckling why someone can’t/won’t be allowed to fight their own battles.
Not from me. I wish more players would do this. I say screw the coming off the bench rule and the instigator rule. My captain, and my team superstar is about to drop with Steve Downie? I’m jumping the boards, damn the league, damn the suspension, damn the fine. AO likely pays it for him.
If Mike Rupp jumped in for Crosby, it would only grow his greatness in my mind. Rupp’s, I mean. Crosby is great enough on his own. Especially if he did so against Marek Zidlicky. Becuase, you know, then I could see it live and everything.
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Downie’s a clown and all, and I never fault a teammate for standing in place of a superstar against a guy who fights all the time.
But Ovechkin’s 6’2, 230 Downie’s 5’10 and 195. Could Downie have hurt AO or could Ovechkin have broken his hand? Sure. But when it comes to the point that they drop gloves, helmets and square up you gotta let it go at some point.
That’s my feeling anyways. I don’t blame Ovechkin at all, since there’s no doubt he was about 3 seconds away from throwing punches before Bradley came storming in.
You come at the king, you best not miss.
by Hooks Orpik on Jan 13, 2010 12:44 PM EST up reply actions
Agreed
Even Mario dropped the gloves occasionally, and AO will never be on that plateau! with 4 inches in height advantage, 35 lbs weight advantage and probably 5+ inches of reach advantage, this would have been the perfect opportunity for AO to drop the gloves. Shame on AO for allowing Bradley to jump in.
I agree if there is a regular fighter that AO should face, it would be on that he has a size advantage over. But I still don’t want him fighting Downie. For the stars, it’s all about defense. Just don’t let you get yourself punched in the face. Until I’ve seen some of that defense from AO (or any defense! hyuk hyuk) I don’t want to give Downie that chance. Size advantage or not, one shot by Downie could seriously hurt AO. Let him start out on the intermediate slopes. We get a shot at Keith Ballard tonight…
Now let's say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor.
I will grudgingly agree that the terms need to be more equal, but at some point, for long-term self-preservation, AO is going to HAVE to fight a relative goon because you do not have a legitimate enforcer. Downie is the least of all evils, in this regard, for AO to fight, or you can trade for Goddard pretty cheap!
Remember when the Pens traded for McSorley? Grant Jennings, or any of the other Penguins MW’s, did not qualify as a true enforcer to keep the heat off of Mario. AO plays a much more aggressive game, and it seems to me that to protect your 100MM investment, a true goon is needed, even if wasting a roster spot like we do for Goddard.
Don’t agree with your top paragraph at all. Nobody fights the legitimate enforcers except legitimate enforcers. AO will have to fight someday, but it won’t be George Parros. I want AO to fight a guy that won’t sucker punch him when he’s vulnerable (See: Downie v. Jason Blake). I want AO to fight a guy whose team will miss him for the 5 minutes.
And enforcer arguments from the mid-90s aren’t really applicable. The game has changed and the role/acceptability of fighting has changed.
Now let's say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor.
I really dont like seeing guys like Ovie fighting. However a guy that plays as physical and as “borderline” as Ovie does is going to have to drop the gloves every once in a while. Thats just the way it is. If the Caps don’t like it, try tell Ovie to change his game….that worked the last time.
I don’t really think Ovie’s style of play instigated this one. I think Downie was just being a douche. I think he hacked at Ovie earlier in the night and then Ovie eventually had enough of it. I don’t know the whole story, but maybe a Caps fan could fill us in.
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A few minutes before that Downie was trying to skate the puck out of the zone up the boards a-la Umberger and AO caught him. Downie saw it coming last minute and braced himself but didn’t like AO gunning for him so they scrummed it up and got matching minors. As soon as they got out of the box they got together and started jawing and hooking and then dropped the gloves. Downie is a punk in general, as everyone knows. He pulls under-handed crap every time they play us. I’m not sure if that played into it at all, or whether it was just stuff that happened last night, but it boiled over. I also think AO has been looking to fight for a few weeks now. He dropped with Dan Boyle when they got beat down by SJS but Boyle wouldn’t drop (can’t blame him). He has to be more cautious about picking his opponents though.
Now let's say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor.
Frankly if the Caps don’t like it they can just keep doing just what they did last night. They don’t want Ocho fighting and they will do their best to prevent it. I agree with the sentiment that if this was Crosby there would be a whole lot of belly aching. But, such is life when everyone is jealous.
Crosby would never hear the end of this if that was him.
by genomachine-O on Jan 13, 2010 2:51 PM EST up reply actions
This whole Ovechkin/Bradley/Downie situation
reminds me of the Pens-Caps when, in game 1, OV took a dive at center ice (anyone remember that?) and it was swept under the rug. Then, the very next game, Crosby was slammed for “complaining that there were too many hats on the ice” (it’s not like he’s the Captain or has a right to speak the officials or anything…), when he was saying that the amount of time it was taking was delaying the game.
871
Matt Bradley steps in for Alex Ovechkin in a fight against Steve Downie. Everyone seems to be cool with this, but I could only imagine if you changed the first name to Mike Rupp and the second name to Sidney Crosby there’d be a lot of heckling why someone can’t/won’t be allowed to fight their own battles.
Yeah, had this happened to Crosby we would all be hearing about how Crosby is a “girl” or “wussy”. I know for a fact I would have heard all about it from my friend who is a huge Ov fan had it happened to Crosby..
I guess that’s kind of expected though. Everything Crosby does gets so blown out of proportion just because of how big he is, and how he came into the league. Plenty of NHL players talk to the refs, not too mention every other Captain in the NHL. Yet, when Crosby does it, it’s automatically assumed that he was a “whiner”.
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