Olympics: OV on Team Canada?

[Addison Rae]

Nope!

You think Toews is better than Crosby at ice hockey? Okay I'd love to hear why.

 

[Hank Plank]

You think Toews is better than Crosby at ice hockey? Okay I'd love to hear why.

Let's not go there.

 

[Addison Rae]

Let's not go there.

Why not? If someone makes an outrageous claim they must be able to back it up.

 

[Hank Plank]

True but not in this thread it's off topic.

 

[DearDiary]

Better, but I voted worse. I'd have him as the extra forward only using him on the PP. Much better than Sharp who was mediocre in PP back position.

Babcock ran an air tight system, every player on the team played great defensively, took no risks, no one was a liability.

Ovechkin would just ruin the whole rhythm of the team even if he tries not to. Too many times he comes down the wing, fools even his own teamates by cutting in and firing it wide. This leads to a lot of rushes going the other way. This is especially brutal for guys who aren't used to playing with him .

Canada played a perfect game with lots of puck possession. Nobody was firing pucks whenever they could, they shot when they had the best possible chance.

Ovechkins goes against everything Team Canada played for. He plays his own game. You look at Crosby, he played nothing like he does in Pittsburgh. Even with him not scoring goals, he never tried to be selfish despite all the backlash he got. He never floated, never cheated, was always the first back and last out of his zone. Ovechkin was in the same position as Crosby and it just made Ovechkin play even more selfishly to shut up the complaints. That's proof enough that he cares too much of what others think of him rather than helping his team

 

[Pilky01]

Canada didn't even want the reigning Art Ross Trophy winner! They didn't even want him on the team!

To argue that Ovechkin ought to be on the team if only for his goal scoring alone is to blatantly ignore exactly why Canada won in such convincing fashion.....I mean, do people even watch the games?!

 

[WarriorofTime]

Canada didn't even want the reigning Art Ross Trophy winner! They didn't even want him on the team!

To argue that Ovechkin ought to be on the team if only for his goal scoring alone is to blatantly ignore exactly why Canada won in such convincing fashion.....I mean, do people even watch the games?!

They won because they have the best players. Particularly the Defense. They have, in my opinion, 4 of the top 5 Defenseman in the world in Doughty, Keith, Pietrangelo, and Weber.

I really doubt taking Ovechkin over Kunitz, Nash, or Sharp would have somehow changed any of that. Like you said… i mean, do people even watch the games?!

 

[illpucks]

I'm not certain his game would be a fit on this Team Canada.

He is a 'me' player.

No, that's the misconception. He is like Lebron James except not at his level. When Lebron played on the Cavs he did everything because the rest of the team sucked. On the Heat, he still quaterbacks everything but can delegate to Wade and Bosh.

Ovechkin is not selfish at all. He is a team player that is perceived as a puck hog because he plays on a team with no finishers. He is an elite playmaker as well.

 

[Semantics]

Worse. In a two week tournament there's no time to break his bad habits and teach him responsible two way hockey.

Same reason Spezza always gets left off despite being one of the top Canadian players PPG-wise.

 

[Orrthebest]

No, that's the misconception. He is like Lebron James except not at his level. When Lebron played on the Cavs he did everything because the rest of the team sucked. On the Heat, he still quaterbacks everything but can delegate to Wade and Bosh.

Ovechkin is not selfish at all. He is a team player that is perceived as a puck hog because he plays on a team with no finishers. He is an elite playmaker as well.

That Malkin guy he was playing with on Russia is just a bum and not worthy I guess.

 

[Semantics]

Please name a team Ovechkin was on with a good group of Defensemen in order to justify your high-profile failure comment.

When Ovechkin's defense is brought up, the excuse is that he's never played on a team with good defensemen.

When Ovechkin's lack of playmaking is brought up, the excuse is that his linemates have no finishing ability.

When Ovechkin's +/- is brought up, the excuse is that he's not playing in front of good goaltending.

And so on. At what point do you stop and admit that a great player carries his team, and not the other way around?

 

[Spawn]

He wouldnt have made them worse. I'm not sure he would have made them better. Not sure 1 player makes that much of a difference on a team that was already clearly the class of the tournament.

Same goes for Stamkos for that matter. The one spot I could see either of them making a substantial impact would be on the PP. So maybe better there.

 

[jgoud*]

OMG anyone saying he would have made the team worse is out to lunch. He's on par with Stamkos for **** sakes. If you think he would make TC worse, I'm sure you think Kessel would have made us worse too, right? Ovechkin is a much better player than Perry and it's not like Perry is a 2-way forward.

 

[Corto]

And this what Canada's win get you: all of a sudden noone else in the world is good enough for them, I swear, the Canadian fans and media are more obnoxious about hockey than the English are about football (soccer).

He's a great player stuck on a mediocre team with mostly inane coaching since Boudreau left.
And he still manages to produce.
He's won titles on even playing field (which is WC at this point).
He hasn't won yet in Washington or with Russia in the Olympics, but he plays on inferior teams.
He is the best winger in the world, and no, it's not close.

Christ, one USA goal in the semis and Canada was offensively really not that great - there's a good chance Canada loses - and then all these threads would look entirely different.

 

[hitmen19]

After seeing how this Team Canada was constructed, I am not sure there would be a place for a player like Ovechkin. People say he just needs good coaching. How many coaches does he need to get fired or have resign before HE starts taking some of the blame with you people?

Let's keep looking for that elusive coach that will finally get him to play responsibly. Why any coach would take a job with the Caps is beyond me. If you tell the star player what to do, he calls you a "fat ****" and YOU get fired, but everyone says it is your fault for not making him change.

Great players buy in, not sell out.

This is why I continue to criticize this guy. Brilliant hockey skills, no direction, and everyone keeps making excuses for him. The Caps do the same thing as his fans. So he never changes.

It is a tragedy, because he could be the best player in the world, still. Instead he is a joke. A goal scoring machine with nothing else in his game and a perennial loser no matter where he goes.

I bet I actually have more of his best interest at heart than his so-called "fans" do.

Kunitz is a +25 player, Ov is -17.

when people say that ovechkin gets a lot of criticism on here, I always thought it was in their imagination, and they are overreacting. after reading this thread, I do see a lot of unfound hate towards ovechkin. He has matured so much. he never played selfish whatsoever in sochi, or make it about him. his defense was just horrible, coaching non existent, and varlamov overwhelmed.

 

[jgoud*]

And this what Canada's win get you: all of a sudden noone else in the world is good enough for them, I swear, the Canadian fans and media are more obnoxious about hockey than the English are about football (soccer).

He's a great player stuck on a mediocre team with mostly inane coaching since Boudreau left.
And he still manages to produce.
He's won titles on even playing field (which is WC at this point).
He hasn't won yet in Washington or with Russia in the Olympics, but he plays on inferior teams.
He is the best winger in the world, and no, it's not close.

Christ, one USA goal in the semis and Canada was offensively really not that great - there's a good chance Canada loses - and then all these threads would look entirely different.

You clearly didn't watch that game. The score didn't reflect the game at all. The USA had maybe 2 quality chances for the last 50 minutes of the game. And I'm not exaggerating. If the US had scored (on those 2 chances) they probably wouldn't have had another chance. It wasn't close at all.

 

[thadd]

He's my favourite player currently playing in the NHL, but he's not a team player and he wouldn't have worked well in Canada's system.

 

[TheBigThree]

he'd pretty much make the team worse. I see him just standing around taking one timers

 

[Corto]

You clearly didn't watch that game. The score didn't reflect the game at all. The USA had maybe 2 quality chances for the last 50 minutes of the game. And I'm not exaggerating. If the US had scored (on those 2 chances) they probably wouldn't have had another chance. It wasn't close at all.

Canada was the better team, no doubt. Their win was 100% deserved.
But it's one goal. One fluke, one bad play, one great shot or a deflected shot from the US, and it's OT, and who knows, maybe the Shootout.

Anything is possible in 1 goal games, and if the US wins there, the talk here wouldn't be about the best team Canada has ever put together defensively, but the worst team Canada has ever put together offensively.

Canada won fair and square, but the competition was the worst ever since it all began in 1998 in Nagano.
Some to some nations declining, some to some nations with enough top talent but nowhere near Canada's depth losing players to injuries etc.

And again, acting like suddenly nobody else is good enough for Canada is precisely why most non-Canadians get annoyed by Canadian fans and media.

 

[daver]

Canada was the better team, no doubt. Their win was 100% deserved.
But it's one goal. One fluke, one bad play, one great shot or a deflected shot from the US, and it's OT, and who knows, maybe the Shootout.

Anything is possible in 1 goal games, and if the US wins there, the talk here wouldn't be about the best team Canada has ever put together defensively, but the worst team Canada has ever put together offensively.

Canada won fair and square, but the competition was the worst ever since it all began in 1998 in Nagano.
Some to some nations declining, some to some nations with enough top talent but nowhere near Canada's depth losing players to injuries etc.

And again, acting like suddenly nobody else is good enough for Canada is precisely why most non-Canadians get annoyed by Canadian fans and media.

You make it sound like they were lucky to win. They choose a specific gameplan and played it to perfection. If they needed to open things up, they had the firepower.
Some great goaltending and conservative play kept things close but there wasn't really any doubt in my mind that Canada wasn't going to win in any games save for the first period of the US game.

 

[Corto]

You make it sound like they were lucky to win. They choose a specific gameplan and played it to perfection. If they needed to open things up, they had the firepower.
Some great goaltending and conservative play kept things close but there wasn't really any doubt in my mind that Canada wasn't going to win in any games save for the first period of the US game.

...

Again, Canada won, deservedly.

But it's a 1-goal game.
USA scores and all of a sudden the momentum changes, the US boys gain confidence etc.

It's happened before.
It'll happen in the future.

 

[Kalamazoo Wings]

As good as Ovi is, he doesn't fit the overall team game/structure Canada plays under. He's allergic to his own end. He realistically doesn't make the team worse, but Stamkos is a good Canadian option that gives a comparable finishing ability to Ovi upfront.

 

[604]

Dumb question. Absolutely. An elite goal scorer, and you can trust he'd have a coaching staff utilize him properly on Team Canada.

You can damn well bet his reputation would be better if he was Canadian, too.

Why would his rep be better? [mod]

Ovechkin is a good hockey player but his rep is what it is because he's earned it.

 

[Corto]

Why would his rep be better? [mod]

Ovechkin is a good hockey player but his rep is what it is because he's earned it.

Really?

Every NHL who's spoken about him and played with him had really only good things to say.

Matt Bradley said while AO has some flaws (who doesn't), he basically doesn't care about personal stats and just wants his team to win (something like that).

 

[Pyromaniac3]

Wow, can't believe that 55 people actually said worse. Just replace Kunitz with Ovechkin and you easily get a better line.

People here make it look like Ovechkin is uncoachable. It is not like one player's defensive ability can change the outcome of the game.

I wonder how Stamkos would have done considering his defensive game if he had played.