Don Cherry is disgusted with the recent play of Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
The outspoken Cherry ripped the Russian centre and the fading Capitals during an interview with Jeff Blair on Tuesday morning.
“Just seeing those guys going through the motions,” Cherry told Blair on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. “I think they had 17 shots on net. Ovechkin, $10 million, it’s a disgrace.”
Cherry, who has been critical of the Capitals’ captain in the past, believes Washington owner Ted Leonsis is getting a horrible return on his investment in Ovechkin.
“He’s getting $10 million, Cherry explained. “He didn’t go to the all-star game after the fans that pay his salary voted him in. It’s a tough situation. The owner coughed up $10 million and he must just die
“You know what kills me? I remember when Ovechkin was the greatest hockey player in the world, look at the highlights,” Cherry said sarcastically. “I got accused of being a bigot, a racist. I was a bad guy because if you say anything about a guy like that when he was going good. In fact, (when he got 60 goals) I said that he would not get 60 again and he didn’t. I said around 48-50 goals and he’s gone down ever since”
As a former NHL coach, Cherry understands the tough spot that new head coach Dale Hunter is in. Cherry believes the hard-nosed Hunter can’t properly discipline Ovechkin and the rest of the team is simply going through the motions on a consistent basis.
“Holy smokes, Dale Hunter must be dying,” Cherry said. “(Ovechkin) got a big contract for a million years. Dale Hunter can’t bench him. How can you bench him? It looks bad on the coach too. I don’ know what Dale’s going to. He was playing over 27 minutes a game.”
The Capitals, who sit in the 10th place in the Eastern Conference, have lost two straight games in underwhelming fashion and have a 3-6-1 record in their last ten games.
Washington takes on the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night.
