Bruce Boudreau can laugh with Alex Ovechkin. But if you try to laugh at him, it's something else entirely.
With the Caps in Atlanta, the Thrashers decided to poke fun at the gap-toothed superstar.
During the game, the team aired a fake public service announcement warning hockey players to avoid bad commercials.
The clip showed a series of old (and terrible!) commercials featuring hockey players -- including some Rangers skating in their 1980's Sasson jeans.
But they saved the best for last, running Alex the Great's Eastern Motor's commercials -- especially the cringe-inducing outtakes. Thrashers' fans got to see Alex warble the "Your job's your credit" jingle in his broken English while he un-seductively rocked his hips from side to side.
Someone called "Ron Hainsey" (who's 50 goals and 70 points behind Ovie) recommends that players get better agents or consult with friends before making bad commercials.
(How would he know anyway? You really think someone with his career would turn down an ad? He's doing faux PSAs for a crappy unsupported franchise!)
Anyway, Bruce Boudreau wasn't pleased, as relayed by Puck Daddy.
Gabby said, "I wasn't a big fan of that. If they want to mock their own players, fine -- go ahead and mock their own players like that. But people pay a lot of money for these commercials, and I didn't think it was in very good taste when they did the stuff with Alex."
That's all well and good, as long as Gabby's protesting the Caps using the Kiss Cam as a homoerotic prop to mock opposing teams -- or anything on the screen to rally the hometown fans against the opposing hoards.
Lighten up, Gabby. It's a funny "commercial."
Ovie was willing to demean himself for a few bucks. Why can't we laugh at him? If he didn't want to be laughed at, he wouldn't have sold out to wear that cheap looking jersey, and danced that prissy little sashay at the end of the video.
Ovie took his money, and preened in public. It's fair game.
Besides, those two points yesterday and the bazillion or so points between the Caps and Thrashers in the standings are all the talking that needs to be done.
Chris Needham used to write Capitol Punishment. He can't think of anything witty to put here.
