Even though this is one of his better moments recently, it's still a microcosm of exactly what's wrong with his play. Watch him from the 20 second mark of this clip until he scores at the 45 second mark, he literally does not skate hard even for a second, he's coasting around the whole time, putting in just token efforts even when the puck is like 6 feet away. He still goes super hard when the puck is on his stick, but he no longer hustles at all when he doesn't have the puck. Compare Ovy and Chimera (#25) on this shift, it's like night and day. For such an explosive skater, it's a bit of a shame how little he uses it.
Lol @ rocket. Also, this happened like a month and half ago where he scored an OT winner and went nuts like this. Please stop. Most absurd thread I've seen here in awhile.
Every time Ovechkin scores a goal this thread is made. He's not back. Doesn't mean he's gone. He's still talented. Just not scoring 50 goals a year anymore.
The OP called this shot a rocket? Am i the only one who thinks this is crazy? Did not look like a rocket whatsover. I mean, nice redirect shot but a rocket?
For logic's sake, no he isn't back after one good shot tonight. For hope's sake, woooooo! Ovi is baaaaaaack! Seriously though, I miss Ovi.
Edit: I foolishly posted before watching the video. That goal was definitely not what I was hoping for. I was hoping for a torching Ovi down the LW with maybe a cut to the middle and a twisted wrister high glove side (left-hand wearing glove goalie).
Last edited by Rocket of Russia: 03-08-2012 at 11:51 PM.
IF anything, this video shows me that he's NOT the same player he used to be.
Look at around :17 when he enters the zone. The old Ovechkin comes in with blistering speed and wrists that open shot and buries that *****.
What's gotten into him?
Wtf are you serious? When he used to do this people used to rag on him for being a "one-trick pony" now he uses that respect he receives barreling down the wing to set up Chimera for an easy cross-crease -- who misses, and Ovechkin receives the blame?
This regular season is a write-off statistic wise for Alexander Ovechkin. It's all about the playoffs this year for him and the whole Capitals. They've been facing adversity all year and shown flashes of the team they used to be -- in both good and bad ways. Let's see how far they make it in the playoffs before we begin proclaiming "he's back" or "they suck".
Shame on the Tampa Bay defenseman for leaving Alex Ovechkin wide open for a one-timer. You'd also think that a younger and more athletic goaltender might be able to make the slide and get his pad out to stop the low shot.
Now if Ovechkin had taken a slapshot one timer and bar-downed it... then we could say yeah, nice goal. In any case, that was Chimera doing all of the work to get that puck and Orlov making everybody think shot before passing it to Ovechkin for the empty net goal.
This isn't your vintage Alex Ovechkin play where he makes something out of nothing or launches an absolute laser beam... this is Ovechkin capitalizing on a play that any 20+ goal winger should be able to finish on given how wide open he was and how hard Tokarski bit on the play.
Good work by Chimera in that shift, made a couple turnovers and had good hustle. If Ovechkin plays with that energy that type of energy more consistently then he wouldn't have these problems. The shot's still there from that vid and lots of his goals but it's the rest of the effort that often isn't.
Good quick pass by Orlov too, I like the kid, like Carlson more still even if Caps fans rag on him but I'm an Orlov fan.
Is he back? Are you kidding me? One goal and you're really asking if he's back? He has 1 point in his last 4 games. He sure as hell ain't back and I doubt he will ever be back to his old form. That's good because I hate the guy. I used to respect the hockey player because he was dominating, but now I couldn't care less about him.
