CBC-Sports

One problem with Ovechkin's celebration — it's not original

March 20, 2009 02:11 PM | Posted by   Jeff Marek  

Wow.

I knew there would be a roar, but I didn’t think there would be quite the uproar about Alex Ovechkin's 50th goal celebration and "dance of the hot sticks."

If you missed it, here it is in all its glory.

Column after column written on the subject already, an entire nation awaiting Don Cherry’s response Saturday on Coach's Corner, sports talk shows flooded with irate fans — I even heard one caller say what Ovechkin did last night was worse than what Sean Avery said in Calgary.

Harsh.

But you know what, I didn’t like it either.

That’s right, Jeff Marek, the guy who still sees the sports world in terms of heroes and villains, the same guy who thinks that Sean Avery is not only a brilliant marketer but is also great for hockey, the same guy who thinks fighting is an integral part of the entertainment of hockey, and the same guy who likes the shootout even in the playoffs. I didn’t like it.

I didn’t like it because it wasn’t original.

That wasn't Ovechkin's own unique twist on outrageous celebrations in the tradition of Dave "Tiger" Williams riding his stick, or Teemu Selanne shooting his glove out of the air.

Nope. He aped it.

If you want to hear from the originator of the "hot stick" celebration, tune in to Hockey Night in Canada Radio this afternoon at 4:20 p.m. ET as I talk to former Montreal Canadien Terry Ryan. Yes that Terry Ryan, the Habs' eighth overall pick in 1995 who should have had a great career as a power forward before injuries cut his career short.

Terry Ryan was a skilled and tough (there was one Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman who used to throw up before games in training camp because he knew he’d have to fight Terry that night) winger from Newfoundland who played with the Tri City Americans and Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League. Terry could do it all — great shot, good wheels and he could back up anything flashy he did on the ice.

I spoke with Terry briefly Friday afternoon and he laughed about the celebration, saying he used to do it in Tri City because the fans there were kind of new to the game and he wanted to give them something amusing after he scored a goal. And he was always looking to top himself (there’s a great story about his fisherman routine after scoring a goal).

We'll get more into the topic on the show today but just wanted to make sure that the proper player got props for the move.

I don’t think for a second that Ovechkin ever saw Terry Ryan celebrate that way, but Ovechkin did say that Jose Theodore told him about the move and it just so happened that Ryan and Theodore were both in the Habs organization in the mid to late 90’s.

Hope you enjoy the interview this afternoon.

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