The rep of Crosby as a whiner has nothing to do with off ice behavior. It’s on ice. The general line is him complaining after any contact to the refs. Legal poke check that catches his stick? Right to the refs. Any minor problem at all? Crosby is having a tantrum to the refs. That’s where the reputation as a whiner comes from.
You’ve obviously never met a typical Rangers fan then. They don’t have the reputation of a Flyers fan, but they’re just as bad in my opinion.
First impressions and preconceived perceptions are hard to shake, eh? I still have to listen to fans of opposing teams cry about how boring the Devils and their trap are despite, you know, not being a trapping team since the lock out.
He got off on the wrong foot as a whiner and a diver and that’s how people see him now even if he doesn’t still do it. It’s not likely to change because people don’t like to find out they were wrong (if they were, I still think it’s largely accurate) and because the League and media have created a negative backlash with their incessant coverage. mnemosyne captures it exactly: the team wins its 10th straight, closes to within a few points of their division and conference lead, Malkin continues his torrid pace and the artist formerly known as the dirtiest player in the world scores twice… but the top story taken from the game is that Crosby got an assist.
Mostly true, he has some say in the matter. I don’t envy him his position as the ordained face of his team, the League and an entire country, but it’s not like he was forced into it.
After the drubbing last night I wonder if the fans in the 'Peg maybe regret taunting Ovechkin the way they did the other day.
I don’t think fans in the 'Peg regret anything - they are still high from the announcement that they were getting a team again! Besides, they are fully aware that they are cheering for the damn Thrashers…expectations aren’t all that high 
Ah, the Reccin’ Ball.
Well, I for one, am not going to complain. That and it’s merely the truth – Ovie’s been absolutely sucking this season. At the very least, he hasn’t been playing up to his potential. (Yeah, people with say the Caps are at a disadvantage with Backstrom out so long, and switching coaches, but the Pens managed to do the exact opposite without Crosby)
(And I love seeing Evgeni Malkin’s parents in the stands!)
::rubs hands:: Yes, that’s right NHL pundits / shows / everyone. Continue to ignore the Blues and their most points in the league. Nothing to see here. No hype necessary. Move along…
The Blues are being ignored because they’re boring. They’ve been successful ny not allowing goals, which isn’t an interesting as scoring them. They don’t even have one goalie doing it for them that you can hang the Vezina on.
Whether this will translate into playoff success will be interesting. They have a bad offense. The list of teams that have won Cups with below-average offenses is a pretty short one.
Attaboy!
I shudder to think of what could be a Blues - Predators 2nd round playoff match - “now entering the 8th overtime period, score is still tied 0-0”.
If the Senators don’t win tonight I officially start panicking. They’re ten bad days from tenth place.
I’m panicking.
They’re gonna miss the playoffs. They’ll lose to Pittsburgh tomorrow for sure and Buffalo is too hot not to overtake them.
I don’t think that I’ve ever in my life seen a game that was refereed as one-sidely as this one.
The scary part is that Crosby isn’t even up to his full potential yet, and when he is…well, the rest of the league might as well just put their heads between their knees and kiss their asses goodbye. Christ.
I wonder if we saw the same things? I was honestly scared during the second that Neil would seriously hurt someone! Though I think the refs were atrocious overall. Ignoring shit both ways then getting strict then ignoring shit or trying to adhere to the insane idea that penalties should be 50-50.
Face it, Ottawa is Montreal’s bitch - it’s just one of those things. Bishop is impressive but the Sens won’t go far in the playoffs. Karlsson has work to do defensively, as impressive as he is on the offense. They came a long way this year but the Sens are not contenders. Which is good, because then I can mock friend more!
50-50? 50-50? You had SEVEN powerplays to our two, and we still outshot you 38-32.
Boo, refs, boo, sure. You can’t win when you let the other team score four goals without even trying hard.
Crosby doesn’t help their primary weakness: their goal tending. Getting so sick of hearing about how “he’s not up to speed yet… just wait.” They were a dominant possession and high scoring team without him, and they’ll continue to be with him, but they’re not unbeatable.
The Bruins looked unbeatable for a while there earlier in the season. As did Vancouver and Detroit and the Blues and, to lesser extents, a few other teams like the Rangers. It’s cyclical and they’ll have their drop off eventually.
Hopefully it’ll be right around April 7th.
Hey, I didn’t say that we didn’t lose because our goalies shit the bed(and certain skaters – I’m looking at you, Gonchar). And our dearth of quality forwards is killing us – what are we, 0 for our last 24 on the PP?
Doesn’t change the fact that the refereeing last night was atrocious.
You misunderstand me, though I wasn’t clear. There were times when penalties were given to both teams when one player deserved a 2 and the other a 5 but both would get 5s. After scrums mostly - the refs didn’t seem to evaluate the actual player actions very well.
But your post also proves my point; 7 to 2. Why is it necessary that that number be balanced? Is it not possible that as the Sens lost control of the game they started to play more desperate hockey? They started to goon it up? You are the one expecting 50-50 when reality doesn’t have to be that way. One team just might actually deserve more penalties than another.
Look I watched the game a second time (condensed to one hour) after I read your first post and I tried to look at it objectively given as I already knew the outcome. The referees ignored all kinds of slashing and tripping calls all game from both teams. I saw blatant interference not being called, and the Sens were more often the guilty party. They tried to be physical but ended up just being dumb and ramped up the stupidity throughout the game. The habs played cleaner because they had a comfortable lead - most of the penalties went to goon idiots like Neil and Kaleta anyways. And a lot of their antics weren’t even called.
I agree it was bad refereeing but it wasn’t particularly one-sided. It was just plain old atrocious.