Ovechkin can NOT succeed with the current capitals lineup
Was at the game last night, 1st game ever by the way, it was fantastic!
One thing I noticed was how completely flat the entire Capitals team looked. Semin, Green, Alzner, Carlson, Brouwer, Laich, and Chimera all looked like they were just on the ice because they had to be.
Obviously I noticed every one of Ovechkin's shift and one thing that was consistent was that unless Ovie was doing things by himself, he is almost irrelevant on the ice. His teammates did him ZERO favors last night.
I hope Caps fans can correct me if I'm wrong, I've only seen 3 WSH games this year, but unless the team around Ovechkin gets a swift kick in the ass and starts playing with some heart, Alexander Ovechkin will be lucky to be a point per game player.
Everyone is so quick to call Ovechkin lazy, and say he doesn't really care. It could just be the one game I saw but the guy cares, he hustles every shift, and you can really tell he wants the team and himself to do well.
Lack of quality teammates didn't stop him from beasting when he first entered the league. Seems like ever since they tried to play a more defensive style game, everything has gone down hill.
But yeah, there are a lot of times is seems like Ovechkin is the one doing all the work.
Elite players produce no matter who else is in the line up. If the roster is holding Ovechkin back, then Ovechkin is not elite.
Total crap. Take Neal, St. Louis, Jagr, Hartnell, Kane, Sedin, away from their teams and replace them with guys with no heart and none of these elite scorers are producing at an elite level.
You also didn't read my post well enough. Ovechkin looked like an elite player when he was working his ass off by himself. He also made a nasty deke on a Norris winning defenseman for a goal.
Total crap. Take Neal, St. Louis, Jagr, Hartnell, Kane, Sedin, away from their teams and replace them with guys with no heart and none of these elite scorers are producing at an elite level.
You also didn't read my post well enough. Ovechkin looked like an elite player when he was working his ass off by himself. He also made a nasty deke on a Norris winning defenseman for a goal.
Well wait just a minute. Stamkos doesnt play with St louis any more. Neal and Hartnell are products of having an elite linemate not the other way around Giroux and Malkin still find a way to produce Im sure. Kane is playing center on a line not with toews so that is out the window. Jagr is over the hill and Im pretty sure hes not on Girouxs line very often this second half of the season.
The Sedins Ill give you but thats a weird case.
So before about 2 years ago ovechkin is on the same level as crosby who produced with Dupuis and Kunitz on his line. So whats the explanation beacuse Ovechkins linemates even playing lazy or with no heart are certainly better than Dupuis.
Total crap. Take Neal, St. Louis, Jagr, Hartnell, Kane, Sedin, away from their teams and replace them with guys with no heart and none of these elite scorers are producing at an elite level.
You also didn't read my post well enough. Ovechkin looked like an elite player when he was working his ass off by himself. He also made a nasty deke on a Norris winning defenseman for a goal.
Malkin will produce no matter who is on his line (he's shown that numerous times before). I doubt Hartnell is the one making Giroux play so damn well, and St. Louis hasn't been playing on the same line with Stamkos for most of the season. Sedin (don't know which one you're talking about, but H.) has played well without his brother in the line up. Elite players are elite. One of Ovi's best season was with crappy players on his line, and his peak season was before Backstrom was anything to write home about. Before Backstrom went down, Ovi was still underperforming while Backstrom was lighting it up.
Obviously Ovi *was* elite. I'm just saying he's not elite anymore. He can potentially become elite again, but as of now, he's a sub-PPG player that is weak defensively and often invisible on the ice.
I'm convinced it's a mental thing with Ovechkin. Everyone getting on McPhee and Boudreau's ass about not playing defense really hurt that team when they caved. Should've just stayed the course.
Total crap. Take Neal, St. Louis, Jagr, Hartnell, Kane, Sedin, away from their teams and replace them with guys with no heart and none of these elite scorers are producing at an elite level.
You also didn't read my post well enough. Ovechkin looked like an elite player when he was working his ass off by himself. He also made a nasty deke on a Norris winning defenseman for a goal.
Go check Ovechkin's first who seasons, before Backstrom.
If you're a superstar, you produce no matter who you play with.
Kovalchuk's numbers dropped when he went to a more talented team. A few other examples as well.
The whole quality teammates argument is greatly over rated on these boards when regarding elite players. Throughout history when elite players go to more talented teams their production drops most of the time. When on a less talented team there is a bigger emphasis to carry more of the load, and the system revolves around the player, allowing them to put up bigger numbers. On more talented teams everything gets spread out, usually resulting in the elite players putting up less impressive numbers.
I think it's a combination of a number of things, chief among them being teams have figured out how to neutralize him a bit. All along I've felt Ovechkin's biggest advantage was his sheer desire to score. On a pure talent level, he doesn't really have an absolutely elite shot or release like Semin or Stamkos, and he scored so many goals because he generated so many damn chances through effort.
I'm not saying the effort isn't there any longer (watch him play, it obviously is), but I think teams have keyed in on his tendencies and are limiting him from opportunities that he so often got with ease in the past.
I for one think and hope he'll turn it around. The guy's a rockstar and when he's at the top of his game there's no better ambassador for the sport. A true gem who this league needs.
I'm tired of hearing so many people make excuses for Ovechkin. People act like this guy is a saint and the problem is always the people around him.
-When it suits the argument, Ovechkin can produce with lesser linemates and Ovechkin can't produce with lesser linemates. Which one is it?
-When it suits the argument, the lack of playoff success is everyone but Ovechkin's fault because his teammates just disappear whereas the Pens have Malkin and Crosby who are playoff beasts. I mean, if Ovechkin had one of them for sure he'd be a Cup champion. It seems to be completely ignored that Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin combine for more playoff points than Malkin and Crosby combined (games adjusted).
-When it suits the argument, Boudreau has hurt Ovechkin and the team. The Caps are still struggling without Boudreau behind the bench.
It's one thing for a team to simply be bad, but when you have a good team that seems to have a losing culture and little desire to even try, how do you completely overlook the role of your captain?
If that's the case then how good was he originally?
It's definitely not the system or else he's hardly ever been anything special.. and the linemates play a very minimal part in him dropping from a 110 point player to a 60 point player.
Well wait just a minute. Stamkos doesnt play with St louis any more. Neal and Hartnell are products of having an elite linemate not the other way around Giroux and Malkin still find a way to produce Im sure. Kane is playing center on a line not with toews so that is out the window. Jagr is over the hill and Im pretty sure hes not on Girouxs line very often this second half of the season.
The Sedins Ill give you but thats a weird case.
So before about 2 years ago ovechkin is on the same level as crosby who produced with Dupuis and Kunitz on his line. So whats the explanation beacuse Ovechkins linemates even playing lazy or with no heart are certainly better than Dupuis.
I don't have much to contribute here but it's one of my biggest pet peeves so I have to say it (sorry), but Stamkos plays about 63% of his even strength shifts this year with St.Louis. That isn't insignificant. They also play on the PP together.
