My two cents worth on the whole Alex Semin interview on Puck Daddy's blog. It basically comes down to two different styles of play and two different hockey school philosophies.
I don't see Semin's comments about Sidney Crosby all that shocking, in fact I almost expect it. In the Russian school of hockey, they are taught control and speed, while in the Canadian school it is a bit more physical and zone control.
The best analogy I can come up with is in football where you have wide receivers (Russian style) and running backs (Canadian Style). Both have different skill sets that can accomplish the same goal. Receivers are a bit more flashy and fun to watch, while running backs often are more smash mouth, physical and also fun to watch. Both Semin and Crosby are very good at their seperate skill set as well.
Sometimes flashy receivers are not shy about letting everyone they know that their way is better and vice versa. Semin is obvisouly not a big fan of the Canadian school of hockey. Of which Crosby is a prodigy of, a dump and chase, battle in the corners and be physical on the puck.
The only thing I find really surprising about Alexander Semin in that interview was his maturity level. He is extremely well spoken (albeit in Russian), and is looking at his efforts within a team system. For me, watching him play for the Capitals the last couple of years, my impressions have always been of him as a stat hog and a "what's in it for me?" player. But he understands the team concept and he is fun to watch with the puck.
The Caps have a tough stretch ahead of them starting with Buffalo tonight. Should be a very wide open, end to end game.
No comments:
Post a Comment