• HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • Site Index
  • NHL Salary Caps
  • Hockey 101: A Beginner’s Guide
  • Join Our Team
  • Free Newsletter
  • Store
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
Home
International Hockey
Olympics

Has NBC Gone Too Far In the Crosby/Ovechkin Rivalry?

By Angie Lewis February 20th, 2010

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Aside from the fact that I already despise the media-created rivalry between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, it annoys me greatly that they have decided to bring the “rivalry” to the Olympics.  The Olympics, as I understand it, is where players try to obtain a medal of some sort for their country, most likely the gold medal. Thus, players are trying to win out of pride for their respective countries.

Photo from Beauty Playin' Eh on Flickr

However, on the first dayof Olympic hockey, there were comments about Ovechkin’s master plan to win the gold medal in retaliation of Sidney Crosby winning the Stanley Cup. Supposedly, it would make Ovechkin even happier to accomplish this in these Olympics because they are on Crosby’s home-ice.

The rivalry has been elevated somewhat because of NBC hockey analyst Mike Milbury and the way he describes Crosby’s play in contrast to Ovechkin’s play.

Milbury is under attack from hockey fans and even his co-analyst, Jeremy Roenick for his controversial comments, specially about Alexander Ovechkin. He’s made comments describing Ovechkin’s playing style by saying, “If it looks like a  dog, barks like a dog, it is a dog.” He even referred to Ovechkin as “the other guy” when he appeared in the same sentence as Crosby during the first say of competition.  Even more recently, Milbury criticized Ovechkin’s attitude, saying it is “just every day is another day at the beach for this kid.” He juxtaposed this attitude with, of course, Sidney Crosby, who is “professional” and “workmanlike.”

Roenick quickly came down on Milbury’s comments, but Milbury continued. He went on to talk about how Crosby has a Stanley Cup ring and Ovechkin doesn’t. He then proceeded to question whether Ovechkin can handle the captaincy of the Capitals down the stretch. Ironically though, he must have forgotten that Crosby received the “C” on Pittsburgh his rookie year. I wonder how ready Milbury thought he was to lead the team then, since Ovechkin has been on the Capitals for over three seasons.

When it came to Russia’s loss against Slovakia I cringed. I cringed because I feared the insults from Milbury on how Ovechkin’s performance. I was waiting to hear that Ovechkin can’t win for his team but Crosby can. After all, Crosby got the game-winning shootout goal against Switzerland, and even though Ovechkin also scored in his team’s shootout, they still lost. Thankfully for my ears, Milbury was not at the post-game desk after that game. NBC probably anticipated the shenanigans that would have occurred.

It’s one thing to like one player over the other player; after all, to each his own. But it gets out of hand when people who are not even Capitals fans get irritated at the anti-Ovechkin tirades. A post on Philly Sports Forums even shows disdain for Milbury’s comments criticizing Ovechkin:

“…Milbury should be fired on the spot. They have one of the best players in the game on National TV and pretty much rag and embarrass him the whole time.”

This is a sports forum from Philadelphia showing the same feelings as a Caps fan would. It’s bad when Philadelphia and Washington, DC can agree.

It’s obvious when a guy is trying to be “outspoken” or “controversial”; or in other words, trying to be Don Cherry. If I was to provide one piece of advice to Milbury, I would say  just know your sport and speak your mind, and keep the antics out of it.

  • Tags
  • Alex Ovechkin
  • Don Cherry
  • Jeremy Roenick
  • Mike Milbury
  • Sidney Crosby
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Get theScore App Now!
Recent Posts
Jan 21st 5:55 PM
Edmonton Oilers

McDavid Has the Maple Leafs’ Number and Needs to Keep it That Way

Jan 21st 5:08 PM
Archives

NHLers by Country: On Top of Their Game and the World

Jan 21st 4:50 PM
Edmonton Oilers

Oilers Missing Klefbom and Neal on Power Play

Jan 21st 4:40 PM
Minnesota Wild

Wild’s Soucy & Sturm Look Comfortable Filling Roster Gaps

Jan 21st 4:30 PM
Colorado Avalanche

Avalanche With Career Milestones in Sight in 2020-21 Season

Jan 21st 3:45 PM
Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning & Pat Maroon Are a Really Good Fit…For Now

Jan 21st 3:35 PM
Vegas Golden Knights

Golden Knights’ Depth Separates Them From the Rest

Jan 21st 3:15 PM
Columbus Blue Jackets

Blue Jackets’ Alexandre Texier, New Faces Shine to Begin Season

Jan 21st 2:45 PM
Edmonton Oilers

Oilers News & Rumors: Neal, Yamamoto, Tippett, More

Jan 21st 2:15 PM
Column

Senators News & Rumours: Stützle, Norris, Galchenyuk and More

Editor’s Picks
NHL TV Blackouts & Why They Happen?

NHL TV Blackouts & Why They Happen?

The 1979 NHL – WHA Merger

The 1979 NHL – WHA Merger

Masthead

Newsletters

RSS Feeds

Privacy Statement

Contact Us

About THW…

Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Updated daily with news and features from over 130 writers worldwide. Over 2 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix.

© The Hockey Writers 2020. All rights reserved.
logo
  • HOME
  • Hockey Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • North Division
    • Calgary Flames
    • Edmonton Oilers
    • Montreal Canadiens
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Vancouver Canucks
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • East Division
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • New Jersey Devils
    • New York Islanders
    • New York Rangers
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Pittsburgh Penguins
    • Washington Capitals
  • Central Division
    • Carolina Hurricanes
    • Chicago Blackhawks
    • Columbus Blue Jackets
    • Dallas Stars
    • Detroit Red Wings
    • Florida Panthers
    • Nashville Predators
    • Tampa Bay Lightning
  • West Division
    • Anaheim Ducks
    • Arizona Coyotes
    • Colorado Avalanche
    • Los Angeles Kings
    • Minnesota Wild
    • San Jose Sharks
    • Seattle Kraken
    • St Louis Blues
    • Vegas Golden Knights
  • World Juniors
  • CHL
    • Ontario Hockey League
    • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
    • Western Hockey League
  • THW Podcast Network
  • Store
  • FREE Newsletter
  • Search THW
  • More…
    • Join Our Team
    • The THW Archives
    • Prospects
    • The Goalie Page
    • NHL Salary Cap Information