So has Ovechkin's potential been downgraded?

[Foppa_Rules]

Oh, come on, don't be rediculous. He can't save the world in one day. Don't expect him to be the next Wayne Gretzky.

 

[Zine]

This has developed into a pretty cool thread. Talkin' Stone Roses and Ovechkin.

Go Reni Go

 

[Fiji Water]

Oh, come on, don't be rediculous. He can't save the world in one day. Don't expect him to be the next Wayne Gretzky.

Him or Crosby had better be The Second Coming!!!! :p

 

[Foppa_Rules]

Him or Crosby had better be The Second Coming!!!! :p

 

[Fiji Water]

By the way.....what are Ovechkin's stats now in the RSL?

 

[pld459666]

all I have to say about this post is.....

This is exactly what is wrong with the internet. People are rewriting history and compare the personalities of young players with the personalities of stars *as they remember them today*.

Gretzky was cocky alright when he was actually still OLDER than Ovechkin. He came in the league and yes, was prone to being flashy, celebrated goals exuberantly and was way overconfident.

Gretzky said himself most of the Oils were a brash, cocky group who was concentrating far too much on their individual abilities than game results and he was actually FLOATING out there at times. They were also prone to racking up points when the game was out of reach (something that again would make fanboys go in epileptic ceizures today). The Oilers may have been one of the cockiest team ever in hockey.

I think he attributed much of his maturation to going in the playoffs and particularly, the last Oils loss to the Isles, who were the current dynasty. Said the Oils were in the lockerroom and pretty disappointed after the loss but he had the impression they had given everything and the Isles were just too good. Apparently, he went nearby the lockerroom with Messier and saw all Isles guys had humongous pack of ice, black eyes, many were limping and looked completely drained compared to his Oils. They had been the better men because they had played way harder and to the limit. So Messier turned to him (or maybe it was Gretz, can't remember) and said: this is the way we need to play next playoffs.

The way I see posters around here portray Sakic, Yzerman, Gretzky, you'd think these guys were never young, never brash and never cheated. The reality is, for all the whiplash Spezza takes constantly about his defensive play, Steve Yzerman wasn't much better when he came in this league. As for Joe Sakic, he probably couldn't have spelled the word e-f-f-o-r-t to save his life and probably knew more about genetic engineering than about defense and backchecking.

The young guys will mature. But at this age, this is perfectly normal in some cases, particularly from the more gifted.

Bravo