Hot sticks

A couple of nights back, Alex Ovechkin scored the 50th goal of his season and celebrated by putting his stick on the ice and warming his hands to it, as if it were hot. You get it. I'd just like to repeat what the Hockey News' Ken Campbell said:

GOOD ON OVIE
Alex Ovechkin’s celebration after his 50th goal of the season was undoubtedly over the top and probably ill advised.

But it’s clear that, by doing it, Ovechkin made a bold statement that he couldn’t possibly care less what Canada’s National Windbag or anyone else thinks of the way he celebrates goals. And you’d have to think he’s not terribly concerned about said windbag’s prediction that “somebody will cut him in half.”

Cherry is really becoming a complete joke, if he isn't that already. Remember back when Kovalchuk owned Sidney Crosby, suckered him into taking a stupid penalty and then pointed at Crosby when he came out of the box after Kovalchuk scored on the power play? Cherry was irate and screamed his head off. According to Cherry, somebody oughta break his arm!

Funnily enough, nobody did. And nobody will now.

It's somehow revolting to me that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation gives airtime to a racist bigot who openly calls for violence against foreign players who violate his "code". Luckily it doesn't seem to matter on the ice, though, as Cherry clearly inhabits some fantasyland of his own where players aren't allowed to celebrate goals unless they're Canadian.

It would be good to do some remembering, like Hockey News columnist Ryan Kennedy did:

Last night, Alex Ovechkin scored his 50th goal of the season, the third time he has reached that mark in his four NHL seasons. In a pre-planned celebration, he dropped his stick and held his hands over it as if it were too hot to touch. Awesome.

Now people are going to freak out about this – most of the Tampa Bay Lightning did, since they were the victims – but let’s not forget how stars used to celebrate big goals. From Theo Fleury’s playoff slide to Teemu Selanne’s duck hunt routine when he broke Mike Bossy’s rookie goals record in 1993. That flavor gave us the enduring images that are till shown on broadcasts to this day.

Hot dogging? Whatever. Ovechkin’s job is to score goals.

Exactly. Whatever. And what's more, in doing his job he gives us iconic moments we're going to remember for as long as we live. I love that guy.