Will the time-tested myth that a sequel is never as good as the original be upheld? It's time for a showdown, Ovie style.
"The Goal" scored in Glendale, Arizona, 1/15/2006
vs.
"The Sequel" scored in Washington, 2/18/2009
Game Situation
Alex Ovechkin scored the first goal of the game ("The Sequel"), igniting the Capitals offense in the first period. Just a few minutes later, Nicklas Backstrom scored to put the Capitals up 2-1 on the Habs. In Phoenix, "The Goal" was just icing on the cake, as the Capitals were in the process of blowing out the Coyotes, although it did help tip the scales in the Rookie of the Year race.
Advantage: "The Sequel"
Play development
Alex Ovechkin entered the Coyotes zone one-on-one with a defender before tripping and falling to his back. He managed to wrap his stick around the puck and narrowly avoids hitting the pipe, scoring "The Goal." While that was pretty amazing, it was also, dare we say, lucky. "The Sequel" looked more controlled, as Ovechkin passes to himself off the boards, turns 180, and beats a defender before falling to his knees. "The Goal," caught us by surprise, but "The Sequel" might be hockey's equivalent of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling.
Advantage: "The Sequel"
Overall "coolness"
Hands down this goes to "The Goal." There is nothing like scoring from your back while you're falling and, while "The Sequel" could be accidentally recreated, "The Goal," will probably never happen again in our lifetime.
Advantage: "The Goal"
Post-goal celebration
"The Sequel" was scored at home, sending the crowd into a raucous "M.V.P" chant. Ovie gets style points for raising the roof and blowing kisses while passing Canadiens goalie Carey Price on his knees, but nothing beats what happened after "The Goal." On the way to the bench, Ovechkin blows a kiss to none other than the Great One, Wayne Gretzky.
Advantage: "The Goal"
Timelessness
This one remains to be seen as "The Sequel" is only a day old now, and "The Goal" has been part of hockey lore for more than three years. Regardless, both will be classics that will be replayed over and over and over again.
Draw
Difficulty
Both are amazing feats of hockey sense and skill, but we have to give this to "The Goal." As we said earlier, "The Sequel" could be replicated and in fact a similar goal was scored on Dec. 26, 2008, against the Buffalo Sabres. Ovie's one-man play is pretty impressive for obvious reasons, but it's doubtful that anyone will ever score while falling to their back and shooting the puck blindly in the next 100 years.
Advantage and winner: "The Goal"
Thursday, February 19, 2009
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Good comparison, CK. What amazes me is this: If you look closely, the puck didn't just bounce off his body or stick -- in both cases, Ovie was actually taking a shot!
ReplyDeleteSo what did the S.O.B. line do last night? Oh, not much. Ovie had maybe his second-best goal ever. Semin had the game-winning shootout goal. Backstrom had a beautiful give-and-go goal and a shootout goal. Can anybody stop those S.O.B.'s?
Frankly i feel Ovechkin is slightly over-rated then again im a sharks fan
ReplyDeletebut all that aside i saw that goal and was simply astonished by what he did its plays like that where you can't say hes over-rated
Im just bitter that torrey mitchells goal against the ducks last year didnt get as much attention, i mean a shorthanded goal where hes tripped down to the ice, gets up and beats Giggure is just as great as this maybe not as much flare, but one of the greatest goals ive ever seen
so hats off to Ovie for a very pretty goal
over rated by who's rating system? i think he is pretty accurately rated in saying he is the best and most exciting one-on-one player in the league. he is also the best goal scorer. that seems like an accurate rating. sure, he may not be the best all around hockey player, but he tries harder than everyone on the ice and is a blast to watch and everyone knows it. and i'd say thats an accurate rating.
ReplyDeletehonestly i cant stand ovie his cockiness is off the charts. just because he makes goals like this doesnt mean that hes the s**t. sure hes one of the best hockey players since the great gretsky or lemiux but cockiness shouldnt be apart of his game. he should look at players such as sydney crosby or malkin IE: players with class who yes celebrate after an amazing goal but Ovie takes it to a new level.
ReplyDelete@anon3: I never found it classless but I don't think his post-goal celebrations are comparable to say an NFL touchdown celebration. I doubt the NHL will be handing out fines for jumping up against the boards, but then again, saying Sloppy Seconds is a six game suspension these days.
ReplyDeleteTHE GOAL IS TEN TIMES BETTER
ReplyDeleteheres a youtube vid for the anonymous guy talking about crosbys "class"...
ReplyDeletefirst off... I haven't seen ovechkin fight much, and I know he hasn't this year... but take a look at your crosby... this is him cheapshotting a panther on a face off... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR4lmmBvhcA
unfortunately I can't find the video of him back in december... a teammate rescues him from a fight, and while their fighting crosby skates behind the guy and starts punching up his butt... kids an actor...