Life @ High Road Communications

Alex Ovechkin

I watched the last few minutes of the Penguins-Capitals game today – a game won by Pittsburgh 4-3. Crosby ended up getting the shootout winner while Ovechkin failed in his bid to keep the game alive as the last shooter. Although a slow starter early in his career in the shootout, Crosby has really improved the past two seasons to bump up his career average to around a 35% success rate. Incidentally, Ovechkin is running around the same rate – rather low when you consider the calibre of both these players.

Ovechkin had numerous chances to end the game in regulation. It seems every time that guy has the puck he makes something happen. He is a complete offensive machine that is unstoppable as he’s just to fast and to strong. One of these days, he’s going to have one of those games where everything goes his way and he will break the NHL record of goals in a game. Currently, that record (7) is held by Joe Malone). I mean, this guy gets 10+ shots a game with regularity – and these are good quality shots to.

One last thing I’m appreciating about Ovechkin’s game is the fact he does not need quality line-mates in order to have success. Take for example the year Crosby is having. Its well documented that his struggles offensively this year were due to the fact that his wingers were brutal (Miroslav Satan and Ruselein Fedetenko) – they never developed any real chemistry together. So, its fair to say that for Crosby to have real success he needs a good supporting cast. Ovechkin? Sure, he has Backstrom and Semin, but really, you could throw anyone out there and he (Ovechkin) wouldn’t miss a beat. Because he drives to the net with power and speed he completely provides scoring opporunities on his own.