For those complaining about WJC showboating...

[RorschachWJK]

I am a big fan of player individuality and I love creative celebrations. However, I wanted the Russian team to be pounded into the ice after what they did. There is a big differance between celebration and taunting and mocking. If Ovechkin jumped on the ice and started swimming motions I would have laughed, but he aimed at taunting Team USA and mocking the crowd. That is disrespecting someone's pride and dignity and that can't go unpunished.

You would like to see taunting and mocking in a hockey game being violently retaliated? I suggest seeking professional help at this point, poor boy. This is only sport, if you haven't noticed.

 

[Grave77digger]

Like I said, US played a dirty and sloppy brand of hockey. They took the attitude of "play the top guys tough" to far. Cheap shotting, slashing, and high sticking. Maybe if they werent busy taking penalties they would have had a chance to win. They viewed the russian goalie as being a weak goalie, and thus under estimated the opponent. The Russian antics were justified and noone was hurt by the show boating. Atleast what the Russians did was in the boundaries of the rules unlike alot of the US actions...

 

[two out of three*]

a little blood doesn't hurt anybody ... its the fact that they have the audacity to showboat on EMPTY ******* NET GOALS, I can live with Shirokov after putting his team ahead 3-2, but for ***** sake save the showboating for your own team...celebrate after the goal and with your team ... don't ******* taunt your opponent right after you score an EN Goal

Yeah, thats exactly my thinking. Its one thing if its an important goal. An empty netter is ridiculous. I can score an empty netter. And to taunt the bench after is ludicrous. Shirokov's ear thing was ok, I had no problem with that. But when you taunt the other teams bench (and if your a player you can agree with me) your asking to get hurt, and thats why a Russian player got a bloody nose after the taunts.

 

[Gumby]

That's okay reasoning, I guess. The issue most have is that the players should put themselves a notch or two above the drunks in the stands.

I know that at 19 years old I probably woulda done worse....and I was quite mature for my age (alotta people I know would've been far worse). I'm sorry, but if I had a couple people telling me I suck and how overrated I am (things I'd imagine would be thrown at AO) for an entire game, or tourny even, I think for a kid to just turn around and smile then turn and show the jerk(s) up really isn't that bad for a kid. With people basically sitting on top of the bench it's bound to happen (we've seen alot worse in the NHL....squirrting water at people and even trying to climb outta the penalty box to assault somebody come to mind as recent examples).

As an AO fan (as you could probably tell) I'm not real happy about him doin it but I'm far from ready to label him a showoff jerk....actually I'm more dissapointed with him diving than anything. It might just be that it's a normal thing in European hockey and he's just doing what he's been taught, but that's more classless than anything else he did (his EN goal celebration sealed the game).

 

[Panopticon]

I can score an empty netter.

It's not THAT easy in a game like that.


*Edited* Removed inappropriate comments

 

[CF]

Have you ever seen an NFL or NBA game? Now that's showboating and is completely tolerable in those sports. The difference is those sports actually have viewers. Maybe hockey needs more showboating.

Hockey is a class above the other sports. It's too bad Ovechkin isn't.

 

[LoweDown]

Hockey is a class above the other sports. It's too bad Ovechkin isn't.

Nor was Bertuzzi.. Nor was teh American team that was taking cheapshots and penalties against the Russian team for the whole game...

 

[SneakerPimp82]

Hockey is a class above the other sports. It's too bad Ovechkin isn't.

Please, it's a great sport, but don't say it's a class above other sports. Unless you're trying to say American viewers aren't very classy at all, because those other sports are obscenely more popular than hockey.

 

[octopi]

I watched that game, and Ovechkin's celebration of the 5-2 goal didn't bother me. Why shouldn't he celebrate it? It was the proverbial nail in the coffin. If his team was already up by 5 goals I would have said it was showboating, but not a goal to make it 5-2. Thats just insurance. As far as the pointing to his jersey thing, maybe the fans were taunting him earlier and he was responding.However, I'll agree Malkin's celebration when he went to the US bench was just plain mean. Unless, as he alluded to, he didn't realize it was the US bench in his excitement(Unless he's got severe color blindness, I doubt it).
As for Shirokov's "Louder!" gestures, well...

 

[Poignant Discussion*]

2 Closed threads with this topic going on 3 I'm thinking

 

[Jet]

2 Closed threads with this topic going on 3 I'm thinking

Please do!!!!!

 

[Oi'll say!]

You would like to see taunting and mocking in a hockey game being violently retaliated? I suggest seeking professional help at this point, poor boy. This is only sport, if you haven't noticed.

It's only sport until you start acting like an idiot and provoking people. Just because it happens inside the boards doesn't legitimize anything that happens.

Those American kids and their fans didn't play or act in a manner that would warrant such blatant disrespect so it's really up to them how they respond. If they felt like pummelling a couple of those guys I would understand 100%. "You mess with the bull you get the horns", plain and simple. They never stooped though, so I want to congratulate the American kids for taking the high road and representing their country with grace and dignity. There are some great future pros there and this can turn out to be a positive motivational tool for them in the long run if they handle it correctly.

 

[Oi'll say!]

Does anyone else think that (Shirokov aside) the whole thing was instigated by the Pat O'Sullivan highstick? IMO that was a pretty blatent cheapshot. They didin't overly do that against other teams and its just out of character for guys like Malkin and AO.

No, that's definitely not the case.

The Russians did it to the QMJHL all-stars a month ago (in two games which they barely won, in a shootout no less) and they would have done it to the OHL and WHL too if they didn't get completely obliterated.

 

[Oi'll say!]

Sure they did these things, but let's not make generalizations about the whole Russian population or even their hockey players.

Obviously 200 million people in Russia aren't all alike but the team and coaching staff on this trip are all about that kind of behavior and there doesn't seem to be much pressure from the top to have them stop acting that way.

Stop it with the politically correct routine if you have no clue what you're talking about.

 

[two out of three*]

It's not THAT easy in a game like that.

Actually I could, and even If I couldn't it still wouldn't make a difference whether you should taunt after that "critical EN goal."

*Removed quote of edited post*

 

[Hart_House_Ca]

Therefore taunting has always existed. So why get rid of it? If the NHL isn't willing to change to get more viewers why would they change something that would eliminate viewers?

How does showboating get you more viewers? This is a great statement but you lack any evidence or substance.

NFL fines people who showboat don't they. I recall terrell owens getting fine for signing a football, and showboating in the dallas football game after a touchdown and right after was knocked down by emit smith.

NBA showboating and taunting of fans in the detriot basketball game caused a near out riot. Did all of a sudden the NBA attract more fans. No. They tainted themselves throughtout the media, by the repeated plays of those fights.

What about the todd bertuzzi incident. Did the NHL all of a sudden attract more fans. No. A lot of people were angry at bertuzzi and the NHL had to address this by suspending him indefinitely. This isn't good for players, or the league, and I find this hard to believe that this would attract more fans.

So you want players to showboat and show lack of respect of the game, the players, the opponents in the hopes of attacting more fans? lol

A better way to attract fans would be to end the labour dispute, increase the speed of the game, with no touch icing, no red line, tag up offside, reduce cluthing and grabbing, overtime shoot outs. These are much better ways to attract fans, by making the game less complicated to understand, and a lot more enjoyable to watch.

 

[Epsilon]

NBA showboating and taunting of fans in the detriot basketball game caused a near out riot. Did all of a sudden the NBA attract more fans. No. They tainted themselves throughtout the media, by the repeated plays of those fights.

What about the todd bertuzzi incident. Did the NHL all of a sudden attract more fans. No. A lot of people were angry at bertuzzi and the NHL had to address this by suspending him indefinitely. This isn't good for players, or the league, and I find this hard to believe that this would attract more fans.

Come again? Neither of these examples have anything to do with showboating. They both have exclusively to do with violence and meatheads (Bertuzzi, Artest, Wallace, Jackson, etc.) who can't control their anger.

 

[Hart_House_Ca]

Showboating is lack of respect for the other team and fans. I gave you other example of lack of respect for the both the games and fans, and ask how this helps to attract more fans?

 

[Canuck21t]

Sure they did these things, but let's not make generalizations about the whole Russian population or even their hockey players. Would it be fair to make generalizations about Canadian players or people based on Bobby Clarke, Todd Bertuzzi and a few other goons?

Well Europeans already do generalize Canadian players in that regard. I personally do believe in those generalizations. Finns or Swedes are less likely to do a Todd Bertuzzi act and Russians are the only players to date who I've seen taunting to such a degree. I will never forget when Svitov spitted on the Canadians. That was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. The American players trashing their room was the post embarrassing behavior I can remember and what Bertuzzi did was the most unacceptable, cowardly and stupid act I've ever seen.

 

[I Hate You All*]

NBA showboating and taunting of fans in the detriot basketball game caused a near out riot.

If a player from one team hitting a player from the other team in the face with two hands equals "showboating and taunting of fans" then hey...
you may be right!

 

[BCCHL inactive]

Showboating is lack of respect for the other team and fans. I gave you other example of lack of respect for the both the games and fans, and ask how this helps to attract more fans?

The only example of showboating/taunting you gave is Terrell Owens ...and to be honest, he sells more tickets and his jerseys sell more than any other NFL player. That, and what he has been fined for is borderline taunting, that isn't near as bad as what Ovechkin and Malkin did last night. I can't remember an occasion where Owens over-celebrated a meaningless touchdown or ran across the field to the other team's bench to yell obscenities at them. The only problem that Owens has, is that he is in too much love with himself. He doesn't have a habit of taunting his opponents...just over-celebrating, and when he did taunt fans at Texas Stadium, he got ran over by a mammoth Cowboys player.

Maybe it's time for the next Russian player who goes out of his way to make an ass of himself to get pummeled by a player the opposing team could stand to lose for a while.

 

[TBJF]

And for that cash the fans receive the right to hate the teams and the players. The kids are just giving something back for the fans for their money here. Everyone's happy.

Yeah, mocking the paying customers is "giving something back." That's big-time wrestling logic at its finest. I'd prefer not to see hockey turn into that sort of sideshow.

 

[SENATOR]

Ownens is not 18 years old anymore to keep that boarderline as a mature person.
BTW. Russians were involved in the nasty battles with sticks and blood under 18 championship tournament in Minsk Belorus. There is a long history between those two and let them to sort things out the next time they meet. For Russians to taunt someone is way better, then swining sticks as Canadian goons do, because when Russians start swining, there is no boarderline for them. They will go for a kill. It is a part of their culture and history. Russia was constantly at war for 1000 years. There is a difference, right there. Words do not make noses bleed. Sticks do.

 

[BCCHL inactive]

For Russians to taunt someone is way better, then swining sticks as Canadian goons do

:lol :lol

 

[RorschachWJK]

Stop it with the politically correct routine if you have no clue what you're talking about.

No I won't. Anything else?