Alex Semin: Misunderstood

For whatever reason Alex Semin has been labeled as a lazy, egotistical coach-killer--they say he's an enigma of a man that lacks effort and has a sense of apathy during the post-season.  While Sasha does possess a somewhat enigmatic quality to him, lazy?  A coach-killer?  Lacking effort during the playoffs?  That is simply untrue--it's a falsehood spread by the left wing-hating Russian-bashing media.

I've also heard that Alex Semin is behind a conspiracy to make the new Batman movie anti-Romney

Let's address the issue of lazy first.  I'm honestly not sure where this claim is based in reality.  If one were to base an opinion of him being lazy off of the fact that his point production has dipped over the last several years, then perhaps there could be a case made.  However, take this into consideration--over the past several years the quality of Sasha's line-mates has gone down.  As Jeff Angus points out in his great piece, "Alexander Semin and Ignoring the 10 Percent," In 2009-10 Sasha spent over twenty percent of his time on the ice with Ovechkin and Backstrom, and over the following seasons that percentage of time gradually went down and Alex began to play with less gifted players a greater percent of the time.  It doesn't take a genius to realize that a hockey player on a line with better players will generally play at a higher level.


On the issue of coach-killer I didn't once see Sasha ever try to take off his skate, turn around, and try to murder Bruce, but perhaps you're talking in a more metaphorical sense.  In that case--would a player that didn't care about what their coach was preaching try to play into their system?  I would venture to say no, they would not.  However, there is evidence to support the claim that Sasha does in fact care about what his coaches tell him more than he cares about Burger King.
Let us look back to game two of the opening round of the 2012 playoffs.  The Caps were down one game on the road in Boston.  A little over half-way through the game Sasha did something that I have never seen from him before, he blocked a Zdeno Chara slap shot--of course when I say "slap shot" and "Zdeno Chara" in the same sentence it might be more appropriate to compare Sasha's efforts to blocking a shotgun blast.  This is alone is evidence that Alex was not only restraining from killing Hunter, but he was buying into his coaching methods.
Finally Semin's supposed apathy during the playoffs.  I really don't think I have to write anything to negate this claim.  Just look at this.

2008-09

(2009-10 vs. Montreal not found)

2010-11

2011-12

and finally...

For someone to say that Alex Semin is lazy, he's a coach-killer, he's egotistical would be completely wrong.  He's a great player that would be an amazing fit on any team--unless it's the Penguins, in which case he's dead to me.  And if you're going to listen to this man on the subject--

Professor Matt Bradley, Doctorate in Art History

--be careful.  I'd still like evidence of where he obtained his Ph.D.