Alex Ovechkin hits 700 career NHL goals!

[D1az]

I don't understand how "PP specialist" is defamatory. Tons of people scream at the screen when their whole team can't score a PP goal even if their lives depended on it.
Other teams enjoy having guys who can actually get the job done.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Those aren't PPGs.

For the record, 3 of the 11 were powerplay goals.

 

[Khomutov]

I don't understand how "PP specialist" is defamatory. Tons of people scream at the screen when their whole team can't score a PP goal even if their lives depended on it.
Other teams enjoy having guys who can actually get the job done.

Yes, but for me a PP specialist depends on the man advantage and add less on even strengh, while Ovechkin is one of the best ES goal scorers in the league. He is second with 25 ES goals this year and scored the most in the last three or four years.

 

[SkinsFan09]

I don't think there is any question he is a PP specialist, nothing wrong with that, it's part of the game. He does obviously get goals other ways, but he is going to break the PP career goals by a wide margin. Shatter it actually.

Mario Lemieux scored a similar percentage of PP goals.

 

[alphabetical]

For the record, 3 of the 11 were powerplay goals.

What a bum. Only shorthanded goals are real. 3 on 5 or nothing.

 

[RageQuit77]

I don't understand how "PP specialist" is defamatory. Tons of people scream at the screen when their whole team can't score a PP goal even if their lives depended on it.
Other teams enjoy having guys who can actually get the job done.

Yes, but for me a PP specialist depends on the man advantage and add less on even strengh, while Ovechkin is one of the best ES goal scorers in the league. He is second with 25 ES goals this year and scored the most in the last three or four years.

Not directly commenting to you guys, but generally about that "PP-specialist" narrative. Let's check all time great goal scorers whom scored 500 or more in their respective careers. The group is not big, but it is all time best in regular season goal scoring all hypoteticals left aside. Simplest way to look to their degree of "PP specialism" is just take PP goal percentage of their total goals scored. The list ordered by amount of goals scored:

800, 700, and 600 Goals Clubs

Gretzky________22.8%
Howe_________26.3%
Jagr__________ 28.3%
Brett Hull______ 35.8%
Dionne________ 32.0%
Esposito_______34.3%
Gartner________30.6%
Ovechkin_______37.3%
Messier________25.8%
Yzerman_______29.2%
Lemieux_______34.2%
Selänne________37.3%
Robitaille_______37.0%
Shanahan_______36.1%
Andreychuk_____42.8%
Sakic__________32.8%
Bobby Hull______25.2%
Ciccarelli_______38.2%
Kurri__________25.8%

500 Goals Club

Recchi_________34.7%
Bossy__________31.4%
Niewendyk______38.1%
Sundin_________28.4%
Modano________28.0%
Marleau________30.3%
Lafleur_________27.5%
Bucyk__________28.6%
Francis_________34.2%
Goulet__________32.7%
Richard_________26.3%
Mikita__________27.7%
Tkachuk________39.4%
Mahovlich_______22.9%
Hossa__________27.2%
Trottier_________20.7%
Verbeek_________35.6%
Hawerchuk_______35.1%
Turgeon_________36.9%
Roenick_________35.9%
Perreault________26.2%
Beliveau________34.1%
Bondra_________29.6%
Mullen_________29.9%
McDonald_______27.8%

The core of problem of so called PP-specialism is that nobody, like ever when making HFB comment, determine what he/she means when PP-specialist tag is applied to some player (honestly or with intent to use it as an argument of bad faith). Its clear that Alex Ovechkin is "PP Specialist" relatively, objectively. But if he is that whom else are too when using same criteria? Lemieux, Selänne, Brett Hull, Esposito, Robitaille, Shanahan, Andreychuk, Ciccarelli, Recchi, Niewendyk, Francis, Tkatchuk, Verbeek, Hawechuk, Turgeon, Roenick, Beliveau are PP specialist too, if OV is. But how about Sakic, Marleau, Bondra, Dionne, Gartner, just to mention few?

What exactly is the minimum threshold for someone to be considered PP-specialist? 30% of goals? Or do "PP-specialist" need more than 40% to be true PP-wizard? If we factor in PP TOI, does PP G/60 impact to the degree of PP specialism also?

And, the last but not least, how exactly someone being prolific in scoring power play goals can ever be considered as something that would lower a player's goal scoring resume? It seems that using that tag with bad faith will dump a lot of shit over many legendary all time greats in NHL goal scoring.

In this relative comparison, not that surprisingly it is The Great One who survive best from that alleged PP-specialism shit.

 

[ovikovy817]

Why so many haters?
Enjoy him while you can.

There will be no other Alexander Ovechkin

 

[Sam Spade]

I don't think there is any question he is a PP specialist, nothing wrong with that, it's part of the game. He does obviously get goals other ways, but he is going to break the PP career goals by a wide margin. Shatter it actually.

You know what's crazy is that if you removed all of Ovechkin's 259 PP goals from his career so far, his remaining 436 goals leaves him only behind Crosby's 455 in the last 15 seasons.

And there's nothing wrong with that either.

 

[JasonRoseEh]

I don't understand how "PP specialist" is defamatory. Tons of people scream at the screen when their whole team can't score a PP goal even if their lives depended on it.
Other teams enjoy having guys who can actually get the job done.

It isn't, but anyone with eyes and 5 seconds on Google can see Ovechkin isn't a powerplay specialist. The Capitals PP is absolutely dog crap and has been for the better part of the year

 

[JasonRoseEh]

No idea. Never watched football.

I watched both Ovechkin and Mario. Mario was above any other player who ever laced them up. 6'5 and fast. Best goal scorer of all time. Seen him score more different ways. Gretzky numbers in the 90's.

Honestly, its not close.

Mario is so far ahead of anyone I've ever seen play its not funny.

Healthy 22 year old Mario or Ovechkin, who are you really gonna pick? Not close. Mario could play just the powerplay now and probably have 15 goals.

It's fine to believe what you think but by putting the bold you lose any credibility. It's objectively close any way you cut it.

 

[RageQuit77]

You know what's crazy is that if you removed all of Ovechkin's 259 PP goals from his career so far, his remaining 436 goals leaves him only behind Crosby's 455 in the last 15 seasons.

And there's nothing wrong with that either.

Yeah, remove those allegedly low worth (intentional exaggeration!!!) PP goals of OV, and he is still best point scorer of the era since season 2005-06.

I'm commenting on this PP-specialism topic because it is so f***ing off-beat to what is actually happening there on ice.

Nobody have ever seen any fan of player X who wouldn't be happy if the player X happens to score a PP goal. Still, it seems that others' PP goals are constant reason to troll, whine, and cry, while others are not.

 

[JasonRoseEh]

11 shots on net, 19 shot attempts, 2 goals, leading the NHL in goals again. 11 Absolute insanity. Makes 34 year old me feel young hah!

On his first shift he had 3 shots and 2 were great chances, Ovi was buzzing last night. Imagine what would be happening if the Capitals PP wasn't absolutely terrible? They now lead the league with SHG against with 5. They need to fire their special teams coach because a team this talented shouldn't be struggling this long on the PP.

 

[stampedingviking]

I'm not sure it's that impressive. Laine and Crosby I think have had hotter goal stretches.

Not at age 34 though.

 

[stampedingviking]

It's weird, NHL.com shows the game ended 4-3

And didn't show Ovi's second goal in the highlights.

 

[dangsLITE]

Why do we have to talk about his PP prowess as a bad thing? I see it more as he's the borderline best goal scorer of all time and THE best PP goal scorer of all time, and even if scoring on the power play is easier, it is critical to winning games.

 

[txpd]

I don't think there is any question he is a PP specialist, nothing wrong with that, it's part of the game. He does obviously get goals other ways, but he is going to break the PP career goals by a wide margin. Shatter it actually.

I don't think you know what you are saying. A specialist, pp-pk-faceoff, is someone with marginal nhl skills except for a specific area. So you are saying that Ovechkin is a marginal NHL player with elite pp skills. I am sure that you cant be saying that.

 

[txpd]

Why do we have to talk about his PP prowess as a bad thing? I see it more as he's the borderline best goal scorer of all time and THE best PP goal scorer of all time, and even if scoring on the power play is easier, it is critical to winning games.

During the run of his career Ov has scored around 35% more evg than the 2nd most and around the same percentage of ppgs than the 2nd most. He is just the best goal scorer

 

[Richard]

It's fine to believe what you think but by putting the bold you lose any credibility. It's objectively close any way you cut it.

Considering I watched every player mentioned here I couldnt give a damn about credibility.

Imagine a hybrid between ovechkin and macdavid who was also 6'5.... thats mario

 

[Dekes For Days]

What a bum. Only shorthanded goals are real. 3 on 5 or nothing.

No, but it was an incorrect statement. 3 PP goals in the last 5 is not the same as 0.

 

[Fallschirmyager]

No, but it was an incorrect statement. 3 PP goals in the last 5 is not the same as 0.

3 out of 11 doesn't make him a specialist either.

 

[Voight]

He is now within 200 of Gretzky....... incredible

 

[Dekes For Days]

3 out of 11 doesn't make him a specialist either.

Never said it did. Just good to be accurate. Calling him a PP specialist is weird, because hes not that particularly special on the PP; he just gets pumped with a crazy amount more PP time than anybody else in the league. Ovechkin's current goal scoring season at ES is actually much more impressive.

 

[Plural]

Considering I watched every player mentioned here I couldnt give a damn about credibility.

Imagine a hybrid between ovechkin and macdavid who was also 6'5.... thats mario

I don't heavily disagree with you on the idea that Mario was the best ever (he's probably my pick for the most talented player ever or Bobby Orr) but he wasn't exactly like OV or McDavid. More graceful and subtly powerful. And best hands in the history of the game.

 

[ovikovy817]

He is now within 200 of Gretzky....... incredible

199

 

[RageQuit77]

Never said it did. Just good to be accurate. Calling him a PP specialist is weird, because hes not that particularly special on the PP; he just gets pumped with a crazy amount more PP time than anybody else in the league. Ovechkin's current goal scoring season at ES is actually much more impressive.

Indeed. Career-wise it would be incredibly odd NOT TO CALL him PP specialist, as he is by far the most prolific goal scorer of his era, and that "by far" directly implies that he must have a lot of PP goals too considering his role in his team.

That said, season-to-season PP goal percentages may and do change, and even he would be much more prolific in PP goal scoring than he is, that wouldn't make him any less great goal scorer. In fact, considering all time greats, I'm more concerned about those great goal scorers who didn't perform well (relatively) in power play goal scoring.

So, my point is that when we talk PP-specialists and OV in same sentence, that is objectively true (over his career), but it is also expected, and that it cannot any meaningful way to be turned to argument against him, least in comparisons with his peers of his era. It is only logical that the same guy who score even strength goals at his own personal tier, score also PP goals far above average.

PP-specialism factor is moot point exactly because he would be pretty much comparable with his peers without those PP-goals of him counted in. It would only make him Crosby-Staal-Kovy-Stamkos level "normal" elite goal scorer, all of whom would still have their own fair shares of PP specialistic goals in their counts.

That, if anything tells the story about OV the goal scorer.