Ovechkin hits 50

[sasquatch]

No, no, not -50, 50 goals on the season... about time really.

Anyway, 1 guy with 50 or more goals, maybe 4 with more than 40 (I healthy Stamkos might make it 5), goal scorers certainly are hard to come by these days...

[jcairns]

No, no, not -50, 50 goals on the season... about time really.

Anyway, 1 guy with 50 or more goals, maybe 4 with more than 40 (I healthy Stamkos might make it 5), goal scorers certainly are hard to come by these days...

A healthy Stamkos would certainly hit the 50 department, but yeah, hard to come by indeed! 2 players can only be trusted to really hit 40+ year over year.

[Jordyr77]

Great fantasy player, awful team player though. Don't see how you can win a cup when your "star" player is a league worst in plus minus...

[Shiva Blaster]

Meh, whatever.....reminds me of Karl Malone chirping Allen Iverson for scoring 40+ points in a bunch of consecutive games on a losing Philly team. In a team sport, personal accolades mean little in the absence of team success. Ovi could score 100+ goals, and it won't matter if the Caps still miss the playoffs.

[fungchen3]

In fantasy, Oveckin is a premier own. In real life, you could keep him, his salary and one-dimensional play and give me a player like Jonathan Toews, Ryan Getzlaf, Anze Kopitar, Claude Giroux or Jamie Benn any day of the week.

[The Comish]

In fantasy, Oveckin is a premier own. In real life, you could keep him, his salary and one-dimensional play and give me a player like Jonathan Toews, Ryan Getzlaf, Anze Kopitar, Claude Giroux or Jamie Benn any day of the week.

The problem is players like fung mentioned above don't come along very often, so we are left with many one dimensional players, although I would argue goal scoring is kinda important.

In Ovechkin's defence (see what I did there!?), he's only been a minus player twice before - minus-8 (2011-12) and minus-19 (2006-07). How many of those minuses came when he was on the ice in the final minute with the net empty? He's only one of six players on the ice when a goal against is scored, so I hope no one is telling us that they are ALL his fault?

I also feel that Ovechkin could be better handled so that he has a decent defensive presence on his line. It's not like the way he plays the game is a surprise to anyone. He plays hard, but he's not the smartest player defensively and can get lazy, especially at the end of long (undisciplined) shifts. Oh well, deal with it coaches. You can try to change his game, but he's a three time Hart and Lindsay winner, soon to be four time Rocket Richard winner and has won the Art Ross once. He's a damn valuable player that can be very dominant both scoring goals and physically, who will make mistakes on his own side of the red line. I think he should be cut a little slack by his critics...and I really think he is taking all the negative press to heart and within a couple of seasons could be a candidate to "defect" to the KHL, where he would be received as a national hero. Damn, I had better hope he starts next season gangbusters so I can trade him in a couple of my leagues so I don't get Kovalchuked.

[27Blue]

Agreed. AO is a complimentary player who needs a smart coach to maximize his output (play him on the PP only) and limit his shortcomings (no time at even-strength)...

AO really needs a centre like Anze Kopitar who can help his offensive game, but cover for him defensively.

[fungchen3]

The problem is players like fung mentioned above don't come along very often, so we are left with many one dimensional players, although I would argue goal scoring is kinda important.

No doubt. I guess my point is that people consider Ovechkin among the "elite" in the real world because of his goal scoring (and he is one of the 2 best goal scorers on the planet) but if I'm building a team from scratch I build around less offensive gems, like the guys I mentioned above, who don't get enough star hype as Ovechkin.

ALL his fault?

No, certainly not. But I watch Ovie a lot and there are things that I find very disappointing about his game - and they are things that just CANNOT happen from a leader (captain). For one, his backchecking is horrendous. We've all seen the "XBOX controller animated gif" but it goes beyond that; he's just not interested in his defensive responsibilities. The second is - he is a PP hog and this shouldn't happen as a captain. Granted, he's a great scorer on the man-advantage and Oates has the final say (obviously giving Ovie as much leash as he wants) but the Captain should give his teammates a chance on the PP and not hog the full 2 minutes. Heck, if Gretzky, Lemieux, Coffey and Crosby can split up PP time, Ovechkin should. This reeks of a player who is more interested in "getting his" than spreading the "good" ice time around. I see players like Toews, Kopitar, Giroux, Benn, etc. signal for a change right around the 1 min. mark.

I also feel that Ovechkin could be better handled so that he has a decent defensive presence on his line. It's not like the way he plays the game is a surprise to anyone. He plays hard, but he's not the smartest player defensively and can get lazy, especially at the end of long (undisciplined) shifts. Oh well, deal with it coaches.

Backstrom is pretty darn good defensively. Team defense doesn't require 3 Bob Gaineys at Forward but it does require players to at least make an honest effort defensively. We all know Ovechkin chooses not to - it's not like he "can't" as he's a damn good skater. As for your "long shifts" point, that's another problem (as I mentioned above). Again, all his fault.

You can try to change his game, but he's a three time Hart and Lindsay winner, soon to be four time Rocket Richard winner and has won the Art Ross once. He's a damn valuable player that can be very dominant both scoring goals and physically, who will make mistakes on his own side of the red line.

You are right. Offensively, Ovechkin is a monster. He can score goals and put up points. However, hockey is a team game and not one where individuals will prevail. Even 99 and 66 used their teammates to be successful. Someone mentioned the "Iverson" comparison... living in Philly and seeing Iverson's entire career, this is a pretty good analogy. One great player will never defeat a very good all-around team. Unless Ovechkin is willing to tweak his game the way Yzerman and Modano did when they were challenged by Bowman and Hitchock, the Capitals will be one of the most entertaining underachievers in the modern day NHL.

I think he should be cut a little slack by his critics...and I really think he is taking all the negative press to heart and within a couple of seasons could be a candidate to "defect" to the KHL, where he would be received as a national hero.

Honestly, Ovechkin is one of the players who deserves his share of criticism IMO. Early on he was an NHL darling with Sid but his one-dimensional play and failure to lead his team to the Finals has placed a large spotlight on him... and as one of the game's elite, that spotlight is justified. If he ever defected to the KHL it would be a HUGE blow to the NHL for sure. Ovechkin is exciting, creative, talented and puts asses in seats - nobody will ever deny that. The question is though: is he willing to adapt his game enough to get his team to the next level and become a more complete player? Only he knows that.

[HockeyProphet]

AO is a star. Plus minus or not. He'll be remembered as an elite player, and an elite goal scorer. He's already among good company with his personal statistics.

I think its odd that people harp on AO and mention its a team game, which should also entail this his plus minus is linked to the team as well. I would suspect he'd look better on the wing in BOS

[The Comish]

Agreed. AO is a complimentary player who needs a smart coach to maximize his output (play him on the PP only) and limit his shortcomings (no time at even-strength)...

AO really needs a centre like Anze Kopitar who can help his offensive game, but cover for him defensively.

I completely disagree 27Blue. I honestly believe his plus/minus was better when the Caps were a run and gun team.

Here's OV's plus/minus numbers over each of his 8 seasons: +2, -19, +28, +8, +45, +24, -8, +2, -34

What do I take away from this? When the team lost to Montreal during the 2009-10 playoffs and Washington changed their style of play, it screwed up Ovechkin more than anyone else. I'm not saying Ovechkin is not responsible for his current poor plus/minus, but I'm saying there are at least some reasons and maybe we shouldn't be so quick to judge a player by his plus/minus because it's a shit stat for individual players.

[fungchen3]

plus/minus because it's a shit stat for individual players.

I agree with you 100% here... I hate the stat. I use the eye test to see if a player is committed to team defense or not.

[Jordyr77]

Dude can't score at even strength like the other elite scorers, so he's not elite in my mind.

[Jordyr77]

lol

[The Comish]

Dude can't score at even strength like the other elite scorers, so he's not elite in my mind.

lol, they don't ask you HOW you score them, only HOW MANY! Ovechkin is fifth in the NHL with 27 even-strength goals. Now, the leading goal scorer in the NHL should maybe rank a little higher, but hey, the PP is important as well, no?

[HockeyProphet]

Dude can't score at even strength like the other elite scorers, so he's not elite in my mind.

Ha! I think his 4 Rocket Richards, and 3 Harts would disagree. He puts them in the net how he knows.

Giroux has 34PP, and 81 pts.

AO has 38PP and 77 pts.

Not odd for stars to get PP points.