Monday, February 22, 2010

The Perfect Day of Hockey - The Symbolic Hit

USA wins, Ovie crushes Jagr, Backstrom scores, and Crosby stinks, what else can I ask for? We've had some great days of hockey recently, but in case you have been living in a bombshelter, the American men pulled off a major upset of Canada, 5-3, thanks to 42 saves from Ryan Miller. I know, I know, not everyone around is rooting for the most powerful country in the world, but most of us Caps fans are American, and have to dislike Canada for keeping Mike Green off of the team. This is only the first round, so lets not begin putting this in the same sentence as 'the Miracle on Ice', which pitted amateurs against pros in a knockout game. But for us DC fans, seeing team Canada crash and burn without the help of Mike Green is sweet; it also is satisfying to see the guy who made the team ahead of LamborGreeny, Drew Doughty, somehow lead Canada in ice time and generate nothing on the scoresheet except for a -1. Even sweeter is seeing Sidney Crosby post an embarrassing -3, which included deflecting the first American goal into his own net. You know what I realized tonight? I am happy Crosby is not American, so I don't ever have to cross my allegiances because of him.

On top of that, Ovie is making headlines for his open-ice destruction of Jaromir Jagr.



This massacre is already being called "The Hit", which is funny because the play is not something completely out of the ordinary for the best hockey player in the world. My favorite part of the hit is not just that Ovie is garnering all the love for being a badass, but that he crushed Jaromir freakin' Jagr, aka public enemy #2 of Caps fans, behind Crosby. Of all the players in the world, Jagr may even be the guy I want Ovie to crush the most; the beautiful symbolism of the Caps successful present and bright future crushing the bad memory of the past is just too perfect.

Note: the original video posted was removed, the best clip I could find is the attached one and I have no idea why a cat playing the piano is involved.

(Image courtesy of media.nj.com)

4 comments:

  1. In his defense, Doughty is showing up as a very talented defenseman. I'd question Niedermyer's or Pronger's contributions before Doughty's

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  2. The question should really be, why aren't cats playing the piano always involved?

    As for Doughty, he's legitimately awesome. Toward the end of the game when Canada seemed to have the puck in our zone for 5 minutes straight, he was a force.

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  3. As much as I think Greenie should have been selected, I agree with Rico - Doughty was a force out there.

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  4. I definitely agree with that he should be selected.. amanda vanderpool ladislav smid

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