I'm generally of the opinion that if you're an NHL player, playing hockey at the highest level in the world, you have to be a pretty competitive guy -- hungry, eager, all that stuff. That's even more true if you're a guy like Alex Ovechkin, arguably the best player currently working in that league.
News Flash: Alex Ovechkin Wants To Win Hockey Games
It was surprising, then to hear what Jason Arnott had to say about his new teammate, Ovechkin.
”I really didn’t think that he wanted to win as much as he does,“Arnott told ESPN 980’s Sports Reporters on Friday. “I guess there’s a judgment placed on either European players or Russian players, that they play hard but do they really want to win, to win the Stanley Cup? It’s bad to put that on them, but that’s kind of the perception that we get.
“And I knew nothing about Ovi, just from playing against him that he comes to compete every single night and he plays as hard as as he can every single night. But just by talking to him and hanging out with him as much as I can, this guy really really really wants to win....This guy really wants to win, and that impressed me a lot.”
It impressed Arnott that one of the best hockey players in the world “really wants to win.” Why is that impressive, exactly? He’s not Alex Semin, who appears lazy on the ice sometimes. He’s Ovi, and Arnott literally might be the first person on Earth to question his desire to win hockey games and the Stanley Cup.
Have you ever seen one of his goal celebrations? This entire quote from Arnott just boggles my mind.
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