Ovechkin poor performer for Russia

[dangsLITE]

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/GS030226.HTM
http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/GS030222.HTM

Don't you know that secondary assists don't matter!

 

[pouskin74*]

What medal did Russia go home with in '06 again?

This isn't a Canada vs Russia debate. This is about a player who has never won anything in his career because he is often a no-show in big game situations.

you are laughable thank you

 

[mrmyheadhurts]

Ovechkin is still young. It takes some players a long time to learn how to elevate their games. Guys like Crosby and Toews are extremely rare and not the norm.

His nationality is meaningless.

 

[pouskin74*]

Don't you know that secondary assists don't matter!

yeah

 

[TonsofPuppies*]

You asked about scoring in elimination games -- the final medals do not matter.

Hockey is a team sport. One guy cannot score all the goals, whether important or not.

More generally, regarding Ovechkin's performance for Russia, until three years ago Kovalchuk has been considered as a very poor player for the national team. No is his Canada's killer!

Kovalchuk is a beast. He might not score as many goals as ovechkin, but he is a clutch goalscorer. Not to mention, a good leader.

 

[pouskin74*]

Ovechkin is still young. It takes some players a long time to learn how to elevate their games. Guys like Crosby and Toews are extremely rare and not the norm.

His nationality is meaningless.

Crosby won his Cup thanks to Malkin and Team and Toews won his Cup thanks to Kane and Team.

 

[pouskin74*]

Kovalchuk is a beast. He might not score as many goals as ovechkin, but he is a clutch goalscorer. Not to mention, a good leader.

how many Cups he has won

 

[TonsofPuppies*]

you are laughable thank you

Thank you for proving my point.

The only "meaningful" thing OV has won in his career is a WC gold, which to be honest isn't an amazing accomplishment. His Capitals lost 3 game 7s in a row. I hope he evolves into something more than he is now, and he probably will. His best years are still ahead. He's not a very mature player at the moment, however and that might be something to do with his lack of success.

 

[TonsofPuppies*]

how many Cups he has won

It's not his fault he rotted in Atlanta for so long. : Ovechkin has actually been on elite calibre teams.

 

[pouskin74*]

Thank you for proving my point.

The only "meaningful" thing OV has won in his career is a WC gold, which to be honest isn't an amazing accomplishment. His Capitals lost 3 game 7s in a row. I hope he evolves into something more than he is now, and he probably will. His best years are still ahead. He's not a very mature player at the moment, however and that might be something to do with his lack of success.

i do agree with this

 

[TonsofPuppies*]

i do agree with this

Ovechkin's cockiness is one of his faults and I think why he's always viewed below Crosby in the "best player in the world" debates. He comes off as a bit of a do*chebag, which makes it easy for people to root against him, and whatever team he plays on.

 

[mrmyheadhurts]

Crosby won his Cup thanks to Malkin and Team and Toews won his Cup thanks to Kane and Team.

I wasn't talking about winning a Cup, I was talking about a players ability to elevate their game. A cup or any other trophy has always been a team achievement. I'm not sure what the point was that you were making.

Malkin I should've included in that rare group for sure. We have yet to see AO elevate his game to the level that those three have shown. Doesn't mean he won't, it Datsyuk more than a few playoffs to figure it out and now look at him.


I think maturity is a good word you could use. He still lacks it in many areas.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

There's no way he should be playing. For a guy who was reportedly hurt all year, I can appreciate the loyalty to country, but he should be resting and healing. This tourney is next to meaningless in the grand scheme of what he should be focusing on in his career...

 

[Frank the Tank]

There's no way he should be playing. For a guy who was reportedly hurt all year, I can appreciate the loyalty to country, but he should be resting and healing. This tourney is next to meaningless in the grand scheme of what he should be focusing on in his career...

Not only that, but what sort of message does the captain send when he hops on a jet back to Europe the day after his team was eliminated early in the playoffs once again. Sure one can respect Ovechkin's passion to keep on playing, but it gives the impression that he has his priorities mixed up.

 

[Jules Winnfield]

Crosby won his Cup thanks to Malkin and Team and Toews won his Cup thanks to Kane and Team.

If it wasn't for Crosby ****** Mike Green and the Capitals in that 2nd round, the Pens probably wouldn't have made it to the SCF. He had like what, 8 or 9 goals that series?

 

[Frank the Tank]

If it wasn't for Crosby ****** Mike Green and the Capitals in that 2nd round, the Pens probably wouldn't have made it to the SCF. He had like what, 8 or 9 goals that series?

Nevermind the fact that Babcock kept Datsyuk/Zetterberg, and Lidstrom out against Crosby even though Malkin was scoring the points. He decided to take his chances against the "lesser evil."

 

[karnige]

Ovechkin not showing up in big game situations shouldn't be surprising and unexpected to you people. Ovechkin has all the talent in the world, but the guy simply isn't a winner. Call him the polar opposite of Scotty Niedermayer. Got embarassed by Canada at the WJC in 2005. Got embarassed by Canada in Vancouver. Can't captain his team anywhere in the playoffs. He should not have a C.

ahhh posts with no merit

 

[BobDobolina]

He's been terrible all tournament, he shows no effort or willingness to battle, he's just floating around out there. If his mind is still somewhere else then he shouldn't have came in the first place.

 

[SlappyMcGee]

I'm not saying he's been playing well this tournament -- it's evident that he hasn't -- but Jesus, people, you're blaming OV for the fact that his team has not won the Stanley Cup since he's played on it.

By that reasoning, a number of players are people who just don't have a winning attitude or show up; re: Iginla, Rick Nash, Joe Pavelski (Or Thornton, who is ostensibly actually a playoff choker, ). My point is this: teams don't win on one guy's effort alone. And OV has looked, especially in a couple of those games last series, like the one guy trying to lead a clueless (and perhaps poorly coached) team.

 

[octopi]

Name ONE big (elimination) game that Ovechkin has played, either for the Caps or Russia, where he really stepped up, was the best player on the ice and lead his team to victory.

Maybe you should look up who scored the winning goal for Russia in the 2006 Olympics that eliminated team Canada from the quarterfinals(Russia was the underdog there, btw)

On a side note, just wondering if theres any way Datsyuk can still join team Russia?

 

[TonsofPuppies*]

Maybe you should look up who scored the winning goal for Russia in the 2006 Olympics that eliminated team Canada from the quarterfinals(Russia was the underdog there, btw)

On a side note, just wondering if theres any way Datsyuk can still join team Russia?

This was already discussed. Try reading the entire thread next time.

On a side note, HockeyTown is now GolfTown, so enjoy the offseason.

 

[tmunnuch]

Maybe this doesn't belong in the WC forum, but I'm gonna rant anyways.

I don't think winning has anything to do with it. The Capitals could have won this year (in the sense of making the Conference finals, or even SCF) if the team around him was better. He would have still played like crap though. Same for Team Russia or any of the previous iterations of Capitals teams.

The real problem is that he's gotten worse as a player. I want to see him scoring 60 and being a dynamic threat like he was in his rookie year. Taking 7 wristers a game through dmen's feet isn't going to get him there. Teams figured out how to take time and space away from him, and instead of finding new ways to make room and be dangerous, he simply takes what's given to him. That's really discouraging to watch. He better pull his head out of his ass this summer and figure where he wants to take his game, because his current trajectory is of a 30-40 player who's a giant hole on defense.

 

[Alessandro Seren Rosso]

I somewhat agree with tmunnuch and zine. Not too much with thread starter, sorry.
1st of all he shouldn't have been called. He's obviously half injured and tired after the long NHL season - and it shows, on big ice it's gonna be even worse. And no player is bigger than the team.
The fact is also that he's a God nowadays, so he doesn't have to commit too much, he'll always get a good number of goals/points, plus he has a giant paycheck assured for the next 10 years.

 

[pouskin74*]

Maybe this doesn't belong in the WC forum, but I'm gonna rant anyways.

I don't think winning has anything to do with it. The Capitals could have won this year (in the sense of making the Conference finals, or even SCF) if the team around him was better. He would have still played like crap though. Same for Team Russia or any of the previous iterations of Capitals teams.

The real problem is that he's gotten worse as a player. I want to see him scoring 60 and being a dynamic threat like he was in his rookie year. Taking 7 wristers a game through dmen's feet isn't going to get him there. Teams figured out how to take time and space away from him, and instead of finding new ways to make room and be dangerous, he simply takes what's given to him. That's really discouraging to watch. He better pull his head out of his ass this summer and figure where he wants to take his game, because his current trajectory is of a 30-40 player who's a giant hole on defense.

one off season and he is already 30-40 goals player for ever

 

[NJDevilsZG]

Maybe this doesn't belong in the WC forum, but I'm gonna rant anyways.

I don't think winning has anything to do with it. The Capitals could have won this year (in the sense of making the Conference finals, or even SCF) if the team around him was better. He would have still played like crap though. Same for Team Russia or any of the previous iterations of Capitals teams.

The real problem is that he's gotten worse as a player. I want to see him scoring 60 and being a dynamic threat like he was in his rookie year. Taking 7 wristers a game through dmen's feet isn't going to get him there. Teams figured out how to take time and space away from him, and instead of finding new ways to make room and be dangerous, he simply takes what's given to him. That's really discouraging to watch. He better pull his head out of his ass this summer and figure where he wants to take his game, because his current trajectory is of a 30-40 player who's a giant hole on defense.

Well it is easier said than done. Hope he does not end up like Ronaldinho (former No.1 in world of soccer), whose game suffered similarily, and he never managed to reinvent himself.
Hopefully he takes a hint or two from kovalchuk, who I think has begun a promissing upgrading process.