Varlamov: Even our teammate Brooks Laich was trying to injure Ovechkin
Well, it showed that your country is first, and your club is second.
Apparently Brooks Laich was trying to hurt Ovechkin according to Varlamov? Who could've thought, he just changed a tire being a good Samaritan... :-) Another headache for Caps management. I can see a trade coming.
Ovechkin is down after being speared by Corey Perry. Russia 5, Canada 2, IIHF World Cup, May 20, 2010. Photo by our field reporter Emily.
Andrei Kuznetsov from Sport-Express took this intereview from Varlamov...
"Most of all during the game I was infuriated with the constant attempts to injure Ovechkin by Canadians," said Varlamov. "Even our Capitals teammate Brooks Laich was constantly trying to slash and cross-check him as painful as possible. After the game he certainly wished me luck and victory at the world championship, but the unpleasant impression still remains, especially after the dirty slash [spear? -tj] by Corey Perry. When the score was 3:0 in our favor he attacked Ovechkin with such fury, as if he wanted to Sasha to finish the World Cup before Canada's exit."
The only Canadian Olympian was hardly ever coming off from penalty box.
Yes, he behaved just ugly. Steve Downie was playing just as dirty as Perry. He showed the reason why his name brings in Russian language association with the mentally retarded person.
A lot of Canadian escapades remained out of sight of the referees.
And they are very good and competent at doing it surreptitiously. They usually skate up and start chirping. They could say some nice words about your relatives, though in English serious prophanities have slightly different emphasis than in Russian.
But on the other hand to ignore the provocations was one of the goals for the game. We understood that we shouldn't drop gloves and be suspended for the next game. Our players could respond, but it makes no sense when you are winning? The guys were thinking only about hockey and remain calm.
In the first minutes of the game you have stopped Canada and they had some great chances.
I was rather lucky. They missed a pair of shots to the open side of the net from the killer's position.
Source: news.sport-express.ru/2010-05-22/363390/
The referee stops the fight between Alexander Ovechkin (L) of Russia and Brooks Laich (R) of Canada during their quarter final match at Lanxess Arena on May 20, 2010 in Cologne, Germany.
Photograph by: Martin Rose, Getty Images via vancouversun.com
To me the WC tournament is over. I don't care who will win it. The main game was Russia vs. Canada, and Russia vs. Canada is always a story since 1972 series.
Sat, May 22 12:00 ET Cologne Russia vs. Germany
If you want to watch it, you know the drill. Check myp2pforum.eu, atdhe.net and ngetv.net for live feeds.
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14 comments:
I have to say, as much as I do like and admire Varly, that this was one time he should have kept his mouth closed. I am sure the fight between Ovie and Brooks was a misunderstanding that had been (or will be) hammered out between the two if it even was that serious to begin with. But because of his words, I can forsee a trade coming in the near future. And I, for one, will be pissed if Laich is traded over something that should have been left lying. they got into a scuffle. They laughed it off. No big deal.
I sure hope you're right about everything including Varly because Laich is one of my favorite Caps players.
That would be scary! Laich being traded as a result of all this.
I hope this all blows over but we'll see.
Why should he have kept his mouth closed? If this is what he saw, he has the right to say it!
@Datsyukrules Because he doesn't know what he's talking about! Varly has no right sticking his nose into something that's not his business! That shit is between Ovechkin and Laich and that's it. But now, because of his big mouth, Caps management could try to trade someone (and obviously, wouldn't be Ovie) now because they might see this one little incident (which is now a three ring circus, thanks to Varlamov) as an issue between players. God, think out of the A-B perspective for once.
I almost laughed at the suggestion that Laich would be traded because of this. Seriously? These guys are professionals; they aren't going to become bitter enemies over a brief scrum. I'm sure they've already forgotten about it. Varly, on the other hand, clearly doesn't know Brooksie too well. Why the hell would Laich, of all people, try to injure his own Capitals teammate and friend? It's called being competitive Varly. Although his opinion on Perry and Downie seem valid.
It's Laich's problem then. Either way, if the management listens to Ovie and assuming Ovie didn't like what Laich did, then Laich could be potentially traded anyways. Varly was just more outspoken about it, plus Ovie is a nice guy, he won't publicly say it..or maybe he just didn't have a chance to do so yet..as far as Varly not knowing what he's talking about, I think he knows. The Canadians were all over Ovie and Laich was indeed trying to slash and crosscheck him..so really I don't see this as an issue, it's a player backing another one on what happened in his perspective on the ice. It has nothing to do with his big mouth. He was asked about it and he responded. That's all.
Yeah Brooks Laich trying to injury his captain... Come on Varly I find that rather hard to believe.
I don't believe it. I refuse to believe Brooksie would intentionally try to injure Ovie, even in an emotionally charged game like the WC quarterfinals. Varly should have kept his opinion about what went down to himself and not stirred the pot. It is his OPINION, after all, not a factual statement about what happened between his Capitals teammates. If they're OK with it, so am I. No need to throw gasoline on an already dying fire. And unless I hear or read anything negative about Brooksie from Ovie, I don't want to hear or read any rumors about a possible Brooks Laich trade.
@Datsyukrules - The point I am trying to get across is that it was a small scuffle. It wasn't a big deal and other than a mention or two, it was probably forgotten between friends since hockey can be an intense, passionate game. Varly opened up a can of worms by trying to make it sound like Laich was out for Ovie's head, which is bullshit. It was competition. If Varly doesn't like it, he needs to find another sport to play in because hockey isn't for him. And he sounded like he was holding a grudge even when Brooks congratulated him on the win. That's what will start conflict. Maybe he was just trying to back Ovie... but he's spouting bullshit and subsequently, going to start some shit with his mouth. Call it what you want, but opinion ceases to matter when it turns into slanderous accusations.
And that's what that is. That's why he needs to keep his mouth shut.
I'm certain every thing is fine between Brooksie and Ovie. As Ovie would say, it was a game moment. Much ado, and hand wringing over nothing.
What Varly shouldn't have said was equating Downie with Down Syndrome. That was insensitive and a bad comparision since those with Downs tend to be sweet people.
Wow. I can't believe anyone is even entertaining the idea of Brooksie being traded because he "fought" with Ovi. First of all, it's hockey, players get in scuffles with each other. You don't think that this happened in the olympics? Secondly, The photo of the refs holding back Ovi and Brooksie shows more of Ovi trying to separate Brooks from his Russian teammate rather than Ovi and Brooksie going at it themselves. AND you all have to be absolutely delusional to think that either Ted Leonsis or George Mcphee would consider trading Laich because of an on-ice incident with his CAPS teammate. Ovi didn't get hurt so everyone needs to relax.
@VICURAM09
I agree with you totally. These things happen in hockey. And in the unlikely chance that Laich would be traded, it certainly wouldn't be because of this. But I am surprised at what Varly said - doesn't sound characteristic of him. I guess even the best of us have "Open mouth insert foot" moments. I just think he needs to appologize to Laich.
It sounds like the issue (if any) would be between Laich and Ovi. The most likely outcome would be for Ovi to tell Varly that he was speaking out of turn about the on ice activity -- and for someone to tell Varly that derogatory remarks about Down's syndrome don't reflect well on him.
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