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The Canadian Way: Boring and Dirty, According to Don Cherry

In this clip from Saturday's Hockey Night in Canada, Canadian nationalist Don Cherry rips Alex Ovechkin's celebratory ways. Wait ... Don Cherry ripping a Sidney Crosby rival? Quel surprise! The real telling content here is what Cherry refers to as "the Canadian way."
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↵You see, classy Canadians like Crosby, Joe Thornton and Jarome Iginla don't have fun when they score (ridiculous) goals. Maybe a fist pump, perhaps a post-game Molson. Good, clean fun. But should you dare leap around like a fancy lad as Ovechkin does, by golly, one of these wholesome Canadian defensemen might just "cut you in half." Like a true gentleman.
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↵Cherry argues some sort of equivalence in liking Ovechkin's style and defending Sean Avery -- "same church, different pew" is the phraseology used. I couldn't disagree more. Enjoying over-the-top Ovechkin is more like appreciating the oddball nature of ... Don Cherry. (When he's off his xenophobic soapbox, that is.) Someone who yells louder than any other analyst (in voice and fashion) criticizing an excitable player speaks of self-loathing, or at least a lack of self-awareness.
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↵H/T: On Frozen Blog.↵

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.