Alex Ovechkin On The 2014 Sochi Olympics
by J.P. on Feb 12, 2009 5:27 PM EST
33 comments
[Thanks to Dmitry Chesnokov for passing along the following preview of a lengthy Sovetsky Sport interview with Alex Ovechkin that is set to run next week. In this excerpt (published here), Alex talks with Pavel Lysenkov about the fact that Russian players might not be allowed to participate in the winter Olympics in Sochi, an issue we discussed a bit here.]
Alex, which one of the world of hockey trophies are you missing the most? And which one of the ones you have won is the most treasured?
All of my awards are valuable because they were earned with hard work. But the first place I would give to the gold medal from the World Championships in Quebec. What’s missing… I have yet to win the Olympics and the Stanley Cup. It is difficult to compare the two tournaments. You represent your own country at the Winter Games. He Olympic Games take place only once every four years. And it’s not winning, but even attending the Games is a difficult [achievement]. The Stanley Cup – you play 82 games in the regular season. You work as a horse to make the playoffs and work even more once you get there. Completely different priorities. But my goal is to win both of those trophies.
Can you imagine the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman not letting you go to the Sochi Olympics in 2014?
The Games will be held in my homeland. I don’t even want to hear the talks of someone not letting me go to the Olympics. If I don’t make it to Sochi it will be a tragedy for me.
What’s the way out? Are you going to approach the Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and ask for an unpaid month off?
You have to understand that the Sochi Olympics is the question of prestige. It’s the matter of [my] entire life. How can I be forbidden from playing for my country, especially at home? If they want to create and obstacle they why us, Russian NHL players, should participate in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver? It seems that we are raising the ratings of a tournament that will take place in Canada. And they don’t want to let us go to Russia.
What to do?
The decision whether NHL players will participate in [future] Olympics will be taken in 2012, when the league and the NHLPA sign a new CBA. If we are prevented… I won’t understand it. This shouldn’t happen. It is not nice. It is wrong.
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They should be allowed to go there. If the 2014 Games were held in North America there’s no way there were talk about NHL not taking a part.
Как же так может быть?
by sleza on Feb 12, 2009 5:34 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Hard to argue with any of that. The NHLPA is strongly in favour of continuing to go, so I imagine they will.
by James Mirtle on Feb 12, 2009 6:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I like AO’s little (perhaps unintentional) hint of a Russian boycott of Vancouver. They should leverage that.
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by J.P. on Feb 12, 2009 6:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
That wouldn’t fly at all. They’ve already agreed to go.
The PA will have to bargain for Olympic participation when they discuss the next CBA. Ownership doesn’t see any benefits (re: $) from the experience, especially when it’s overseas, and will be looking for concessions.
by James Mirtle on Feb 12, 2009 6:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I’ll buy the “when it’s overseas” part, but c’mon – the NHL (read: ownership) isn’t going to benefit from the Vancouver Games? That’s crazy talk.
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by J.P. on Feb 12, 2009 6:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Hey, if they were raking in the dough, do you think there’d be all this talk about not going to the Olympics again? The Games make people a lot of money; NHL owners aren’t those people.
by James Mirtle on Feb 12, 2009 6:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
If Sochi was in 2010 and Vancouver in 2014, you think they’d still be considering ditching it after next year?
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by J.P. on Feb 12, 2009 6:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Vancouver is fine because it’s convenient. But ownership still hates shutting down the season for three weeks and seeing some of their top players exposed to injury.
by James Mirtle on Feb 12, 2009 6:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I’m sure. Guess the boost they’d get from a great tourney isn’t worth the risk and going dark mid-season in their minds.
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by J.P. on Feb 12, 2009 6:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
…….but they let them skate on VC ice…..hypocrisy.
by Pi on Feb 14, 2009 8:48 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Not directly but you can’t say that great Olympic hockey doesn’t draw more people into your potential fan base.
Russian Machine Never Breaks
by macvechkin on Feb 13, 2009 1:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I agree. This seems like standard posturing in a labor negotiation. The players feel strongly about going. The owners are going to leverage that for concessions elsewhere.
by Gould Old Days on Feb 13, 2009 9:14 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Is the entire body of the NHLPA that in favor of Olympic participation? Generally speaking it seems the European players seem to favor more national competition.
Not to say that American and Canadian hockey players aren’t patriotic and don’t love wearing their country’s colors but ask any NA what’s more important winning the Olympics or winning a Stanley Cup and I think you’d get laughter.
by Hooks Orpik on Feb 12, 2009 6:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
////And don’t take it as me saying that Russians or Swedes or Czechs don’t not want to win Stanley Cups, but it seems they’re nationalistic pride holds a special place in their hearts.
by Hooks Orpik on Feb 12, 2009 6:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
their vs. they’re, it’s been a long day :(
by Hooks Orpik on Feb 12, 2009 6:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
No, you’re right – this is the first generation of Euros to really grow up with national idols who played in the NHL and competed for the Cup, so these are the first Euros that would even really think of equating it to Olympic gold, for the most part.
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by J.P. on Feb 12, 2009 6:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Paul Kelly has said the membership is strongly in favour of it. He doesn’t break it down by nationality.
by James Mirtle on Feb 12, 2009 6:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, I wouldn’t figure there’d be any reason to break it out by nationality. But since the majority of the NHLPA is North American, it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out that they must largely be in favor of it.
by Hooks Orpik on Feb 12, 2009 6:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Also...
…the players don’t get paid for competing in the Olympics. I think nearly any hockey player, regardless of nationality, would jump at the chance to represent their country in the Olympics.
I’m not a fan of professional players being in the Olympics in the first place, but I can understand their feeling simply as athletes, and I think Ovechkin, in comparing an Olympic gold metal to the Stanley Cup, speaks for a lot of players. Both are very important, but for different reasons.
by Forsch31 on Feb 13, 2009 10:35 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Lets say NHL Players go to the olympics. Eric Staal pulls a Jeff Halpern and blows out his knee. Is his NHL team still on the hook while he’s out of commission? Does the IOCC have insurance policies that take care of this?
I recall seeing an article that Ovechkin’s participation in the Worlds in the spring was delayed by some insurance issues.
by Sombrero Guy on Feb 12, 2009 6:24 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
That’s exactly what happened – Russia had to insure Ovi’s mega-deal and had trouble finding someone who would within their price range. Finally they did (obviously).
So if an NHLer goes to the Olympics and shreds his knee, his country will be on the hook for some bucks, I’d imagine, and his NHL team would treat it like any other injury – IR or LTIR, cap implications, etc.
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by J.P. on Feb 12, 2009 6:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
so, how does the argument extend to the ASG? No extra insurance needed by the team for this (event), correct?
by bigonetimer on Feb 12, 2009 6:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I would think since no one really checks (or tries) during All-Star games, plus since it’s a league sanctioned event that their host city is making mad $$$ off of, that it’s a very small risk.
by Hooks Orpik on Feb 12, 2009 6:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
wait, there’s checking in the Olympics?
by bigonetimer on Feb 12, 2009 7:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQhoY-6M9pU
At worlds. I’d imagine the Olympics mean more.
Football's boring. Get over it.
by Whiter Mage on Feb 12, 2009 8:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
he even missed him a little bit, what would have happened if he had really caught him clean.
Lesson to learn:
Know when the guy is coming out of the box.
by Sct112 on Feb 13, 2009 1:22 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I remember in the last olympics, which I think in many ways was Ovi’s coming-out party, he got absolutely crushed going across the middle, taking a Stevens-esque shoulder to the head (I think this was against Canada, but not certain). Ovi popped right back up and continued to be the most dominant forward during the game. It was then that I knew he was superhuman.
by grapejoos on Feb 13, 2009 11:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Right, because players are there representing their teams. Plus, it’s all covered in the CBA.
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by J.P. on Feb 12, 2009 6:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Will owners start building in clauses that would invalidate contracts if injuries occur. Kind of like the clauses that prevent players from riding motorcycles and playing pickup basketball?
It seems short sighted of the NHL to dig in on this. The Olympics would be exposing hockey (and the fact that all of the worlds best play in the NHL) to a world wide audience. Ovi dominating the Olympics and having the Caps name metioned along with his can’t hurt the popularity of the game and on a smaller scale, Caps jersey sales in Moscow and Stockholm…
by Sct112 on Feb 12, 2009 6:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Will owners start building in clauses that would invalidate contracts if injuries occur. Kind of like the clauses that prevent players from riding motorcycles and playing pickup basketball?
In the wake of the Bourdon tragedy, I remember seeing (and somehow found it again) this:
The standard players contract prohibits a player “from participating in football, baseball, softball, hockey (other than with his team), lacrosse, boxing, wrestling or other athletic sport that may impair or destroy his ability and skill as a player,” without written consent from the team. Riding a motorcycle isn’t prohibited, and likely won’t ever be included in the list, but if there is a lesson for any young person, athlete or not, to take away from this horrible passing, it is to reduce the risks you can control.
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by J.P. on Feb 12, 2009 6:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
so I was thinking about this today, and while I would be rooting for team USA in any game, it is going to be hard for to root against Ovi and the Russians if/when they play team USA
by Sombrero Guy on Feb 13, 2009 2:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Allowing Sochi makes the most sense. This would complete the cycle of having NHL players in the Olympics for games in the USA, Canada and Russia. I don’t see how jobbing the Russian players, who are very important to this league, is in the best interest of the NHL. After Sochi you probably aren’t going to have the Olympics in either of these three countries for 20 years.
Russian Machine Never Breaks
by macvechkin on Feb 13, 2009 3:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
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