Andrew Brunette was asked about Alex Ovechkin before the Capitals-Panthers game on Friday. By all intents and purposes, the Panthers head coach and former Capital praised The Great 8 in his answer.
But it’s a tiny thing he said about Ovi that is getting a lot of attention online. Brunette referred to Ovechkin as the second greatest goal scorer of all-time behind Wayne Gretzky.
Pre-game, Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette called Alex Ovechkin "the second greatest goal scorer of all-time" behind Wayne Gretzky.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) November 26, 2021
Hockey Twitter did not like this.
I would like to think Panthers coach Andrew Brunette for the free money! #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/2DjCKITSqP
— Michael Toots (@mtootsbowls) November 26, 2021
Ovi… pic.twitter.com/6HFefEamAV
— Gary gary (@Gary4z) November 26, 2021
— YAWN (@YawnyStick) November 26, 2021
ovi hat trick confirmed
— mike (@capscamel) November 26, 2021
The guy was praising Ovechkin.
Nothing to correct him for.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) November 26, 2021
Gulitti reiterated that Brunette’s comment was a compliment.
I can't tell if people are kidding when they are saying this was in some way disrespectful to Ovechkin. (stupid Twitter).
It was far from it.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) November 26, 2021
The problem is when you compare Ovi and Gretzky and ignore Jagr and Howe (who are also ahead of Ovi in the goals-scoring race), that’s stating an opinion – not going on facts. It’s been harder to score goals in Ovi’s generation than Wayne’s. And with Ovechkin off to the greatest start of his NHL career, you could see how some people might side-eye this quote suspiciously.
Maybe Ovi did too? The Capitals captain scored a hat trick in the game.
Screenshot: Florida Panthers
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