... when Ovechkin only scored 32 goals... in 79 games...
When Caps coach Bruce Boudreau benched OV, when OV dropped an f-bomb on the coach's plan during an OT time out live on NBC, the last full year of the coach's tenure in Washington until the friction between star and coach boiled over.
That year i recall was like when Liam Neeson tried to convince the officer to go against his nature in Schindler's List. Boudreau preached a dump-and-chase styĺe, physical bang deep and cycle low that didn't flatter OV's skillset. Get rid of the puck? Try to physically recover it then and NOT go to the net? Wait until teammates align, hold onto the puck and look for the pass? ... it drove OV insane, but as a good captain he tried to smile and say all was good, but NBC play-by-play analyst Mike Emrich put it best: Alex looks like a frog in the boiling pot, dying slowly.
The first full year after Boudreau left, OV finally returned to form and led the NHL in goals for 6 of the next 7 seasons.