When players dish headshots to fans....

I am really surprised at the lack of attention this incident received.

Especially considered the amount of attention some other non-controversies received at the Olympics. But it appears to have been buried under Canadian victory jubilation.

This video was shot after Russia lost 7-3 to Canada in the Quarterfinals (and I'm sure Canadians remember that Ovechkin played not-so-good).

Okay so sure, maybe Mr. Ovechkin was a little upset after the loss. But he seems to have walked out of his way to push this fan. She wasn't following him, she wasn't yelling at him, she was just taping him. And apparently she wasn't wearing a team Canada jersey, because this fan was a Russian..... a female Russian who came all the way to Canada to see the Olympics.


For someone who is supposed to be one of the faces of the NHL, this behaviour is really unacceptable.

"That’s why even though I didn’t really like seeing Ovechkin forcefully push away that fan’s phone, I find it harder and harder to get upset about it. In this era of people refusing to respect others’ privacy, we’re going to see more and more of this." said Elliot Friedman in his blog.

Unfortunately I think Friedman's comments miss the mark. I'm not sure the fan refused to respect Ovechkin's privacy. If he really didn't want to be taped, he could just ask. If he asked and then she refused to stop taping -- then, and only then, would she be 'not respecting his privacy'.

But instead the big-shot -- too busy talking on his cellphone to converse with a lowly fan -- decides to push her out of the way.

Would he have done the same if the score was inversed? What if he scored a hattrick in a 7-3 quarterfinal win over Canada? I'm figuring that he probably would've been soaking up the love.

Jennifer Casey was born and raised in Halifax. She loves all sports but tries to stick to writing about hockey for sanity purposes. You can follow her on twitter @jenncaseyhfx or find her on her blog National Passtime

Dear Ottawa #%$^$ Senators,

You've failed. You're driving me nuts. We gave you a simple task: to continue on your craptacular spiral into last place. And you couldn't even complete it.

Throwing-in-towel Fail.

Foligno, you're fired. Jason Spezza, definitely fired. Jarko Ruutu, fired. Alfredsson, so totally fired.

Ok, then there's the MATH FAIL.

Ottawa head coach Cory Clouston, who since taking over from fired Sens coach Craig Hartsburg Feb. 2 has a 13-6-3 record said: "We feel we're a playoff team."

epic math fail.

Oh, eff it. You're all fired. Someone call up the Binghamton Senators, i think they're the only ones up for the task. Or actually, you can borrow some of the Canadiens, they seem to be fairly good at NOT WINNING. Oh and fire Clouston and bring back Harsburg.

full of hateful, hateful, anger,
Jenn



Speaking of the Canadiens...

Hooray for meltdowns.


Remember when the Habs fired their coach and that was supposed to fix everything? That went really well.

PJ Stock had a rather endearing blog post about Carbonneau and the debacle that is the Canadiens dressing room right now.

The best part of it all.... This fantastically terrible meltdown season is going to be immortalized in a loonie.


oh yay. I can't wait to think about this season 15 years from now when i'm digging in my pocket for timmies money.


Moving on to more interesting things.


A Haligonian is coaching hockey on the international level.

Patrick MacDonald is coaching with hockey powerhouse, Malaysia.

This is the second year for the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia. The Chinese Taipei National Team won the inaugural tourney.

I am mystified by this. I heard the story of Patrick MacDonald on CBC Information Morning while still in a tired stupor at about 8:30 this morning. I actually thought I had dreamt it. Challenge Cup of Asia. Totally sounds fake.


Ovechkin.



Talk about blowing something out of proportion. The kid just scored 50 goals. Did you score 50 goals? Did anyone else score 50 goals? People are acting like he kicked a baby or something.

Hockey Day in Canada.

Oh Hockey Day in Canada... so heartwarming.

Every year the CBC spends the day broadcasting from a small town somewhere in Canada. They also manage to get three games in there, featuring all six Canadian teams and as well as hockey stories and minor league games from across the country. It is extremely cute and gives Ron MacLean ample opportunity to make puns.

It went well, I spent the day plunked on my chesterfield being completely lazy (although i did play a bit of pond on the the terribly soft ice we've got right now) and now I've got some thoughts on the games.


Game 1 — Kovalev's revenge.

Alexei Kovalev was forced by GM Bob Gainey to sit out the last two-game road trip. With that trade rumours swirled and fans wondered.

Apparently there was more than met the eye (and the media).

Kovalev told reporters that he has felt tired this season, has inexplicatly lost weight (which blood tests have been unable to explain), and he felt the break given by Gainey was good for him.

"I have no idea why this has been happening for the last few months,
but I feel better now," he said. "The last few days are going to help
me."

Well it seems like it did help.

Kovalev was on fire the entire game. He made a lot of beautiful passes and scored a classic Kovalev goal where he stripped the puck from a Senators defensemen and put one away with his super-quick release.

Also it seems the fans were pulling for him too. A friend of mine was at the Bell Centre for the game (jealousy) and he sent a text to say that Kovalev recieved the biggest pre-game cheer from the crowd.

Perhaps sentiments helped along by the fact that "party-gate" came out while Kovalev was on his break.

Another thing I noticed was the powerplay of the Canadiens. And for once it wasn't because it was deplorable.

I've joked about the news that the Canadiens have traded for Mathieu Schneider — but it almost seems to be working. They had a deplorable roadtrip in Washington and Pittsburgh (although when Ovechkin does this sometimes it can't be helped.)



But the powerplay looked fabulous last night. They were passing like the Canadiens of last year and Schneider seems to have fit in nicely as the new PP quarterback.

On the other side — Ottawa had Mike Comrie in the lineup. No this isn't 2007, the Senators traded for him.

The Senators general manager reacquired Comrie and defenseman Chris Campoli from the New York Islanders for centre Dean McAmmond and a first-round draft pick.

To help understand what draft pick the Senators traded away I am using an excerpt from CBC.ca: "The 2009 first-rounder heading to the Islanders originally belonged to San Jose, which included the pick in the Andrej Meszaros-Filip Kuba trade with the Senators on Aug. 29, 2008."

Got it? No? Oh well.

What I think this is trying to say is that the Senators will still have their own first round pick should they tank their season (which is very possible). So don't worry, Sens fans, your dreams of Victor Hedman are still very much alive.

Comrie is an unrestricted free agent on July 1. I'm betting this will be one of those one-night stands. However Campoli, a puck-moving defenseman is making less than a million and he's under contract until the end of next season.

Oh yah... the final score: Montreal 5, Ottawa 3

Game 2 — The Return of the Sundin.

It's the kind of stuff that makes you think hockey might be fake... you know, like wrestling. Someone is scripting this stuff, right?

Stuff doesn't work out this perfectly.

Sundin makes his return to the team he played for for 13 years (on Hockey Day in Canada, no less) and scores the final goal in the shootout to win it for the Leafs Canucks.

I am pleased to see that the Leafs fans didn't act like a bunch of fools and boo him. During a television timeout he received a huge standing ovation that lasted until it was time for puck drop, for which he was on the ice. The refs stood back and let him gather himself.

Good job Toronto fans.

Score: Canucks 3 Leafs 2 (Shootout)


Game 3 — Squeezing the stick a little too hard.

Edmonton... to win a shootout you need to hit the net. All three shooters for the Oilers couldn't even get a shot on Kiprusoff.

Sam Gagner actually lost the puck on the way into the net. The look on Craig MacTavish's face was absolutely priceless.

Score: Calgary 3, Edmonton 2 (shootout)

Overtime — Final thoughts on the day.

- I am actually really sick of "Hockeyville". It was cool the first year, but it's beginning to get repetitive and kind of seems like filler.

- I was a bit skeptical about the CBC picking up PJ Stock as their sort of... well.. what does he do? Anyway, he has really grown on me. He cracks me up, his self-deprecating humour is refreshing. You could tell it took some time for him to work out the kinks of broadcasting but I think he's got it now... he's definitely brought some spice to the CBC set which can sometimes seem a little bit too serious. His blog posts also crack me up, I can just picture him saying this stuff.

- Alexander Ovechkin is absolutely dismantling the NHL this year (see video above) — he got his 43rd goal today (8 more goals than the nearest challenger... although Crosby and Malkin both have more points) and he had a slow start. Unreal. Crosby and Ovechkin had a little battle through the media today. Ovechkin said Crosby talks too much and Crosby said he doesn't like Ovechkin's showboating on the ice. Not exactly Avery versus Phaneuf but still fun.

And that's it for my epic Sunday afternoon post. Somebody get me a beer.

They call him Johnny-hook-me-up.

I can't even handle this story... It's just so... Belarussian. "purchases ranging from vodka to cars and housing"???

They also buy nice Canadian wife to stay in country.

Newspaper La Presse is reporting that Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn of the Canadiens have a relationship with Mangiola Pasquale, who was arrested on charges of drug trafficking Feb. 12.

The report suggests the police have recorded conversations between the players and Pasquale and they would sometimes meet after games at the Bell Centre. The report, citing other sources, says the relationship between the brothers and Pasquale is significant, with the 38-year-old Pasquale advising the Kostitsyns on purchases ranging from vodka to cars and housing.

Defenseman Roman Hamrlik is also said to have had contact with Pasquale, thought their relationship is reportedly not nearly as strong as that of Pasquale and the Kostitsyns.

The Canadiens lost to the Penguins 5-4 Thursday night.

Anyway, since this story broke, the media is calling the off-ice issues with the team, "party-gate". Apparently a lot of the younger players are putting more emphasis on their social life than their playing one. For weeks people have been asking me what is wrong with the Canadiens, and really I've been at a slight loss to figure it out. The popular answer has been that Carey Price has lost his confidence. But I've been at a loss to explain why exactly the rest of the team has been playing like... the Ottawa Senators.

This would explain it. Because it sounds like Junior hockey. And that's exactly how they're playing.

Speaking of Russians...

Does something seem wrong about this? I can't quite put my finger on it.

Palin injures Manny Legace.

Okay. Okay. She didn't injure him directly. But he did trip over her red carpet and suffered a "lower body injury". Palin, her husband, and entire hoard of children dropped the ceremonial puck at the game in St. Louis tonight.

Anyway T-10 days until the election. If there is any type of big dude with a beard in the sky... hopefully we won't have to deal with her much longer.


Now I'm the Magician.

Now that i've got that ridiculous story out of the way, I'm going to apologize for my long absence from the world of blogging nerd-dom (how do you spell that?). This was my first week in radio workshop at school. So there was a bit of a learning curve. You can check out past shows. Ok, it's not a great excuse. So there was this pack of wild dogs....


Ovechkin.

Last year's MVP is off to a super-slow start that has people wondering what's happened to the league's top player. The other day a wise person said, "stay off the drugs, stay on the booze."

Have some beer, man. I always do my best work half in the bag. Maybe it'll break your curse!


Duthie-isms

Being away for so long has also meant we're way behind on duthie-isms. We're basically up to our ears in them right now. I don't know why I say we, as if there's a crack team of journalists putting together this blog. It's just me. One day... one day. ummm, enjoy:

"When Torts eats pizza, he just looks so happy. Hard to believe it's the same guy whose post game soundbites have more beeps than a Roadrunner cartoon."

"“Hey Wilson, you need to turn those guys into a bunch of Wendel Clarks’!” Wilson, who majored in Sarcasm at University, responded: “Wendel was good, but how many Cups did he win?”"

"Hey, Sean Avery. Got a minute? Really sorry to bother you…hate to be a nuisance…but if it’s not too much of an inconvenience…I was just wondering if you might possibly…SHUTUP!

"It would provide me great pleasure if rookie Toronto rookie defenseman Luke Schenn married former world champion figure skater Lu Chen. Just say it aloud a couple of times. It’s endless fun for all ages."

Told you so.

Guys, I won't lie. I didn't watch the NHL Awards. I am told by sources who watched that Craig Simpson co-hosted and did a bang up job. I'm really sad I missed my last fill of Ron MacLean Puns until the fall. And I'm super upset that I didn't see the music montage, what music montage? I have no idea, I'm sure there was one. But I had a soccer game.

Anyway, just as National Passtime, told you a few days ago, Alexander Ovechkin won the Hart Trophy (I really went out on a limb with that one.) He also took home the Lester B. Pearson (MVP as voted by the players).

Patrick Kane won the Calder Trophy (although Toews is still my pick, cuz he's a MONSTER!)

Bruce Boudreau took the Jack Adams (I have problems with this... weren't the Capitals supposed to be a good team? And didn't most major media outlets have the Canadiens finishing somewhere around 13th in the East this year? Oh, wait didn't they finish first? Oh, wait. Yes they did. Carbo was robbed.)

Pavel Datsyuk took home both the Lady Byng (sportsmanlike) and the Selke (two-way forward).

Martin Brodeur won another Vezina (Nabokov was roooooobbed.)

And Jason Blake won the Bill Masterton for his battling through leukemia all season.

Ovechkin wins Hart.

Yes, folks, you heard it right here. And this time it wasn't the voices in my head that told me. It was the official site of the NHL. The site posted the following item for sale:



Apparently the NHL is claiming that they have merchandise for all possible outcomes (ummm, don't they know the results by now? How does the name get in that little envelope?) and that the item was posted in error (or it was set to post automatically next week and someone keyed in the wrong date).

My guess is Ovechkin wins the Hart Trophy.

Brent Burns is a monster

quick updates from work.



Brent Burns has scored twice against Russia in the Gold Medal game to put Canada in the lead 3-1 at the end of the third period. TSN.ca was so excited that they mis-spelled Burn's name:

"Defenceman Brunt Burns scored his second goal of the game and third of the tournament on a 5-on-3 powerplay to give Canada a 3-1 lead in the first period. Russia immediately called a timeout following the goal."

Chris Kunitz has the other goal for Canada. Alexander Semin has the lone goal for Russia.

*update* Period 2, Russia scored on the powerplay, i have no idea who scored, although i'm sure ovechkin has something to do with it.

*update* Dany Heatley scored to make it 4-2 Canada!! The camera cut to Prime Minister Stephen Harper who was in attendance with his son. Apparently the PM is an avid hockey fan who is actually currently writing a book about hockey.

*update* Russia has brought it to within one with a goal by Tereshchenko(Stephen Harper looks worried) halfway through the third period.

*update* TIE GAME. 5 minutes to go. (Stephen Harper was right to be worried.)

*update* regulation ended with a 4-4 tie. Overtime in IIHF rules are a 20 minute overtime period of 4 on 4. And then if nothing is decided, a shootout. Seriously??? A shootout. ridiculous.

Also, it's now 1-0 Pittsburgh over the Flyers after an early Ryan Malone goal (assisted by Sidney Crosby and Marion Hossa)


*update* It's over. Canada loses. Kovalchuk scored both the tying and winning goal. Gold to Russia and Silver to Canada.
Russia scored on a powerplay... one of the most brutal penalties of life. I hate the delay of game for shooting it over the glass. I will rant about this later.

Crosby wins

2 goals (Crosby) vs 2 assists (Ovechkin), i'd say i'd have to give the win to Crosby. Also i suppose it helps that Crosby's Penguins won, 4-2.



Check in later for Montreal visiting the Ducks.

Another one bites the dust

Habs continued their Western Conference roadtrip with another notch in the win column. They handled the Los Angelas Kings easily 5-2 and now continue the battle for supremacy in the Eastern Conference with 85 points. (New Jersey is 1 point behind and are currently playing the Leafs, so you can pretty much figure that one out.)

Jaroslav Halak started in nets and had a busy night facing no less than 37 shots. And the skaters put in an even performance with goals coming from: Patrice Brisebois; Saku Koivu; Guillaume Latendresse; Andrei Kostitsyn; and former L.A. King Tom Kostopoulos.

The Canadiens are in for probably their first real test of this roadtrip as they face the Anaheim (formerly Mighty) Ducks tomorrow at 8pm EST.

On another note, the Penguins are in Washington tomorrow (12:30pm EST start) for the famous CROSBY-OVECHKIN SHOWDOWN *insert dramatic music*. Should be a good one.

A few notes from last night.

I am currently watching Crosby play in his first game back, and although his hands seem to be a bit rusty... he looks great! Although my enthusiasm was just curbed when I noticed the standings:

Just a few tidbits from last night: ovechkin got his 50th goal... then 51 and 52. He would finish the night with 5 points; and after winning 6 in a row, the Bruins received a smackdown from the Caps, 10-2

As for the Montreal vs. San Jose game last night. The game didn't start until 11:30 pm my time, so I couldn't stay up for the whole thing, i left the Habs at the end of the first period where they were safely tied, 2-2. But from what I saw, WHAT - A - GAME! Lots of hitting, 4 goals in a period, and these guys never play each other. (have i mentioned lately how much I hate the NHL schedule?). Also, our favourite purse-snatcher (O'Byrne) even got his first NHL goal!

Alright, back to clicking back and forth between the 10 games on tonight (and a little bit of the US Presidential Primaries that seem to also be infatuating me.)