Ovie to NHL: I'll play in the Olympics with or without your consent!

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=290514

"Nobody can say to me you can't play for your country in the Olympic Games," Ovechkin told ESPN.com.

"I don't care," Ovechkin continued. "I'll go play in the Olympic Games for my country. If somebody says to me you can't play, see ya."

Hahahahha, THATS AWESOME!

I like that guy

That's really old, isn't it? I remember him saying that in an intebe no-one else reads Russian here).

yeah its old news but new comment...and WHAT a comment

Awesome!!

Oh... I didn't realize that was old.

<3 Ovie

SpezDispenser wrote:Oh... I didn't realize that was old.

Its not, really...the only old part about it is that Ovechkin has said in the past that no one will stop him from playing in the 2014 games.

I guess I'll buck the trend here. Who the Diddle does this bunghole think he is?

Noone will stop you? How about Ted Leonsis, The National Hockey League, and the NHLPA. That's not even mentioning the IOC. If this guy thinks he can just walk off a pro team and play for Russia he's mistaken. If the NHL walks, the hockey will revert to amateurs, and based on the fact that he is a professional, he wouldn't be allowed by IOC rules. That's even if by some miracle the other bodies I mentioned consented to this.

If the NHL isn't in Sochi, neither will Ovechkin. This guy needs to get over his Diddle self.

hemlock wrote:I guess I'll buck the trend here. Who the Diddle does this bunghole think he is?

Noone will stop you? How about Ted Leonsis, The National Hockey League, and the NHLPA. That's not even mentioning the IOC. If this guy thinks he can just walk off a pro team and play for Russia he's mistaken. If the NHL walks, the hockey will revert to amateurs, and based on the fact that he is a professional, he wouldn't be allowed by IOC rules. That's even if by some miracle the other bodies I mentioned consented to this.

If the NHL isn't in Sochi, neither will Ovechkin. This guy needs to get over his Diddle self.

That is a massively erroneous assumption. There ARE other professional leagues in the world who aren't likely to prohibit their players from joining their national teams for a couple weeks.

Beyond that, there's nothing they can do to stop him. They can take every possible legal recourse, but when he goes to Russia and you never see him again (except on the KHL highlights) what are they going to do about it? They are simply powerless to stop him.

The most likely outcome is for the NHL to allow for any individual player to leave their club teams to play in the Olympics, but to also continue on with the regular season regardless of those players' decisions/actions. They could simply say: "See you in two weeks or should we say 10 games..."

cas wrote:

hemlock wrote:I guess I'll buck the trend here. Who the Diddle does this bunghole think he is?

Noone will stop you? How about Ted Leonsis, The National Hockey League, and the NHLPA. That's not even mentioning the IOC. If this guy thinks he can just walk off a pro team and play for Russia he's mistaken. If the NHL walks, the hockey will revert to amateurs, and based on the fact that he is a professional, he wouldn't be allowed by IOC rules. That's even if by some miracle the other bodies I mentioned consented to this.

If the NHL isn't in Sochi, neither will Ovechkin. This guy needs to get over his Diddle self.

That is a massively erroneous assumption. There ARE other professional leagues in the world who aren't likely to prohibit their players from joining their national teams for a couple weeks.

Beyond that, there's nothing they can do to stop him. They can take every possible legal recourse, but when he goes to Russia and you never see him again (except on the KHL highlights) what are they going to do about it? They are simply powerless to stop him.

The most likely outcome is for the NHL to allow for any individual player to leave their club teams to play in the Olympics, but to also continue on with the regular season regardless of those players' decisions/actions. They could simply say: "See you in two weeks or should we say 10 games..."

You're kidding me right? Just that simple?

Historically, the hockey tournament in the Olympics has been an amateur tournament, which excludes prefessionals from playing. That is until 1998 in Nagano.

Furthermore, I suppose noone could PHYSICALLY stop him from going to Sochi, but he's in a legally binding contract. The team would have every legal right to stop him, or he breaches his contract, plain and simple. You don't think the NHL would stop this either? The Olympics happen right in the middle of the season. Do you honestly think even for one second that the league would even consider just letting guys go over and play while continuing the NHL schedule? Not a chance.

I'd bet money, that like I said, if the NHL isn't participating in the Olympics, and Ovechkin is still an NHL player at that point, he won't be there. Do you honestly believe he's going to risk his contract, and invite a huge legal battle to do so? I don't.

More than anything, it's the spouting off at the mouth from Ovechkin that annoys me. I'm all for the guy being honest and speaking his mind, but he clearly didn't put any thought into what he said beforehand. It's a ridiculous thing to say at this point imho.

You're kidding me, right???

Try enforcing that contract in RUSSIA!!! This isn't a North American we're talking about.... If Ovechkin wants to play in the Olympics and the NHL suspends him and sanctions him and sues him and w/e else they can think of, he'll just go play in the KHL and help legitimize that league.

I don't think North Americans really get how much danger there is long-term for the NHL as the premier league to play in. The talent level is quickly getting to the point that employable, high skilled players will soon be left out of the league simply because there aren't enough roster spots. At which point, they will go overseas and those leagues will slowly climb into the area of legitimacy. If that happens and Swedes and Ruskies start staying home, the NHL could very well become the professional version of the OHL with a QMJHL in Russia and a WHL in Sweden...

It really isn't that far-fetched. And this Ovechkin situation has the potential to be the catalyst to such an event (or the accelerator).

OH and the KHL will cause the biggest fuss you've ever seen if they aren't allowed to let their own pros play when the Olympics are in their country. No matter what happens with the NHL and with Ovechkin, you won't see Olympic hockey featuring purely amateurs anytime in the next decade (if ever again).