Miller gets louder cheer than Crosby in Pittsburgh

AP:

PITTSBURGH -- Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller received a standing ovation in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night for leading the United States to an Olympic silver medal -- cheers louder than those given the Penguins' own Sidney Crosby.



Crosby beat Miller to score the game-winning goal in overtime Sunday as Canada defeated the United States 3-2 for the gold medal.

Despite being on the losing team, Miller was chosen as the tournament MVP.

Olympians for both teams were introduced before the game, with Miller receiving the loudest and most sustained ovation.

Crosby also received a standing ovation, but it was less enthusiastic than Miller's despite his vast popularity in Pittsburgh.

© 2010 The Associated Press

4sportboston.com, "UNITED STATES DONE IN BY SID THE KID":

Was I angry when Sidney Crosby scored the game-winner seven minutes into overtime? Sure. That anger was spread 95% because of who scored it and 5% because of which team. I could have accepted any other player wearing a Maple Leaf being the hero, just not Sid. While I appreciate his skill and ability, I just don’t root for him. If it was Ryan Getzlaf or Rick Nash and especially Patrice Bergeron destined for a postage stamp, I would be personally happy for them. However, Sidney being the hero takes away that enjoyment and leaves just the memories of the first 67:19 of hockey.

By Duk, Yahoo! Sports:

VIERA, Fla. — Normally it's not difficult to mount an argument on why Alex Ovechkin and not Sidney Crosby is the best player in the NHL.

But on the day after Crosby secures the gold medal for Canada while Ovechkin sits at home, bling-less?

Well, it takes a little more motivation to not respect a temporary ceasefire.
Luckily there are guys like Nyjer Morgan(notes), a former hockey guy who has roots in both Washington and Pittsburgh, not to mention an unquenchable desire to ham it up and an acute knowledge of who butters his bread.

And that's how Morgan was easily talked into mounting a quick defense of Ovechkin by a radio reporter on Monday afternoon. Take it away, Nyjer!:

"Now that I'm a Washingtonian, I think (Crosby) is a heckuva player, but he's not Ovi ... (Ovechkin) likes throwing the body around, he loves throwing the weight around, which I absolutely love. He's definitely flamboyant, I love it.
"The Kid is a heckuva player, but I'm just an Ovi fan now. So don't worry Washingtonians. T-Plush is definitely on the Caps bandwagon."

By Dan Steinberg, DC Sports Bog, "Shaone Morrisonn on whether he hates Crosby":

"When Sidney scored that goal last night, I just thought to myself this is gonna fuel [Ovechkin] even more for us to win the Stanley Cup this year," Morrisonn said. "It was kind of bitter to see him score the goal, but I also was happy that Canada won."

And Morrisonn even admitted that he was initially siding with club over nationality.

"Secretly, I was rooting for a Russia-Sweden final, just because Nicklas and Ovi and Sasha, I want them to do well," he said. "But hockey and curling are our game in Canada, so I know if we didn't win that game last night people would have been depressed for at least four years, so winning that game was great for us, we needed that."

The defenseman was also asked, yet again, how he comes down on the Crosby-Ovechkin debate; "I would say Ovi, any day," he said.

"I know both of them on a personal level, and I just see Ovi's passion....Physically, he's just a machine. He's more a power forward, he's gonna run over guys, he's gonna block shots, he's just physically stronger. I think he can take on anybody, there's not a guy in this league that can push Ovi around. I've seen Crosby get pushed around a bit and stuff like that, and he's got Malkin, a little bigger body with him, but I just think Ovi's just a machine out there. I don't think anybody can contain that guy."

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