Calling out Ovi

[DDRhockey]

Chokevechkin

 

[GodEmperor]

If Gretzky could win a cup by himself, Ovechkin obviously should be able to do the same.

Oh wait

 

[illpucks]

Yeah 1 game, but what i find really funny is in the last reg season game when it was time for him to get personal accolade the effort was twice as hard lol.

But he failed to reach it

 

[illpucks]

It's gotta kill him to see his countryman to put the game away like that. Breadman has more career playoff OT goals than Ovi....crazy

Well the GOAT himself, Crosby, didn't have one till last year

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

This happens every year. During the season he scores alot of goals...people start saying hes better than Crosby again. Playoffs start...threads like this.

Rinse..repeat.

 

[harmonica]

Every year threads start like this. He usually gets hot in the 3rd round.

 

[ESH]

I have to say that was a very poor game for him. Almost every time the puck came near his stick he bobbled it

 

[illpucks]

I have to say that was a very poor game for him. Almost every time the puck came near his stick he bobbled it

His puck handling is garbage. Why can't he work on it and get to at least Giroux's level?

 

[tapi]

Prestigious veterans like Ovi don't need to try so hard in the first rounds, they conserve their energy for the meaningful rounds. If the rest of the team is too bad to make it past the early play-offs that's their problem

 

[sr edler]

The problem was never and will probably never be Ovie. He's the franchise player and a generational talent. The problem will always be his supporting cast.

This analysis is too black and white. Yes, of course supporting cast matters, a lot, but Ovi’s own game matters too. It’s a combination of both him and his supporting cast. Ovi simply isn’t the dynamic force/player he was in 2007–2010, when he also had great individual showings in the playoffs. He just isn’t.

As a (highly effective) franchise winger you need to be dynamic and make plays/force plays yourself to push your team far in the playoffs. See Bure in 94, or to a lesser extent Iginla in 04, or even Kucherov now. Or Panarin’s OT winning goal. Ovi these days is a static triggerman.

 

[WJCJ]

I did not see the game but Ovi is always very good in the playoffs but even he is going to have off games.

 

[Jtown]

I have a feeling if they lose in the first round, and or get swept. there are going to be big changes. The feeling in dc is that this era is coming to an end, and end that was wildly unsuccessful

 

[Melkor]

Bulls*it about individuals here getting out of hand. Its not about winning a game all by himself although Panarin did just that. Its about how Ovechkin played the game. He wouldn't make it to the KHL with what he showed last night.

 

[bobholly39]

I mean i know others have said it but....it's been 1 game?

 

[sr edler]

If Gretzky could win a cup by himself, Ovechkin obviously should be able to do the same.

Oh wait

Ovechkin has been on a team that has won three Presidents' Trophies. It's not like he has played on the Panthers or the Hurricanes.

 

[NastyNick]

Ill reiterate what i wrote in the other thread. Hes a choke artist. Hes made choking into an art.

He doesn't disappear in the playoffs. He chokes. He shows up when the going is easy - like when the Caps are flying high and the crowd is roaring at the Verizon Center. When those regular season games against opponents like Buffalo or Carolina are still fresh in the mind. Hes there to bury those soft passes with his big one timer, and then beat about like King Kong. He makes the big hits early in the series when its easy and his legs are fresh.

What gets lost in the theatrics and average point totals are the cold hard truths. His team is always favored. They always have home ice advantage. And he never gets by the second round. And when you take a microscope to see as to why - you start to see the trends. OV just doesn't deliver in the clutch. Whether its OT, game seven, or any other critical series moment - hes not there. More often then not hes making the turnover that helps the opponent win. 1 time, 2 times, 3 times.. thats ok. Your Joe Thorton. You can still turn it around and make amends. But 9 times? That is legendary territory there.

What you'll never see is Alex Ovechkin, in the finals, fighting multiple nagging injuries along with severe fatigue, battling and scratching to score goals in new ways to help his team win the cup. Just isn't in his DNA as a hockey player. Sorry. He scores the big one timer in the regular season, creates this false belief that he belongs on a pedestal with Wayne, Mario, and Sidney, and then never closes the deal.

 

[TeeTee]

4 SOGs, 2 hits, even.. Not a great game, but definitely nothing to start a hate thread about.

I think this is where stats become misleading. I watched the game last night and had the same opinion as the first post. Ovi was invisible for long stretches. Totally uninspired.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Ovechkin was invisible last night. This team will depend on kusnetsov. OV is a trigger man nothing more.

 

[vshun]

If true (by the way people talk about him) McDavid should have 2 Cups by now.

TIn 2013, the Pens were the absolute favorites to win the cup, went out and made all those all-in trades, and we got swept by Boston. .

What favorites, by who, a few biased fans maybe? Blackhawsk were dominant in 2013 whole season and in playoffs and talent wise on the roster that year.

 

[Beau Knows]

I have a feeling if they lose in the first round, and or get swept. there are going to be big changes. The feeling in dc is that this era is coming to an end, and end that was wildly unsuccessful

They've already made big changes though, unless you are talking about Ovechkin and Backstrom, almost everything else has changed over the years.

 

[SenzZen]

Can we keep this on the Pens board, please?

 

[Bingo71]

Every year threads start like this. He usually gets hot in the 3rd round.

His drives on those par 5s are amazing!

 

[Bingo71]

This is going to be a funny thread in retrospect when he scores 2 or 3 goals in game 2.

Not like most of the Caps showed up anyway.

No, hockey isn’t a sport won by individuals but if you say that most of the Caps didn’t show up anyway, what is OV’s role as captain and leader?

Shouldn’t he have his team mates ready for battle?

 

[RealRockNRolla]

I'm sure Ovie is getting a sleepless night knowing he was called out by someone on hfboards, deary me.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Ovi is saving it for the third round.