Edmonton Oiler forward Linus Omark is no stranger to dazzling viewers with his moves in the shootout. The Linus Omark Shootout Goal is becoming a standard headline, he’s become famous for it.
Linus also showed glimpses of his magic hands during the NHL preseason. Thanks to a few injuries up front, Omark was called up from the Oilers AHL affiliate Oklahoma City this week, and made his NHL debut last night vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning. And his first game in the pros did not disappoint. He drew an assist on the Oilers third goal, and it was a crucial one, as the powerplay marker gave the Oilers a lead before Steven Stamkos sent the game into overtime. Omark had 11:49 ice team, with one shot and was a minus 1 on the night. His assist came because of his willingness to crash the net and create chances. It was a solid debut for the 23 year old. In an interesting twist of fate, shootout specialist Omark would see his very first NHL game require extra time to be solved. And when it came time for the shootout, Oilers coach Tom Renney decided to send Omark out. He had a false start on his first attempt, but he made no mistake on the next. His tally was ultimately the deciding goal, and the Oilers went on to win 4-3. Seems like a pretty good night for the rookie, right?
“He’s a young kid. Whatever he did, it worked. “Do we need that? I don’t know. It’s kind of a slap in the face a little bit, you know? Maybe it’s a little too much, I don’t know. To get beaten in the shootout and to get beaten with something like that, it’s tough to take, but he did it and it worked.” TSN.ca
Another Famous Linus Omark Shootout Goal
Steven Stamkos, goalie Dan Ellis and coach Guy Boucher were equally unimpressed at the rookies shootout moves. The incident caused quite a stir, and apparently is now a controversy, with those against Omark citing that rookies need to earn respect before they try stuff like that, similar to Flyers captain Mike Richards gripe about Canadiens rookie PK Subban. Now I can understand what their sentiment is. There should be a level of respect among players, and rookies do need to know their place in the grand scheme of things. But in Omark’s case, he did a fancy move in the shootout, and it worked. What’s wrong with that?
The shootout is meant to be entertaining, it’s meant to inspire creativity and it’s meant to excite fans. And now we’re trying to stifle it? If Omark had missed, he probably would have been made fun of quite a bit, thus he had a lot of guts and confidence in his ability to attempt it. I’m all for respect in hockey, but the bottom line here is that the Lightning lost the game. They outshot the Oilers 41-23 but couldn’t come away with a victory. They are a talented team, but they have gotten very poor and inconsistent goaltending, something they are understandably frustrated with. Rather than direct that frustration within, they lash out at a rookie who used his skills during a skills competition. Omark didn’t run his mouth, he didn’t call anybody out. He did what he was supposed to do. Score in the shootout and make it interesting. Martin St.Louis has done a spin-o-rama move before. But I guess it’s okay since he’s a veteran, right? What cannot be ignored here is that not only did Omark score, but the Lightning lost. I have a feeling their reaction may have been different if just one or both of those things hadn’t happened. Everyone seems to be voicing their opinion, so what do you think? Should Omark be praised for being creative in a shootout or outcast for showing a “lack of respect”?
Marcy, a former hockey player, is a hockey correspondent on CTV News and TSN radio. She began her career as a Sports Journalist in 2009 and has been part of The Hockey Writers since 2010, where she is currently a senior writer and editor.
@Aaron Tom
Yeah it wasn’t really the most spectacular goal, but my guess is the Lightning were overly annoyed they were beat by a rookie who had never played a game in the NHL, and everyone else was intrigued by the spin-o-rama. It became a big deal cuz it was Omark, who made himself famous thanks to the shootout, and because the Lightning whined about it.
My answer: Neither. I fail to see why it’s such a “great” or “cheeky” or “outrageous” goal…aside from the spin move at the beginning, it was just a simple fake slapper/five-hole wrister that beat Dan Ellis (and what isn’t beating Dan Ellis these days?)
So why the Lightning are upset about it, and why everyone either loves or hates it is beyond me.
Let’s get rid of this Bettman gimmick. Do what they do in European soccer, 3 points for a win 1 for a tie. Even the 4-on-4 OT is a joke. It would be like baseball going into extra innings short a man, or doing a home run derby to decide a winner!
5 min 4 on 4 is perfect length. 82 games in a season, 10 or 20 is just to long for an extra fram. 5 then a shootout is ideal. and if baseball did 2 or 3 innings and then a homerun derby, i’d actually watch it!
It’s laughable that this is even considered a “controversy”. Shoot-outs aren’t the domain of “old school hockey”. They are a new school invention, and should be viewed as such. If players want to show a little pizazz, then God bless ’em.
Are shootouts supposed to be boring now? We have seen what St Louis can do in the skills competition, if he thought those moves would be effective in a shootout, he’d be using them.
The move worked because Omark basically mesmerized the goalie. If you look at it the pivot was otherwise meaningless and it developed so slowly than the goalie should easily have been square and ready to close down his five hole. The ostentatiousness of the move is exactly what made a simple shot through the five hole work. Ellis had to be thinking there is some wild deke or high shot to follow but he just embarrasses him with an easy little low wrist shot between the legs.
I can see why Tampa Bay would be upset, they lost the game and looked foolish. That is not a poor reflection on Omark, that means he did his job in the shootout and made a heavy contribution to his team’s win.
This is the exact thing the NHL wants to bring into shootouts to sell the game of hockey. This is the type of stuff that makes it on digg, Youtube, and sports highlight reels. When Ovi scored that amazing goal on his back against Phoenix, the Great One (who was behind the bench) didn’t say it was cheap, showboating, etc – Gretzky called it an amazing goal – a sign of respect.
Ironic how St. Louis has no respect for creativity and skill in the NHL…except himself.
The move that Omark used in the shoot out was great .We want the shoot outs then lets make them exciting . Oh no lets watch five rounds that is way more exciting NOT.Its like a slam dunk in Basketball do you want to just watch streight lay ups .
Give me a break… I’m sick and tired of veterans whining about rookies. Get over it. If he’d been on Tampa and did that, St. Louis would be singing a different tune. Sour grapes.
Bottom line, awesome goal. The spinorama and fake slap were part of the goal. Ellis was frozen. If Omark did what Stamkos attempted then he probably wouldn’t have scored. The whole point of the shootout is to fake out the goalie to put it past him. Omark did just that. The Lightning players are sore losers. Should have won, and did win are two completely different things that they need to grasp.
The objections of Martin St. Louis are laughable. He’s used the “turn your back on the goalie” move at least twice in a shootout. So apparently, his flashy moves are OK but no one elses. What a joke! Apparently, the line between acceptable and unacceptable is determined by St. Louis…