Ted Leonsis: We will do everything to help Ovi to beat Gretzky's goals record

[Confused Turnip]

Both Lemieux and Bossy were scoring at 50+ goal paces into their 30s, even though both of them had backs that were basically broken.

For a sentence with so many statements on fact in it, it's impressive that almost every single one of them isn't true. Bossy never even played in the league in his 30s. Lemieux's last 50 goal season came at age 31 and he only paced anywhere near there one more time.

 

[Confused Turnip]

Rangers and Caps are sad teams. It is not the Cup they are after. One is after Wilson and the other after the goal scoring record.

Instead of scoring goals Ovechkin should focus on the objective of hockey that leads to win.

Oh... wait.

 

[Dekes For Days]

They've already been doing pretty much everything they can to inflate his goals for years. Unless they found the fountain of youth, not sure what they have in mind.

 

[ijuka]

Just because the media attention is what it is and people talk openly about how cool it would be, that doesn't mean the guys inside that locker room are like "today the plan is to get Ovechkin goals, screw the 2 points".

Ovechkin has been breaking records for years, the media made him the center of attention for years, his teammates have been answering questions about his accomplishments for years, it's nothing new.

Well it still sends the wrong message of an individual being more important than the team.

A good reply would be, for example, that they expect Ovechkin to help their team in positive ways, whether it's via goalscoring, playmaking, physicality or whatever else. Not something suggesting that they're going to try to inflate his goal amounts as much as possible.

 

[Mick Riddleton]

I say he keeps signing contracts till he does it. They will wheel him out on the power plays and stand him up in his office, load up the slapper for him. Basically a broken controller that only does one move.

Someone will have to push him out of the zone when he is offside and push him back.

Gretzky played for fun and joy not for setting a record, glad the Caps have their priorities straight.

 

[MAHJ71]

Thankfully they do not have to do much... just have Ovi continue to sit near that left face-off dot

 

[Confused Turnip]

I say he keeps signing contracts till he does it. They will wheel him out on the power plays and stand him up in his office, load up the slapper for him. Basically a broken controller that only does one move.

Someone will have to push him out of the zone when he is offside and push him back.

Gretzky played for fun and joy not for setting a record, glad the Caps have their priorities straight.

People are acting like the only reason to have Ovi be the finisher on plays is to break the record. Pray tell, who should be taking those shots?

 

[HurricaneFanatic]

People are acting like the only reason to have Ovi be the finisher on plays is to break the record. Pray tell, who should be taking those shots?

I think as long as he is effective, and right now he still is, then all good. But if it becomes a side show then that would be weird. To Ovi's credit, he said he wouldn't play if he wasn't producing, record or not.
I do think he wants to break it, but I don't think he's as worried about it as most fans are. Good or bad. haha

 

[AD1066]

OV will be well over 1600 games barring no injuries in 5 years. At some point it gets rather embarrassing trying to chase a record when you play 120 so games more then the guy your chasing.

It will be fun though. Remember * people think it will be easy for OV. It won't be. As he inches closer the grip gets tighter, the body gets slower. The pressure gets amped up. Can a 40 plus year old OV get it done ?

Unfortunately he doesn't get to face the goaltenders of the 80s, so I'm not going to fault him any extra games.

 

[User9992]

Instead of scoring goals Ovechkin should focus on the objective of hockey that leads to win.

Oh... wait.

Ovi has been much better at winning than Connor McDavid so far... Amazing regular season record, Team's Playoff appearances & Stanley Cup for the team he got drafted.

 

[Confused Turnip]

I think as long as he is effective, and right now he still is, then all good. But if it becomes a side show then that would be weird. To Ovi's credit, he said he wouldn't play if he wasn't producing, record or not.
I do think he wants to break it, but I don't think he's as worried about it as most fans are. Good or bad. haha

Yeah I can get onboard with that, if it gets to that point anyway. But right now we're nowhere near there and these comments seem almost hopeful that we will get there.

Aside, speaking as a Caps fan I think that at this point the sideshow might be our best option anyway. With Kuznetsov increasingly off the rails, Forsberg squandered, Schmidt gone and having to cut so many young contributors for cap reasons the Caps sort of ended up with a void after the Ovi/Backstrom core ages out. McMichael and some other guys on the farm could still change this, but as of right now it's looking like an ugly rebuild once Ovi is no longer effective one way or the other. At that point it's either try to trade him or rebuild with him sticking around and sell tickets to the record show. It's not my preference, but it might be the best we get.

 

[Habs10025]

Translation of Washington Capitals' owner Ted Leonsis' reaction to Ovechkin's 5 year extension deal taken from Official Ru version of NHL.com: "We will do everything to help Ovi to become first (in goals), cause if that happens it will be important not only for him but for our fans too who love him, for our franchise and the whole league after all! I used to think it's impossible to break Gretky's records. But now I think it's more & more realistic (achievable). If Alex is healthy then he can achieve it. Imagine, such a way to finish his career!".

Source: Овечкин: "Хотел контракт на три года. Клуб сказал: Надо пять!"

I tried my best in translating guys, sorry if I made some mistakes

Leo

Translation of Washington Capitals' owner Ted Leonsis' reaction to Ovechkin's 5 year extension deal taken from Official Ru version of NHL.com: "We will do everything to help Ovi to become first (in goals), cause if that happens it will be important not only for him but for our fans too who love him, for our franchise and the whole league after all! I used to think it's impossible to break Gretky's records. But now I think it's more & more realistic (achievable). If Alex is healthy then he can achieve it. Imagine, such a way to finish his career!".

Source: Овечкин: "Хотел контракт на три года. Клуб сказал: Надо пять!"

I tried my best in translating guys, sorry if I made some mistakes

Leonsis should be saying he'll do anything to help his team advance past the 2nd round of the playoffs .
16 seasons with Ovechkin as the teams so called leader and 15 times have failed to advance past the 2nd rd.
it's nothing but failure and it will be a part of Ovechkin's Legacy as much as his goal scoring ability.

 

[Confused Turnip]

Ovi has been much better at winning than Connor McDavid so far... Amazing regular season record, Team's Playoff appearances & Stanley Cup for the team he got drafted.

Did you mean to reply to a different post?

 

[Confused Turnip]

Leo

Leonsis should be saying he'll do anything to help his team advance past the 2nd round of the playoffs .
16 seasons with Ovechkin as the teams so called leader and 15 times have failed to advance past the 2nd rd.
it's nothing but failure and it will be part of Ovechkin's Legacy as much as his goal scoring ability.

What is Ovi, the GM? How are team accomplishments on him? The only GM on the Caps is GM Tom Wilson and he's currently rebuilding his Rangers in his image.

 

[User9992]

Ovi has been much better at winning than Connor McDavid so far... Amazing regular season record, Team's Playoff appearances & Stanley Cup for the team he got drafted.

More importantly Ovi made Caps much more popular... at least in Russia. Everybody knows Ovechkin there & almost every 2'd person knows about Washington Capitals.

 

[Habs10025]

What is Ovi, the GM? How are team accomplishments on him? The only GM on the Caps is GM Tom Wilson and he's currently rebuilding his Rangers in his image.

If he gets credit when they succeed he also gets blame when they fail.

 

[max21]

I say he keeps signing contracts till he does it. They will wheel him out on the power plays and stand him up in his office, load up the slapper for him. Basically a broken controller that only does one move.

Someone will have to push him out of the zone when he is offside and push him back.

Gretzky played for fun and joy not for setting a record, glad the Caps have their priorities straight.

Yeah it’s not like we won a cup 3 years ago, 10 years for Boston? Sorry you have to watch one of the best players to ever play the game try to break a once said unbreakable record.

 

[Mick Riddleton]

Yeah it’s not like we won a cup 3 years ago, 10 years for Boston? Sorry you have to watch one of the best players to ever play the game try to break a once said unbreakable record.

If you are only playing to break a record then that in my view takes away from the spirit of the game. Very shallow intentions and more about the name on the back vs the crest in the front.

 

[tenken00]

If you are only playing to break a record then that in my view takes away from the spirit of the game. Very shallow intentions and more about the name on the back vs the crest in the front.

Who said thats the only thing?

 

[Riddum]

Ted should do everything to win and let the goals take care of themselves.

Shifting the focus on Ovi's record instead of the cup is smart. When they fail in the playoffs, it won't matter.

 

[trick9]

If you are only playing to break a record then that in my view takes away from the spirit of the game. Very shallow intentions and more about the name on the back vs the crest in the front.

I must have missed the new rules in which the games are no longer decided by who scores the most goals. Should the owner say they are doing their best to score the least amount of goals?

 

[HurricaneFanatic]

Unfortunately he doesn't get to face the goaltenders of the 80s, so I'm not going to fault him any extra games.

But he also doesn't get checked, high sticked, hooked, or pushed into the glass or into the ice like they did in the 80s either, so i guess he doesn't get the wear n tear either.

 

[HurricaneFanatic]

Yeah I can get onboard with that, if it gets to that point anyway. But right now we're nowhere near there and these comments seem almost hopeful that we will get there.

Aside, speaking as a Caps fan I think that at this point the sideshow might be our best option anyway. With Kuznetsov increasingly off the rails, Forsberg squandered, Schmidt gone and having to cut so many young contributors for cap reasons the Caps sort of ended up with a void after the Ovi/Backstrom core ages out. McMichael and some other guys on the farm could still change this, but as of right now it's looking like an ugly rebuild once Ovi is no longer effective one way or the other. At that point it's either try to trade him or rebuild with him sticking around and sell tickets to the record show. It's not my preference, but it might be the best we get.

And that is the reason i don't think he'll break it ultimately. You gotta have the playmakers with you. Gretzky was great, but he didnt get 1963/894 by himself.

 

[TMLeafer]

I hope we get to see it happen. Too bad how many games lockouts + pandemic took from his career so far, but hoping that those breaks help him play an extra/better seasons at the end of his career to reach this mark.

It would be legendary if he scores 895 and retires midgame.

 

[Mackiaveli]

only mission is to get Ovechkin goal's who by then will be like worst player in NHL..

If Jagr did it, Ovi should be fine.