Early Conn Smythe company

[hairylikebear]

I didn't call him a decoy. Teams design their PP to defend Ovechkin and leave others open in the process. When Ovechkin and Carlson switch on the PP, that's done to open up the middle of the ice for Oshie and Carlson so yes, Ovechkin is essentially a decoy in that situation and the Caps capitalized multiple times off of that play.

I don't understand your point or why you decided to answer a question I was asking another poster.

 

[BayStreetBully]

I think the voters would still prefer Ovechkin, all things being equal, if he gives them a reason. I think Ovechkin has a chance if he can score early next game, which can then be used as justification.

On the flip side, can you imagine if Kuznetsov gets a couple of points early in the game? At some point, the difference in points becomes too large to ignore.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[BackToTheBasics]

I don't understand your point or why you decided to answer a question I was asking another poster.

My point is that he is often used as a decoy to open up space for his teammates. I thought I made my point clear enough.

 

[illpucks]

I think the voters would still prefer Ovechkin, all things being equal, if he gives them a reason. I think Ovechkin has a chance if he can score early next game, which can then be used as justification.

On the flip side, can you imagine if Kuznetsov gets a couple of points early in the game? At some point, the difference in points becomes too large to ignore.

Ya, but he is point stacking. 3 pp assists and OV no points on the pp. 1 each at even strength. 1 Es assist removed from Ovi. 4 point night from cycling on the pp.

 

[hairylikebear]

I think you are just arguing semantics. What you describe is what they mean by 'decoy' even if you don't agree with the usage of the word.

Ovechkin is known as a huge power play weapon. Vegas has to dedicate more resources to guarding him in particular, letting other players have more space to work.

If Vegas lets their guard down on OV then yeah Ovechkin will probably get high percentage scoring chance. Either way his presence is a huge boon for Washington's power play.

I don't see how you or I could possibly know what they meant by decoy considering they never defined it. We can only go by the classic definition of the word.

Still the semantics of it aren't important to me. Suggesting that Ovechkin's role is that of a decoy is selling him short bigtime. He is deployed to do much more than draw coverage. He scores goals, hits, sets up plays, blocks shots, breaks up passes, and draws more attention from the defense than possibly any other player in the league.

My point is that he is often used as a decoy to open up space for his teammates. I thought I made my point clear enough.

We completely agree then.

 

[hockeykicker]

Ya, but he is point stacking. 3 pp assists and OV no points on the pp. 1 each at even strength. 1 Es assist removed from Ovi. 4 point night from cycling on the pp.

omg please stop

 

[illpucks]

omg please stop

I was pissed off at that last goal. They avoided passing to Ovi on the 5 on 3 and Kuznetsov tallies a phantom assist to create "further separation".

 

[Captain Bowie]

Damn Kuz making his case harder to ignore.

 

[Captain Bowie]

I was pissed off at that last goal. They avoided passing to Ovi on he 5 on 3 and Kuznetsov tallies a phantom assist to create "further separation".

"They" did it on purpose?

 

[Semantics]

Tie goes to the center. That's why Crosby won being 3 points behind Kessel.

 

[Captain Bowie]

Tie goes to the center. That's why Crosby won being 3 points behind Kessel.

On the flip side, tie goes to the face of the franchise.

 

[illpucks]

Tie goes to the center. That's why Crosby won being 3 points behind Kessel.

No, Crosby won because his reputation and also because he is the heart of his team. Kessel was called things like "locker room cancer" just 11 months earlier

Crosby is the most important player on the Penguins at all times

 

[BatVader]

Ovi gets it

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Crosby played well in 2016 but the reason why people say it he didn't deserve it is because for Sidney Crosby his stats were quite lackluster. Crosby at his best is playing like he did this year in the playoffs 21 points before round 3 starts. That's what people expect from him.

I bet he will still get 1 3rd place vote.

Crosby was good in the two playoffs he won, but I felt he wasn’t the best on his team in both. He was still awesome. And I only brought it up in the context comparing it to Ovie winning

 

[Fantomas]

This might be brazen of me to say, but I think a Russian gets it.

 

[Sombastate]

I didn't agree on Crosby getting it over Kessel. And i'm not sure i'm going to agree if Ovechkin gets it over Kuz.

Both are deserving... Kuz just a bit more right now.

 

[Kcoyote3]

We can stop looking. The village idiot has been found.

Yep. Crosby's 4 points in 6 games with a minus rating in the finals looks real good. So does his 19 points in 24 games.

 

[Semantics]

No, Crosby won because his reputation and also because he is the heart of his team. Kessel was called things like "locker room cancer" just 11 months earlier

Crosby is the most important player on the Penguins at all times

You basically just repeated my point. If Crosby played the wing he wouldn't be as important. As a center, he's far more important to the team than he would be if he scored the same number of points from the wing.

 

[Semantics]

Yep. Crosby's 4 points in 6 games with a minus rating in the finals looks real good. So does his 19 points in 24 games.

Crosby's 19 points in 24 games was the most impressive performance on the team that year. Maybe an argument can be made for Couture, but Crosby was the Penguins player most deserving.

 

[illpucks]

You basically just repeated my point. If Crosby played the wing he wouldn't be as important. As a center, he's far more important to the team than he would be if he scored the same number of points from the wing.

It's not that Crosby plays centre but that he is Crosby. If centre is so important than Bonino would be considered because he centred the best line on the Pens.

 

[ovikovy817]

5 points, is the gap that Kuzya needs to have on Ovi, so maybe the Ovi haters can say that he didn't deserve his CS (if he wins it). Everything under 5 points, and the discussion is over.
+
Ovi has 2 more goals than Kuzya
Ovi has more blocked shots
Ovi has waaaaay more hits
Ovi plays more minutes per game.
Ovi is the captain of the team

but who cares, win the Cup first. I'll be happy even if it's Gruby who wins the CS

 

[Crosbyfan]

It is a really tough call at this point between Ovie and Kuznetsov. This is the best team game Ovie has ever played and I think the change has affected the whole Team. Kuznetsov has a slight edge in performance on the ice IMO, but it could go either way.

How much extra do they weight the Finals if it ends in 5 games? Kuznetsov has a stronger case for the Finals up to now, but it is not over yet. Either would be deserving if it ended at this point.

Holtby has clearly been better, and more fortunate, than Fleury but I don't think he is quite there with them. Still time, but he has to steal a game at least and they only need one more win...and who's going to vote for him in that win if they vote after 2 periods?

If Vegas wins Fleury would presumably have to have come back and earned it.

Backstrom might have been in the mix as well without the 4 games he missed, and the first two games he came back after injury (7 games straight no points including the game he was injured and the 4 he missed). He is now just 4 points behind Ovie.

 

[gtrower]

I just stopped in the middle of a long paragraph and realized that I’m wondering which of the guys on my team deserves the CS with one more win. Damn.

Both (or all 3 with Holts) are deserving. Hope Ovi gets it.

 

[george14]

This has been Ovechkin's team for 13 years. He's one of the NHL's most celebrated players over the past decade. He's the second half of the Crosby-Ovechkin era of dominance. And oh yeah, he's >PPG and has the most goals in the playoffs. The dude deserves this. He's the heart and soul of this Capitals team. Moreso than any other player, without him they don't win the Stanley Cup, there's no doubt in my mind at least. Give him the damn Smythe.

Glad you aren't biased lol.

We aren't talking about who deserves it due to their history of failures, but who actually deserves it. From watching the games, Ovechkin is firmly in 3rd place behind Kuzy and Holtby. He is 5 points behind Kuznetsov overall and 3 fewer points in the finals. There really isn't an argument for Ovi right now aside from the "storyline".

Also, WSH has to win first. The series isn't even over.