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Ovechkin’s suspension
by David Lee on 12/02/09 at 12:00 AM ET
Comments (4)
On Tuesday, Colin Campbell grew a pair and the league announced that superstar Alex Ovechkin will be hit with a two game suspension for his actions Monday night in Raleigh. This is Ovechkin’s first suspension, but hardly the first time he’s been involved in some questionable play. His star status has protected him a couple of times in the past, but finally, the league has decided to make the superstar sit (even though he would probably sit out with a sore knee anyway).
While some are complaining that the suspension is unfair and others are complaining that it’s not enough, I’m okay with it. Sure, somebody like Laraque gets five for the same thing, but until now, Ovie wasn’t in the NHL’s “naughty” book. The next time (and there WILL be a next time), he might get a longer suspension. The next time, he might end up injuring himself even more than he did this time. But the point of the suspension is to try to make sure there isn’t a next time. Ovechkin has to understand that his reckless brand of play puts the careers of other players and even his own career in jeopardy.
The key thing that some people are forgetting when they say “the suspension is moot because he’s going to sit out with injury anyway” is that Ovechkin will have to forfeit salary for those two games. And don’t forget about the mandatory but nominal $200 fine imposed by the league for the game misconduct.
Ovechkin won’t be exiled to the poor house because of this. He’ll hardly notice the forfeiture of salary.
While he continues to say things like “I’m not going to change” and “It is what it is”, it sounds like even Bruce Boudreau is getting a little tired of it. Boudreau has always defended Ovie when he’s been involved in some questionable play. He’s always stood behind Ovie when the player has been criticized by the press and fans. And now, it sounds like he’s ready to give the superstar some advice. From a TSN article:
“He’s pretty reckless,” Boudreau said. “It’s hard telling a guy that scores 60 goals a year to change the way he plays. At the same time, I don’t want to see him getting hurt. Maybe he has to pick his spots a little better. The open-ice hits, you just look around the league. It’s not only the hitter, it’s the guy that gets hit. ... It’s something that will have to be addressed by us, I guess. ... Not only as a coach, but as somebody who admires him, I just don’t want him to put himself in harm’s way, so we’ll see.”
Naturally, Boudreau’s main focus is on protecting Mr. Leonsis’ investment, but at least it’s a start
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Tags: Alexander+Ovechkin, kneeing, suspension,
Comments
As much as I can sympathize with Carolina’s fans over the two game suspension of Ovechkin, what about the two minute penalty that Michal Handzus served for ending Ales Hemsky’s season?
When will the NHL wake up? Ovechkin gets two games for a knee-on-knee hit on a player who finished the game. Handzus got a 2 minute penalty for a dirty hit that puts Ales Hemsky out for the remainder of the season… Am I missing something?
Posted by Jay from Edmonton on 12/02/09 at 01:33 AM ET
OVI the Ambassador aka Alexander the GR8 is probably the most exciting player to lace em up in a long time. The guy can score goals like no other, lay amazing hits, work until no end, and he has a will and passion that would exhaust most players. Unfortunately, he has a cheap and questionable side that is putting a damper on his potential greatness and it is putting a dent into any class that he has left.
No player should engage in these practices and especially for a player as amazing as Ovechkin. He is arguably the best player in the league and with that comes responsibility to act as a role model for the league and the youth aspiring to be in it years down the road.
I defended Ovechkin and did a video piece telling Don Cherry to lay off for him showboating when he is scoring goals. The US market needs a great entertaining salesperson to sell the game in non-traditional markets, and his flair will help. His unprofessional antics will not and I agree with Cherry with respect to the cheap stuff. I also believe that if you want to play this type of game you have to be prepared for the consequences. This action got him injured and if he keeps taking questionable runs at people, behind or otherwise, then the piper will be knocking on his doorstep. Nobody deserves to get hurt but his warning is up.
Human nature makes it easy for jealously to kick in against the number one player. Couple this with his antics and it is a recipe for disaster waiting to happen.
Ovi, smarten up. Get back to being fun to watch, lay the hard clean hits, and cut out the dirty stuff, or your hockey days will no doubt be numbered. The Cold War could just be getting started again in Washington!
Alfie
Posted by Alfie from Toronto on 12/02/09 at 02:05 AM ET
Jay, the NHL shouldn’t worry about whether or not a player is injured. In order to stop cheap hits they need to be proactive and begin suspending players for the hit, not the outcome. If its a cheap hit, suspension. If not, no suspension. If a player is also injured on the play, you can have a longer suspension, but an injury should not be the deciding factor in whether to suspend or not.
Posted by Kstewy16 on 12/02/09 at 11:08 AM ET
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David Lee is a restaurant manager with an unused degree in political science. He can be found at Carolina Hurricanes games, Scrabble tournaments and indie-rock shows. Sometimes, all in the same day.
David has contributed to CBC.ca for their Stanley Cup playoff coverage in 2006 and to the New York Times Slapshot blog for theirs in 2008. Red and Black Hockey was founded in July of 2005.
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2 games? thats it? These things are gonna keep happening until campbell starts coming down hard. Its just not ovie its everyone. Start giving out some real suspensions and this crap will come to an end. 2 games out of 82 is stupid. These guys should be suspended just as long as the person who they injured or in ovies case something that will fit.
Posted by ME on 12/02/09 at 01:06 AM ET