Back in November, a war of words erupted between Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby and Alexander Semin of the Washington Capitals. Semin openly questioned Crosby's stardom in the interview by saying "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." Normally, the media would attempt to blow these comments out of proportion in an attempt to mold a rivalry out of thin air. What's really wild, is when these two teams meet on January 14th at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, the Crosby-Semin feud will take second fiddle to one of the most exciting and odd conflicts in professional sports.Alexander Ovechkin vs. Evgeni Malkin
A little history...in 2004, Ovechkin and Malkin were taken #1 and #2 overall in the NHL Entry Draft and were regarded as the most exciting players to come out of Russia in at least a decade. For a few years, Ovechkin was always in direct competition with Sidney Crosby in a battle to see who would be the face of the NHL. That all changed last year when Crosby was out with an ankle injury and Malkin emerged and really blossomed into a superstar. In fact, nearly a year ago on national TV, Ovechkin took a full speed run at Malkin hoping to catch him when he wasn't looking and possibly knock him out with a massive hit. A video of the hit can be found here. Malkin glanced up at the last second and stuck out his arm sending Ovechkin embarassingly crashing into the boards. Since then it has been all out war. When the teams next met on October 16, Ovechkin went out of his way to physically punish and even cheapshot Malkin whenever he could which eventually led to a number of fights and tussles with other players. As of Sunday, Malkin leads the league in scoring trailed by, you guessed it, Ovechkin.
But why the anger? No one really knows, although the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review mentioned that a rumor has surfaced that Ovechkin knocked out Malkin's former agent in a Moscow nightclub in 2007. Neither party will provide any details, but more or less confirm the altercation took place. The question becomes how far does this conflict escalate? The league can't be excited about the possibility of serious injury to one of it's top players, but sooner or later the Penguins and Capitals will meet in a 7-game-bloodbath of a playoff series which has the potential to put the NHL back on the map.
Who knows, the Crosby-Semin clash may only raise the stakes in this rivalry. Both players surprisingly put their "fighting" abilities on display on Saturday. Crosby dropped the gloves with Brett McClean in the second period of an embarrassing 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers:
I'd like to say Semin fought on Saturday as well, but it actually looks like after he lost his wardrobe he merely tried to slap Marc Staal into submission:
In the end, I have to take Crosby suffocating McClean with his jersey over Semin on the bongo drums. To some longtime fans, the Crosby fight may have actually seemed a little familiar. In fact, Crosby's landlord Mario Lemieux dropped the gloves for one of the few times in his career during a 6-0 loss to Florida in 2003. Regardless of what happens, January 14th should be interesting...
Also: A video history of the Crosby Ovechkin battle
Posts
4 comments:
Semin looks like Ralphie from "A Christmas Story" when he's just recklessly swinging during his attack on Scut Farcus. Ralphie was 9.
Based purely on the video evidence, in a fight between Semin and Crosby, I pick Tie Domi.
Mike,
Let's be serious about Crosby. He is a wuss, for a lack of a better term. He has 'taken his gloves off' twice this year and both times, his opponent was not expecting a fight and was essentially suckered.
Look, Crosby is trying to send a message to his team when they are down, but what is the point in the 3rd down 4-1? I have lost some respect for Crosby with these mock fights he puts on.
Look at that video of Crosby's latest fight and he doesn't even give his opponent time to square up. Crosby attacks and throws the sweater over the head. We've all seen that move in Mighty Ducks. I don't even know if Crosby threw a punch there and should have gotten a 2-minute delay of game penalty instead.
I hope someone squares up with Crosby and punches him right in the teeth. Then we will see what kind of man he is.
Chris, I won't argue with your opinion of Crosby. I've personally been a much bigger fan of Ovechkin since Day 1 (which is essentially a crime for someone in Pittsburgh) and I think since his rookie year, Crosby has lost that 'edge' that got under opponents skin. Maybe this is his attempt to get that back? Who knows.
Here's the bigger issue for the Penguins...why is Crosby the one fighting these battles in the first place? Prior to that fight on Saturday, Florida players were attacking the Pittsburgh goaltenders to the point where Crosby had to step in and push some people around. The fight was a few minutes after that - but where is the rest of the team? There's a reason most star players won't fight and obviously that's because the last thing they want is a serious injury like Columbus super-rookie Derek Brassard suffered a few weeks ago (dislocated shoulder - done for the year).
I personally don't think star players should be treated any different but that's up for debate and the fact is, they are. The second a star player uses that free pass though and jumps a guy like Crosby did, or skates full speed for 40 feet to knock out Malkin like Ovechkin tried, then I think you become fair game.
I am not going to criticize Crosby for trying to fight, but he needs to understand fighting in the NHL. I believe Sid when he says Mclean agreed to fight, but you still don't jump the guy. You square up then go. Even a skill player who rarely fights should understand that. I have been driving the Crosby bandwagon for a few years now, but he is starting to "irk" me. He needs to show the same class on the ice that he does off it.
As for superstars fighting, I encourage it. I know, you don't want your stars breaking hands over a fight, but those stars are normally your leaders and if they can't get it going on the score board the next best thing is ramping up the physicality. I am a big Iginla for that reason. He is a very talented player who can bring it physically. This is where I agree with Mike, once stars start to amp up the physicality, they can't run behind their local goon for protection. They must be ready to face all suitors.
Post a Comment