What happened to the great Ovechkin??

[HabLover]

This was supposed to be his tourney! He was supposed to lead Russia and run away with the scoring title!

He never came close to doing either one!!

He never led the tourney in scoring last year, although he wasn't the key guy on last year's team.

Is Ovechkin still the #1 at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft??

Does any of this affect his draft ranking??....or is there just nobody with enough talent in this draft to overtake him?

Click to read more...

 

[Traitor8]

The whole Russian team underachieved for some reason, is it coaching? is it something else? we dunno.... Rotislav Olesz got his bell rung so his value has dropped and Malkin is good but I still don't think anybody can take over Ovechkin.........

Ovechkin= a better Kovalchuk!

 

[AEKaki]

The whole Russian team underachieved for some reason, is it coaching? is it something else? we dunno.... Rotislav Olesz got his bell rung so his value has dropped and Malkin is good but I still don't think anybody can take over Ovechkin.........

Ovechkin= a better Kovalchuk!

I agree that he CAN be better then Kovalchuk as he has a better overall game. But only time will tell. Columbus won't pick him. It will be the Penguins.

 

[Le Golie]

Must be nice to be so good that a below average tournament does nothing to affect draft status.

No teams will shy away from him, he's a clear #1. He looked good despite being shut down.

 

[Fighter]

I agree that he CAN be better then Kovalchuk as he has a better overall game. But only time will tell. Columbus won't pick him. It will be the Penguins.

There are many others crappy teams out there: Carolina, Chicago, ANAHEIM...

 

[Jacob]

Is Ovechkin still the #1 at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft??

Does any of this affect his draft ranking??

Did any draft elligibles for 2004 outperform him? No? Then he's still going 1st overall.

 

[CSKA]

HabLover I knew it

"He never came close to doing either one!!"

 

[Capt Tuttle]

The whole Russian team underachieved for some reason, is it coaching? is it something else? we dunno.... Rotislav Olesz got his bell rung so his value has dropped and Malkin is good but I still don't think anybody can take over Ovechkin.........

Ovechkin= a better Kovalchuk!

I didn't know Ilya Kovalchuk had a brother playing?

 

[Dr_Chimera*]

Kovalchuk had a must worse tournament in his draft year - but not necessarily because of himself, but due to a lackluster team performance as a whole.

I don't think it was fair to name Ovechkin the captain - he is a bit too young, but it does speak about his maturity. He may have been overwhelmed a bit though.

 

[THE NEXT ONE #87]

I think It's a bit to early to compare Ovechkin with Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk is a Superstar in the NHL. Ovechkin?

I don't think Ovechkin will be better than Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk is the better playmaker and has the better vision.

I believe Kovalchuk made a great progress under Heatley so far and has his defensive play improved!
He's a real Power Forward 6'2 230!
Great Stickhandling, fast, huge shoot! And he's getting better! He improves... his play every night!

 

[Epsilon]

I think It's a bit to early to compare Ovechkin with Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk is a Superstar in the NHL. Ovechkin?

I don't think Ovechkin will be better than Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk is the better playmaker and has the better vision.

I believe Kovalchuk made a great progress under Heatley so far and has his defensive play improved!
He's a real Power Forward 6'2 230!
Great Stickhandling, fast, huge shoot! And he's getting better! He improves... his play every night!

I'm guessing you mean Hartley.

 

[Pachoo]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Ovechkin register 5 goals and 2 assists this tournament in only 5 games played? How is that horrible?

 

[Kev88]

I don't think Ovechkin will be better than Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk is the better playmaker and has the better vision.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kovalchuk is natural goal scorer, not a big playmaker. He is just help by Savard (or Heatley last year) who can score goals. Anytime he can shot, he shots and it's is a pure laser. I never saw him doing a pass to a team mate when he had a little opportunity to shot. (And I am not talking about breakaways featuring Kovalchuk and the goalie alone :p)

For me Ovechkin's gonna do the same thing when he'll enter in the NHL. They're two snipers and they'll keep concentrating on it.

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kovalchuk is natural goal scorer, not a big playmaker. He is just help by Savard (or Heatley last year) who can score goals.

Savard and Heatley have never played on a line with Kovalchuk. The guy is a *tremendous* passer.

 

[Pachoo]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kovalchuk is natural goal scorer, not a big playmaker. He is just help by Savard (or Heatley last year) who can score goals. Anytime he can shot, he shots and it's is a pure laser. I never saw him doing a pass to a team mate when he had a little opportunity to shot. (And I am not talking about breakaways featuring Kovalchuk and the goalie alone :p)

For me Ovechkin's gonna do the same thing when he'll enter in the NHL. They're two snipers and they'll keep concentrating on it.

Except that only about 4 of Kovalchuk's 24 assists (just looked it up) have been to Savard.

 

[Kev88]

Savard and Heatley have never played on a line with Kovalchuk. The guy is a *tremendous* passer.

Did you see one game of the Atlanta Trashers? And I am not saying that Kovalchuk don't know how to pass. (because he wouldn't be my favourite player:p) But he is not a playmaker.

 

[Samkow]

I agree that he CAN be better then Kovalchuk as he has a better overall game. But only time will tell. Columbus won't pick him. It will be the Penguins.

Columbus problems with Russia will easily be solved by a Sum of Cash. and I'll believe the rumors that Ovechkin wont play with Zherdev when I see it reported by a crediable North American Source.

Besides, it doesnt matter, cause Florida will get the 1st Pick.

 

[Kev88]

Besides, it doesnt matter, cause Florida will get the 1st Pick.

We can not predict , it's all about chance. It will be against:

-Pittsburgh (They really need the first pick)
-Florida
-Washington
-Columbus
-Carolina

One of them will be out of the lottery.

 

[Pachoo]

Yep, people assume Kovalchuk's assists are because he plays on lines with Heatley and Savard.

He doesn't play on lines with either. His assist are to other guys. He isn't an awesome playmaker just yet but he is 13th in the NHL in assists and has more assists than goals right now. Not bad for a player who is just a goal scorer, don't you think?

 

[Kev88]

Yep, people assume Kovalchuk's assists are because he plays on lines with Heatley and Savard.

He doesn't play on lines with either. His assist are to other guys. He isn't an awesome playmaker just yet but he is 13th in the NHL in assists and has more assists than goals right now. Not bad for a player who is just a goal scorer, don't you think?

Yeah, but he's second after Rick Nash in goal scoring this season.

 

[Pachoo]

Yeah, but he's second after Rick Nash in goal scoring this season.

Yeah and Nash has 4 assists on the year.

As a 19 year old Kovalchuk had:

38 Goals
29 Assists
67 Points

As a 19 year old, Nash is on pace for:

48 Goals
8 Assists
56 Points

I will still take Kovalchuk over Nash. And IMO, Nash will not reach 48 goals..I see him finishing with about 38, just like Kovalchuk of last season.

 

[Kev88]

Yeah and Nash has 4 assists on the year.

As a 19 year old Kovalchuk had:

38 Goals
29 Assists
67 Points

As a 19 year old, Nash is on pace for:

48 Goals
8 Assists
56 Points

I will still take Kovalchuk over Nash. And IMO, Nash will not reach 48 goals..I see him finishing with about 38, just like Kovalchuk of last season.

What I meant is that Kovalchuk is 2nd in goals this season and 13th in assists.

And It is sure that I'd take Kovalchuk before Nash.

 

[Pachoo]

What I meant is that Kovalchuk is 2nd in goals this season and 13th in assists.

And It is sure that I'd take Kovalchuk before Nash.

Oh ok, gotcha.

 

[Dr_Chimera*]

Did you see one game of the Atlanta Trashers? And I am not saying that Kovalchuk don't know how to pass. (because he wouldn't be my favourite player:p) But he is not a playmaker.

No one is saying he is - he said Kovalchuk is a tremendous PASSER.

 

[Kev88]

No one is saying he is - he said Kovalchuk is a tremendous PASSER.

I know, I just wanted to clear up things. And were suppose to talk about Ovechkin in this thread not Kovy, so don't restart the debating . When you are a tremendous passer you need to be a really unbelievable goal scorer to be scorer. And Kovalchuk doesn't scores 2 goals per games each nights.