Just because Yakupov's celebration doesn't fit nicely into your little tidy box of what a player should do when they score a highly emotional goal doesn't mean it was dumb.
The kid scored a big goal and was excited. Given the circumstances of the game, the fact that he had one called back in the first period, and the fact that one had just been called back prior to him scoring and the building was going nuts, I think it was fine. Of course, the media is looking to latch onto anything and everything, and are desperately looking for a reaction out of somebody so that they can blow it up.
In the post-game media availability, Horcoff said the kid loves to play hockey, he's got a youthful exuberance, and it was a product of the emotion of the moment. I think the fact that anyone needs to come to the kids defense in the first place is ridiculous. It's unfortunate that when someone acts in some way that doesn't fit our understanding of appropriate behavior we jump to labeling them as immature or whatever else.
He was fired up. I loved the raw emotion of the moment, if it happened when the Oilers were down 4-0 in a lifeless building, that's a completely different story. The reaction wasn't contrived, wasn't offensive, it felt natural and emotional. I didn't even view it as something to ever think about again until I came on here and saw the outrage.
Selfish? Dumb? Immature? Maybe Yakupov is all of those things. What 19 year old kid isn't? But none of those have anything to do with what happened last night.
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