Ovechkin

External Since: Oct 08, 2003 Posts: 15

Comment on Mario:

The guy was truly amazing to me. He seemed to exert some kind of force
field around himself, which kept anybody from getting within ten feet of
him. I was always amazed to see him standing still, wide open by the side
boards, and no player would approach him closer than ten feet, and there
they'd stand waving their stick back and forth ineffectively while Mario
calmly handled the puck and looked for his next assist. It was the same
thing in front of the net, too, where often he was so wide open as to have
been wearing a kryptonite uniform and surrounded by opposition "supermen."

I contrast this to other great players and power-forward scorers, who seemed
always to accomplish their objectives with people hanging all over them. As
someone else mentioned, Jagr scored brilliant goals while maneuvering
through a whole team and getting his brains beat out, but Mario was rarely
touched. It's curious.

Despite his gaudy stats, I'd place Mario right up there with Eric Lindros in
the NHL Crybaby Hall of Fame.
"Jeff Rudacille" <ghghgh.DeleteThis@gjgjgjg.com> wrote in message
news:D5JHc.10639$R36.1385@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> I looked it up. Got into a "Scrap" with Todd Kryiger...which was the one
I
> was thinking of.
>
> Lemieux hadn't been ejected from a game for fighting since April 24, 1996,
> when he mixed it up with Washington's Todd Krygier in Game 4 of the
Eastern
> Conference quarterfinals. Thursday's fighting major was his first in a
> regular-season game since March 20, 1987 at Washington, when he tangled
with
> Bobby Gould.
>
>
>
>

External Since: Dec 10, 2003 Posts: 19

In article <n%THc.13791$mz5.4371@newssvr27.news.prodigy.com>,
"Tack" <none-now.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Comment on Mario:
>
> The guy was truly amazing to me. He seemed to exert some kind of force
> field around himself, which kept anybody from getting within ten feet of
> him. I was always amazed to see him standing still, wide open by the side
> boards, and no player would approach him closer than ten feet, and there
> they'd stand waving their stick back and forth ineffectively while Mario
> calmly handled the puck and looked for his next assist. It was the same
> thing in front of the net, too, where often he was so wide open as to have
> been wearing a kryptonite uniform and surrounded by opposition "supermen."

I seem to recall seeing this kind of scene as well. On the other hand,
my most vivid visual memory of Mario - other than jamming an opponent's
stick in his own crotch in front of the ref - is a play when he was
getting held all over the place and then managed to shoot the puck from
behind his back through his own legs and into the net. Simply amazing.
He clearly had the talent and physical presence to deal with that kind
of opposition. Apparently he just didn't have the stomach for it.

> Despite his gaudy stats, I'd place Mario right up there with Eric Lindros in
> the NHL Crybaby Hall of Fame.

Frankly, I don't think even Lindros is on Mario's level in that
department.

--
Stephen Mack
Arka Music - Engraving, Copying, Transposing
www.arkamusic.com

"Nobody's smart enough to be wrong all the time." -Ken Wilber