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Hey AO, How About The Stanley Cup?
by Paul on 07/15/09 at 07:03 AM ET
Comments (10)
from RussiaToday,
Ovechkin was playing as goalie in the first half, but couldn’t keep the net untouched. In the second, Ovechkin appeared as a forward, determined to upset the Sochi clerks. And he managed to do it, sending the ball in the high left corner of the net after a perfect distance shot. However, this time around, it wasn’t about the winner or the loser, and the result took a backseat.
After the match, Ovechkin made sure to praise Russia’s efforts in securing the 2014 Winter Olympics.
”I’m very proud of my country. I’m proud of Sochi for winning the bid to host the Olympic Games,” said Ovechkin, adding that his “own focus next season is on the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.”
more on the soccer match Ovechkin participated in….
Filed in: NHL Teams, Washington Capitals | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Alexander+Ovechkin,
Comments
Kharlamov Trophy winner ,4 straight years. Best russian hockey player in NHL as voted on by current russian NHL players. Impressive, there’s alot of highend russian talent in the league. The top 2 and 4 out of top 6 point leaders in the NHL last season are russians.
Posted by Lindas1st on 07/15/09 at 08:34 AM ET
Country before league. Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Malkin ... they will all be concentrating on one thing come Jan 2010: Russia for Olympic Gold. Once that is over with, those players will then concentrate on playoffs and the Stanley Cup.
I daresay you’ll find a lot of Canadian and US players who also hope to help their Olympic squad to Olympic Gold, and those players will talk about it before talking about the Stanley Cup. After all, the Olympics come before the Playoffs, and a lot can change in the playoff race between Jan and April.
Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 07/15/09 at 08:44 AM ET
The trick is for AO to have a team that actually supports him in the playoffs instead of flopping. At some points in the playoffs this year AO appeared to be the only person on the team playing. Besides Varlamov anyway… he did really well under all the pressure.
Posted by Adam on 07/15/09 at 08:46 AM ET
It’ll be interesteing to watch the Pens-Caps (if scheduled) games before the olympic break. I want to see if Ovechkin tries to take off Malkin’s head ,with those reckless hits he tried in the past, knowing he’ll (Malkin) probably be his(Ovechkin) center come February at the olympics.
Posted by Lindas1st on 07/15/09 at 09:03 AM ET
The website linked to has vaired from mis-translated to wildly inaccurate (I believe they reported incorrectly Miro Satan/Petr Sykora signed with KHL teams this summer).
I’d cut Ovechkin a break here, he’s always talked about wanting to win the Cup and obviously his playoff performances have been solid.
However ask him if he’d want to win the Cup once in his career or the Gold Medal in 2014 on Russian soil and I’m not exactly positive the answer he’d give.
Posted by Hooks Orpik on 07/15/09 at 09:10 AM ET
Not surprised. Playing to his audience.
No doubt he has every intention of trying to do both. 
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/15/09 at 10:14 AM ET
haha c’mon… this is an Olympics quote. He’s more focused on Vancouver 2010 than Sochi 2014
Posted by Sombrero Guy on 07/15/09 at 11:32 AM ET
Maybe it’s because I’m from a country that every 2 years roots all-together for soccer - in World Cup or in the Olympics -, but I’m not shocked to see that from Ovechkin.
I just think that some weird reactions to his words come from the fact that not many Americans dig world competitions. There’s not a football world cup, the baseball World Classic is still very weak, and basketball usually is boring for USA (20 points margin of victory average?).
And also, Ovechkin is from Russia, a team very likely to beat USA, so people obviously won’t like it.
Posted by Guilherme from Brazil on 07/15/09 at 11:48 AM ET
Olympic gold is awarded before the Stanley Cup next year. There will be plenty of time to focus on the Cup itself once the Olympics are over 
Posted by Shan from Saskatoon on 07/15/09 at 07:02 PM ET
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Exactly. Start focusing on the Cup. No more lousy playoff performances. What’s that? 21 pts in 14 playoff games? OK, nevermind.
Posted by eric from baltimore on 07/15/09 at 08:17 AM ET