Last nail into "What's so special about Crosby" coffin

 Capitals Insider by Slava Malamud, Jan. 15, 2009:

Semin, who was quite reluctant to be interviewed ("I know what you are going to ask me about and I don't really want to discuss this"), eventually changed his mind and offered the following side of the story:

"It came about because of reporters who have created some kind of an intrigue. If I were really to say these exact things that they have written, I would have confirmed it by now: yes, I have said it... [But] I did not say them, not in that form. I should not be held responsible for the way it was translated."

When pressed to offer his version of those words, Alex said: "I would have never said that Crosby is a bad player. I just meant to say that some people like Crosby's style and I happen to like Kane's style more. That is it, nothing else. Really, let's just forget this whole story."

Interestingly enough, though, according to Malkin, Semin had actually called Crosby to explain him how he was misquoted and what he had actually meant. When asked to tell where he knows this from, Evgeny answered: "Sidney has said [this]... Well, and other people too."

Sport-Express 1, SovSport 0. :-)

It was Ovechkin who first said Semin words were lost in translation, Leonsis, Fedorov echoed it, and now Semin himself has spoken.

Did Semin say it? You bet he did, but not the way Chesnokov introduced it. There's an explanation, Chesnokov doesn't like Pens as a fan, and it is understandable, but if you represent a major Russian newspaper, that's another story.

Thanks God, I only represent myself. :-)

Some people got hurt, but it was a lot of fun. It opened a door to a flood of revelations that King 'Sid The Kid' is actually naked. Now after I said it, I feel a little bit sorry for Sid, maybe that's what Semin felt too.

As Ovechkin said, we (bloggers and writers) want some action. Shame to us. :-(







NOVEMBER 3, 2008:
Q.: Did you hear what Semin said about Crosby?
Ovechkin: ...maybe translator was not good, but... what can I say...

ESPN, November 13, 2008:

Ovechkin was less thrilled with our resident ESPN.com blogger about 10 minutes later when we asked him about the Semin/Crosby controversy.

"I think it's just the translator and it's about media guys -- about you," Ovechkin said. " ... but I think Sasha [Semin] can say that [Crosby] is a good player. I talked to him about it and he said it was just a bad translation.

"Everybody knows who Sidney Crosby is and how he can play hockey and how he's good."

Ted's Take: Jan. 15, 2009:

Hate to say I told you so…but I told you so. I am glad this is all getting put behind us. Check out this article on the “Semin interview”.

Thank you.