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Brooks Laich calls Mike Ribeiro a “spineless jellyfish,” but in a good way

Brooks Laich’s claim to fame is that he once saved a stranded motorist, but he might also deserve recognition for being a master of the backhanded compliment.

You won’t come across many positive descriptions that involve the word “spineless,” yet Laich (mostly) pulls that off when describing Mike Ribeiro’s style to CSNWashington.com’s Chuck Gormley.

“He’s like a spineless jellyfish, like a slinky,” Laich said. “You can’t hit him. You go to hit him and he just wiggles through you. I don’t know how he does it.”

Laich also commented upon Ribeiro’s ... unusual fashion sense.

“I was like, ‘Holy Cow! Somebody put a mirror in front of that guy,’” Laich said. “It’s not a bad thing. If we were all the same we’d be all boring. I think he’s going to bring some flare for sure.”

Want an example of that, uh, flare? Here’s a photo (the second image justifiably zooms in on his diamond earring) from his July press conference, via Chris Gordon and Russian Machine Never Breaks:

diamondringribeiro

diamondzoom

So, to review, Ribeiro hasn’t played a single game for the Capitals, yet his team already has already compared him to:

That would all be really, really harsh ... but some might argue that he brings it on himself.

After all, this is a guy who seems to infuriate opponents with his antics (like this infamous moment in the 2004 playoffs) as often as he dazzles crowds, such as this Feb. 16 overtime winner:

Long story short, he can be dazzling and irritating in equal measures. Sort of like a spineless jellyfish.