He's clearly lost his swagger. He's had next to zero go right going on two straight years and is now booed in every arena. Once loved, now disliked.
He needs a regular sports psychologist and to settle down and get married.
The partying lifestyle is hurting him now. He needs to be a lot more dedicated if he wants to regain his form. He can no longer get by simply on talent and youthfull exuberance.
Nobody on the ice is in awe of him anymore. Where the best opposing D's once backed off for fear that he would be gone by them in a flash, the slowest NHL D's are now in his face every shift, barely even worried about that today. The Caps have to be patient and work with him a lot. They should be in his face all the time, from Leonsis to every player. Challenge him constantly to be better. I still think they need a presence in the lockerroom that he respects.
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George McPhee....The Teflon GM. 15 years of failure and counting....
6 - Number of playoff series the Capitals have won since George McPhee took over as General Manager in 1997 (which makes him the third-longest-tenured GM in the League), three of which came in McPhee's first season on the job.
Remarkable to me that he wound up as league's 5th leading goal-scorer, after the crap-tastic season he had. I wish he had managed to get to 40, and am still annoyed Laich didn't deal to him on the 2-on-1 tonight versus Rangers, especially since Laich himself missed the net by a mile. But still, for #8 to wind up 5th in goals, after being way, way, way down the leaderboard most of the season, well, that's a strong finish. Here's hoping his momentum carries into Boston series.
Sure and he also racked up 12 assists during those 43 games. Combined that is a 48 goal and 70 point pace over 80 games.
I'm sorry but that is still not good enough...
Not his fault if his team mates are too inept to put the puck in the net all season long, i lost count how many beauties Ovi laid on a plate only for someone to shank the shot.
The reason Sid gets all those assists? Because the Pens are an offensive juggernaut and have so many options, you put Ovi in that team and i guarantee you he scores and assists more than Sid would.
Not his fault if his team mates are too inept to put the puck in the net all season long, i lost count how many beauties Ovi laid on a plate only for someone to shank the shot.
The reason Sid gets all those assists? Because the Pens are an offensive juggernaut and have so many options, you put Ovi in that team and i guarantee you he scores and assists more than Sid would.
Alex had 50 assists playing on far ****tier teams than this one. Some of it is the people he's passing to. Most of it isn't.
Funny how Pittsburgh is being described as an offensive juggernaut. We crawled out of the basement at around the same time. Pittsburgh's weakness was always that they couldn't give Geno and Sid decent linemates. Shero addressed that with Kunitz and Neal. How have our weaknesses been addressed over that time period? Sad.
Alex had 50 assists playing on far ****tier teams than this one. Some of it is the people he's passing to. Most of it isn't.
Funny how Pittsburgh is being described as an offensive juggernaut. We crawled out of the basement at around the same time. Pittsburgh's weakness was always that they couldn't give Geno and Sid decent linemates. Shero addressed that with Kunitz and Neal. How have our weaknesses been addressed over that time period? Sad.
I hate the fact that we don't have a reliable third guy after Ovi and Backy like Neal and even going as far as Kunitz/Dupuis. Ovi is a very intelligent player and his passing is underrated imo. Like you say give him decent linemates that know where the net is and breaking 100 points a season is a breeze for him.
I hate the fact that we don't have a reliable third guy after Ovi and Backy like Neal and even going as far as Kunitz/Dupuis. Ovi is a very intelligent player and his passing is underrated imo. Like you say give him decent linemates that know where the net is and breaking 100 points a season is a breeze for him.
That's not what I said at all. And his passing is not underrated. He almost had a 60 assist season. Everyone knows he can pass and create with the best of them.
He had 54 passing to Zubrus and Clark. His linemates this season are not an excuse for putting up half that total.
That's not what I said at all. And his passing is not underrated. He almost had a 60 assist season. Everyone knows he can pass and create with the best of them.
He had 54 passing to Zubrus and Clark. His linemates this season are not an excuse for putting up half that total.
So you're saying he had a poor season? OK then well everyone else on this team pretty much had a poor season by their standards but you know what just about any player in the league would bite your hand off if you told them they can score 38 goals in a 'poor season'. It's only because we hold Ovi in such high regard that any drop off from his best is seen as unacceptable.
Oh and yes i blame others to a certain degree for why he doesn't have that many assists.
Quite clearly the Ovi you saw in the first half of the season was not the real great 8 and it had nothing to do with anyone but Bruce, Dale comes in and loosens his shackles and obviously says something then bingo he's back to pretty much the player he was.
I'm predicting an Art Ross kind of year from Ovi next season, with the high draft picks and full season of confidence behind him.
Quite clearly the Ovi you saw in the first half of the season was not the real great 8 and it had nothing to do with anyone but Bruce, Dale comes in and loosens his shackles and obviously says something then bingo he's back to pretty much the player he was.
I'm predicting an Art Ross kind of year from Ovi next season, with the high draft picks and full season of confidence behind him.
And I'm saying even the Ovechkin in the 2nd half of the season wasn't good enough and nowhere near where he was before last season. Ovechkin should be in the running for Ross every year and that means in the neighborhood of at least 100 points. If you want to put the 30 point difference between the pace you are so proud of and where he should be on his teammates not being good enough I don't know what to tell you.
Ovechkin has had 2 massively disappointing seasons in a row. If he returns to MVP type form the Caps are in great shape going forward.
And I'm saying even the Ovechkin in the 2nd half of the season wasn't good enough and nowhere near where he was before last season. Ovechkin should be in the running for Ross every year and that means in the neighborhood of at least 100 points. If you want to put the 30 point difference between the pace you are so proud of and where he should be on his teammates not being good enough I don't know what to tell you.
Ovechkin has had 2 massively disappointing seasons in a row. If he returns to MVP type form the Caps are in great shape going forward.
I see your points buddy but i just hate it when people rip on one of the most gifted players of all time, he hasn't lost anything and in fact his best hockey is ahead of him and he's shown signs of adaptation that people were criticizing him of not getting to grips with.
Hopefully Ovi will be putting huge smiles on your face next year
I see your points buddy but i just hate it when people rip on one of the most gifted players of all time, he hasn't lost anything and in fact his best hockey is ahead of him and he's shown signs of adaptation that people were criticizing him of not getting to grips with.
Hopefully Ovi will be putting huge smiles on your face next year
You might want to take a look at the historical data for when offensive players hit their prime. I couldn't find the graph in a quick search, but it typically happens around age 25 or 26 and it holds especially true for goal scorers. I'd wager a fair amount that he'll never top his 112 points from a couple years ago. I'd say he has 2 years max of being within striking distance of 100 points and then will gradually start to trail off after that.
That is the scientist side of me talking. The Caps fan side would love to see him bounce back with consistent 105-110 point seasons, but I just don't see it.
You might want to take a look at the historical data for when offensive players hit their prime. I couldn't find the graph in a quick search, but it typically happens around age 25 or 26 and it holds especially true for goal scorers. I'd wager a fair amount that he'll never top his 112 points from a couple years ago. I'd say he has 2 years max of being within striking distance of 100 points and then will gradually start to trail off after that.
That is the scientist side of me talking. The Caps fan side would love to see him bounce back with consistent 105-110 point seasons, but I just don't see it.
This argument is so bunk. Every player ages at a different rate. And until someone can actually qualify the context of the data, its a worthless statistic. It's something Greenberg would use to falsely try to prove something.
I see your points buddy but i just hate it when people rip on one of the most gifted players of all time, he hasn't lost anything and in fact his best hockey is ahead of him and he's shown signs of adaptation that people were criticizing him of not getting to grips with.
I disagree that he hasn't lost anything as I definitely feel he has lost some in the work ethic area and definitely in enthusiasm. He has not worked to improve his game the way say Malkin has.
But I agree in that I believe Ovechkin's best hockey is ahead of him but I do feel that won't happen until he decides he wants to be the best player in the game again and is willing to work as hard as he can to make that happen.
You might want to take a look at the historical data for when offensive players hit their prime. I couldn't find the graph in a quick search, but it typically happens around age 25 or 26 and it holds especially true for goal scorers. I'd wager a fair amount that he'll never top his 112 points from a couple years ago. I'd say he has 2 years max of being within striking distance of 100 points and then will gradually start to trail off after that.
That is the scientist side of me talking. The Caps fan side would love to see him bounce back with consistent 105-110 point seasons, but I just don't see it.
The guy in your avi, didn't he just have his best season? How old is he?
The guy in your avi, didn't he just have his best season? How old is he?
He's not an offensive player and his best offensive year meant hitting 20 goals. It is a huge increase percentage wise in scoring, but it's still just 5-10 goals above his usual output. Ovechkin was a 50-goal scorer for most of his career. Chimera is totally irrelevant to this conversation.
