What happened to Ovechkin?

[shmenguin]

i guarantee that the team, the coaches, management - everyone wanted ovechkin to shoot that much because they felt it increased their chances of winning.

and they were right

[penmyst]

Ovechkin would have been fine in the NHL of 25 years ago.

Unfortunately, today's NHL requires team play, systems, effort up and down the ice. Look at the amount of superstar players that block shots. EVERYBODY is expected to do it. Years ago, "offensive" guys didn't block shots. Ever.

Ovechkin's big scoring years were anomalies in today's NHL. He hasn't made necessary adjustments to improve his game, and teams have focused on limiting his good chances along with predictability increasing ease of defending him.

Look at Crosby for an example of a guy that has improved facets of his game since entering the league. He became a great faceoff guy. He became a great shooter. He became a net-front presence. He didn't rest on his speed. He wasn't satisfied with snarky "Adam Oates on steroids" descriptions.

Guys like Ovechkin and Kovalchoo are fun to watch, but they aren't all they can be and their teams suffer for it. That is the NHL today. Systems systems systems, sacrifice sacrifice sacrifice.

[Arlow]

Ovy has relied on the same bag of moves now since he came into the league and has milked them for all their worth. He got away with it for some very productive years in there but now everyone has him figured out. He apparently has zero interest in refining his game which reaks of laziness and therefore has seen his production decline over the last two years.

[Desiato]

still doesn't matter. same standards apply. even if it involved taking 200% more shots that malkin, every player would do it and every coach would encourage it if it meant 65 goals were coming.

That would only be true if teams played to win the Rocket Richard trophy. Almost every team is either playing to make the playoffs or win the cup. This is a team sport, remember?

I think it goes without saying that if any player shoots more, they will score more; but probably with less efficiency. Ovehkin's shot is much better than his low shooting percentage suggests, which is an indication to me that he takes too many bad shots.

lol... i hate this attitude that somehow winning individual awards means that you don't care about winning in the playoffs. I really think people started saying this when ovi won the hart over geno those 2 years in a row, and just never realized how stupid it sounds.

I don't know who you're referring to, but I didn't even imply that winning an individual award means that a player doesn't care about winning the cup. I said that's not what teams play for -- and therefore coaches are not encouraging individual guys to take 500+ shots.

also, if you lead the league in shots by that large amount, then you are a dominant offensive player. if you call yourself a pens fan, and say that puck possession and shot differential are no big deal, then i don't know what to tell you. plus, the dude put up 65 goals. regardless of his shooting %, that is NUTS in today's NHL.

Taking bad shots is contrary to the Pens puck possession system. I'd say smart puck movement, team play, discipline and efficiency are at the core of the Pens philosophy. So as a Pens fan in 2011 -- as opposed to 1998 -- I think Ovechkin and the Caps were playing the wrong way to win the cup.

[André]

Look at the amount of superstar players that block shots. EVERYBODY is expected to do it. Years ago, "offensive" guys didn't block shots. Ever.

Among the current top 25 in PPG 1 is blocking more than 1 shot a game. The majority blocks no more than 0.4 shots a game. Crosby's usually at about 0.5 blocked shots per game. Ovechkin at about 0.33 09-11, which is higher than several other prime point getters. Wouldn't use it as a major argument against Ovechkin.

[Guinness]

You have to admit, though, that systems play a much larger role in today's NHL.

[DocEmrick]

Ovechkin still sucks. He's fat and and just sucks.

[Pavel Bure]

If I'm Hunter I strip the "C" off him and then explain that I'm turning him loose and tell him to get back to his shoot first ask questions about everything else including defense later ways. I tell him I expect him to lead the league in SOG by the all star break and to keep it up. I also just rotate 3 "A's" because no one on that team is a leader currently and until someone proves they are there is no captain.

[Arlow]

Ovechkin still sucks. He's fat and and just sucks.

He's not fat. He's big-boned.

[bhaw]

I'm just going to put this here-

Crosby vs AO

Sid 2G, 9A, 11P
Ovechkin 8G, 10A, 18P

The race is on.

[Draftnik]

Ovie only had 16+ minutes tonight. Semin 14+. Hunter played his big dogs 25+ with London, but maybe his approach will be different in the NHL with greater depth.

Obviously too soon to tell based on 1 game, but symbolically its odd that Lumpy was criticized in some quarters for only playing Ovie 18+ and Hunter came in below that in his very visible first game.

[bhaw]

He didn't have a problem playing Backstrom and Laich over 19 min each.

[no name]

Ovi = Jagr but Jagrs production never went down. Well it did after he left Pittsburgh.

[Tico Rick]

Maybe this is what happened to Ovechkin:

http://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/blog/bus ... ten-wp3916

[Tomas]

Maybe this is what happened to Ovechkin:

http://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/blog/bus ... ten-wp3916

I was just about to post it! (Yes, I get all my news from Czech tabloids )
- so at least here are better pictures, courtesy of blesk.cz:





The rest is here:

http://isport.blesk.cz/galerie/svet-hvezd/99398/?foto=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Malkamaniac]

If I'm Hunter I strip the "C" off him and then explain that I'm turning him loose and tell him to get back to his shoot first ask questions about everything else including defense later ways. I tell him I expect him to lead the league in SOG by the all star break and to keep it up. I also just rotate 3 "A's" because no one on that team is a leader currently and until someone proves they are there is no captain.

I could see Knuble or Laich becoming captain.

[Wrangler98]

Ovechkin would have been fine in the NHL of 25 years ago.

Unfortunately, today's NHL requires team play, systems, effort up and down the ice. Look at the amount of superstar players that block shots. EVERYBODY is expected to do it. Years ago, "offensive" guys didn't block shots. Ever.

Ovechkin's big scoring years were anomalies in today's NHL. He hasn't made necessary adjustments to improve his game, and teams have focused on limiting his good chances along with predictability increasing ease of defending him.

Look at Crosby for an example of a guy that has improved facets of his game since entering the league. He became a great faceoff guy. He became a great shooter. He became a net-front presence. He didn't rest on his speed. He wasn't satisfied with snarky "Adam Oates on steroids" descriptions.

Guys like Ovechkin and Kovalchoo are fun to watch, but they aren't all they can be and their teams suffer for it. That is the NHL today. Systems systems systems, sacrifice sacrifice sacrifice.

Don't forget Crosby's deflections. He was real good at that last year. It's such a small thing but he wanted to perfect it.

[doublem]

Ovi = Jagr but Jagrs production never went down. Well it did after he left Pittsburgh.

That would be a good thing.

[The Snapshot]

Maybe this is what happened to Ovechkin:

http://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/blog/bus ... ten-wp3916

Doesn't appear that fitness is an issue with her, though it may be with Ovi:

[shafnutz05]

lol, I love romances like this that are so blatantly about the person's money/fame. He is as ugly as the ass end of a donkey

[penmyst]

lol, I love romances like this that are so blatantly about the person's money/fame. He is as ugly as the ass end of a donkey

You prefer romances that are so blatantly about the persons looks, then?

Why is it bad if somebody judges others on their bank account, but not bad if they judge them on their looks? At least they may have worked for that bank account, unlike the looks their parents' genes bestowed upon them with no effort on their part.

For all we know, Ovechkin is a cool guy.

[Wrangler98]

lol, I love romances like this that are so blatantly about the person's money/fame. He is as ugly as the ass end of a donkey

You prefer romances that are so blatantly about the persons looks, then?

Why is it bad if somebody judges others on their bank account, but not bad if they judge them on their looks? At least they may have worked for that bank account, unlike the looks their parents' genes bestowed upon them with no effort on their part.

For all we know, Ovechkin is a cool guy.

Oh he is. He's always up in the clubs in DC, he doesn't get annoyed with people either. Always taking pictures and stuff. I'd shoot the **** with him if he wasn't on the Capitals.

[AlexPKeaton]

So AO has a really hot girlfriend, does Crosby one-up him?

[The Snapshot]

Sid is a womanizer. He's making the whole NHL his *****.

[SoupOrSam]

I hope Sid stays 100% focused on the Pens and himself for oh let's say the next 10 years. Then he is allowed to date.