Personally, I am Switzerland on Donald S. Cherry. He is, what he is. I don’t think he believes half of what comes out of his mouth and he tries to be controversial. More importantly, I think Grapes has jumped the shark. (For those of you who don’t know what that means click here)
What I do, to a certain degree think is that he is a spokesman for the NHL. I don’t think he should tow the line, but I think he needs to be a little bit smarter when it comes to his comments on the stars of the game.
“”He’s not going to get any better. I don’t think he’ll do as good as last year,” Cherry, speaking on an NHL conference call, said yesterday of the dazzling Russian. He was doing things he shouldn’t do. He was always cutting into the middle and he got away with it,There will be a lot of guys waiting for him this year. He’s not going to be running around like a bull in a china shop.”
Now, why would he say that? Once again, I ask, what’s the point? Ovchekin is, in my opinion anyway the best all around player in the league right now. He is everything a hockey player should aspire to be. He is fast, he is smart, he is physical, he has great hands and he cares. Why dump on a guy with those attributes. He is not to blame for any more shortcomings of any of his breathern from over seas, the same way Sid Crosby isn’t for any brutal north American (or Canadian) players. He is arguably the most exciting guy in the league. He is one of a few players that I would pay to watch. He works his tail off every shift. All of that is a good thing for the game. Bashing the guy just isn’t smart, nor is it called for. I think Grapes knows better too.