When's Canada vs. Russia on? I can't miss that game.

7:30 eastern 4:30 pacific

Besides the fact that he resembles a rodent, he's irresponsible and careless where other players are concerned. Knee-to-knee collisions. That's all that needs to be said.

Pittsburgh fan I see...well there's no hope for you.

Pittsburgh fan or not, he's dead on. I don't dislike Ovechkin for it, but he needs to show more respect for his peers and eliminate dirty plays like knee-on-knees and slewfooting from his game. He's an amazing talent, no question there. I don't think anyone could take any of Sid, Ovi or Gino and be upset about it, but they each have areas they could be better, and Ovechkin just needs to be less reckless in his play and put a little more emphasis on improving his two-way game. He's never gonna be an elite two-way player, or selke candidate, but he's got the talent to put up points regardless, and little more effort on the backcheck wouldn't hurt. He floats in the neutral zone a little too much for my liking.

Sid came under fire as an 18 year old for his whinning, and he accepted the criticism and matured, and has become a better play from it. Ovechkin needs to do the same in this situation. The only real difference, is that Ovechkin has shown no signs of caring to this point...

2 knee on knees, 1 slew foot in 5 years the way that he plays, I'm surprised this guy hasn't gotten more. He doesn't need to change anything, the best defense is a good offense and they have that in Washington, he's leading the league with a +43.
Sure sometimes you can see him out there in the neutral zone waiting for a pass but this guy stays out for 2 minutes at a time, reminds me of Phil Esposito who never wanted to get off the ice.

Saying he doesn't care is just BS, it's another element of his game, that Jagr hit a couple of days ago changed the course of the game. When you're talking about the whining...yes compare whining, something no one should do to the level that Crosby was doing to completely changing your game, I wonder which is harder.

I've never bought that "best defense is a good offense" line. If the other team has a good offense and your D-men are weak, you're pretty much fucked, and I've seen several games where the other team scored BECAUSE Ovechkin sets up a campsite on the other side of the rink. The man can't backcheck worth a damn, and it is something he needs to improve.

And Ovechkin may only have been called for two knee-to-knee collisions, but that's still two too many, ESPECIALLY when they were intentional. The first one on Gonchar is further evidence that the man is worthy only of contempt, 'cause Gonchar and Ovechkin were supposedly friends. What kind of guy goes out of their way to injure a friend like that? Not a guy worthy of my respect.

yeah, if you think those 3 incidents are the only things he's been doing, you are not watching very closely, he gets away with a lot more than he should, and his pretty regularly. Those just happen to be the most covered incidents.

I'm not saying Ovechkin needs to become Mike Richards, or Pavel Datsyuk, but his game is basically void of anything resembling defense, and he has been the cause of a number of goals against in his time in the NHL. IMO, if you're a hockey player, and you lack an element to your game, you should be trying to get better. Also, using Ovechkin's plus/minus as anything to prove a point, is well.. pointless. His +/- is only so high because he plays on a powerhouse offensive team, that really changes nothing in regards to his defensive play. Additionally, as someone who plays hockey, I understand having your best players play a lot of time, but no one should be taking 2 minute shifts as regularly as Ovechkin does. He goes hard while in the offensive zone, and then floats in the neutral zone, or occassionally in the defensive zone not pushing hard to help but instead "recharging" of sorts until the other players send the put back his direction. That is not a team player IMO. That time he floats getting his energy back up, is icetime he is directly stealing from a teammate.

I'm saying Ovechkin doesn't care about taking the criticism and getting better. After any incident he's been asked about he merely brushes it over, or downplays it. And his "suspension", was a joke. He says he didn't do anything wrong with the knee-on-knee (though it was blatantly obvious), gets hurt himself on the play, suspended, but it's all for naught, because he never would've played anyway. He essentially served nothing. It's clear he's learned nothing, in fact he still to this point believes he's done nothing wrong. I like Ovechkin, but he needs a good tuning, moreso than Crosby ever did.

What is there to completely change? All we're asking for a bit of defensive awareness/effort and a little less carelessness/recklessness. There is a something called a happy balance, and I think Ovechkin should be able to find it without sacrificing his effectiveness. As a side note, did Sidney Crosby not completely change his style leading into the playoffs last year, to be more of a scorer then he tends to be. You have to want to change, and be better. Crosby does, I'm not convinced Ovechkin feels he needs to, which is IMO a failure of his coaching.

As for all of the Crosby "whinning"; it always was comepleting overblown, and for some reason or another people can't just let go. Crosby did some whinning as an 18 year old, but it was never as bad as most bitched about. He's moved on, but I guess people need something to hold against him. After all, how else will they discredit him as one of, if not THE best player in the world.

I'm sorry but anytime you have a plus/minus that high, it's nothing to goff at. This guy helps his team defensively by pressuring the other teams defense on a constant basis and with great results. HE is the complete OFFENSIVE package. He may play defensively like a Kovalchuk but this guy does his job so well it's hardly noticeable except by those who want to nitpick his game. I would agree with the 2 minute comment if it was a not so deserving player a-la Kovalev getting that ice time, but this guy wins games on his own practically, we saw that against Pittsburgh earlier this year when they came back from 4-1 on the back of a hat-trick from Ovechkin.

And yes I agree his suspension was a joke but when the NHL doesn't set a precedent for their stars it's never gonna be more. And come on it wasn't an Ulf Samuelsson incident, that happened on Gonchar in the playoffs where I thought he should have been suspended for 2 games.

Who's the we? Yes he needs to improve his defensive game, is it that much of a hinderence on his game? No. Are the Capitals the best team in the league at the moment? Yes. Crosby can be offensive and play somewhat of a defensive game, Ovechkin can be offensive and he can play a physical game. Ovechkin has changed his game in one way making him more dangerous, he already has 47 assists in 54 games...plus 42 goals. His highest total ever was 54 assists so saying he hasn't changed his game his completely false.

Sure the Crosby whining has been somewhat overblown but when referees come out and say that he has been really pushing it, it's kinda hard to just ignore it.

Ovechkin in my mind is the best player in the NHL, he does what he's supposed to do the best. He is the most dangerous threat in the NHL, 9 more points than the closest competitor in 7 less games? THAT'S RIDICULOUS.

I guess you could say that some fans look to hold something against Ovechkin as well, wanting to look past the positives and just focusing on the few negatives.

I'm not "goffing" at it, I'm just saying, +/- is the most misleading stat in all of hockey, and saying he leads the league in it, doesn't absolve him of his defensive shortcomings. When your team is averaging better than 5 goals per game, you're gonna have a real good +/-, it just stands to reason. I agree he is a complete offensive package, but when he's on the ice and his team isn't controlling the puck, he doesn't do much of anything to help. It's not nitpicking, it's a legitimate observation. He get's a pass because he does so much offensively, but if other star players in the NHL can backcheck, he can too.

Also saying it's okay for him to take 2 minute shifts, a float for 45 seconds of it makes no sense to me. If you don't have the energy to go hard any longer, you get off the ice unless it's like a situation like you're down a couple in the third. It is a team game afterall, and there are other guys who should be getting the icetime when you are pushing anymore. I say the same thing when Malkin hangs around forever on the ice, and would too if Crosby did it more often.



It's not a matter of whether it's a hinderence to his game, it's a hinderence to his team sometimes. I've made mention to it prior in this post. I'm not asking for the moon, just a little more respect for his opponents and a tad more effort on the backcheck. I guess we differ on this point however. I like my players to be fast, and exciting offensively, but contribute to both sides of the puck. 99 times out of 100 defense wins championships. It's not much to ask. No one expects them to go out and block every shot, or breakup every rush against, or win every faceoff. I just like to see a consistent effort.



I follow the Penguins and Crosby pretty closely and have never heard of this. I'd be interested to see anything more than just hearsay to suggest that a ref ever said that.



Ovechkin is without question one of the top 2-3 players in the NHL, but you have to take everything in context when basing everything on stats. Sure, Ovechkin has more points in less games, but the level of talent he plays with is far beyond Crosby's (Ovechkin: Semin, Backstrom, Green to Crosby's: Kunitz, Geurin and Gonchar; it's not even close), and I think most of us would agree, Crosby, Malkin and Ovechkin are a class of their own, so comparing them to the Sedin's or Thornton is kinda ridiculous. The penguins don't score as many goals, and Crosby has less points as a direct result of the discrepancy in offensive talent on each team. That said, I don't mind you taking Ovechkin as the best player still, it's really a wash IMO. I take Crosby personally, but that's because I feel he and Ovechkin are offensively comparable, but Crosby offer more in other areas than Ovie does, and he's nearly 2 years younger to boot.



Maybe some, not me though. There's a definite difference between ignoring the good, which is not what I'm doing, and noticing the bad. Ovechin is like any player, he's not perfect. In fact, he's still very rough around the edges. I think he has all the tools to be a good two-way player, he just needs to want to be.

you guys talk too much. What I want to know is why the fuck isn't the Swiss-USA game on TV right now. What kind of bullshit is that? I can watch curling at 2 but I can't find a fucking hockey game anywhere.

As far as determining a player's value, points are the worst representation. I could give a flying fuck if Ovechkin had double the points of the next guy. It wouldn't make him the most valuable player if that's all he did and he did it at the expense of others. I like to use Yzerman as the prime example of what a team leader should be (only partially because he was my favorite player). The guy was capable of scoring 100+ points every year, yet he didn't do it. Why? Because leading the league or even your team in points isn't important. Hoisting the cup at the end of the year is all that matters. Yzerman knew this and as a result did everything he could to make everyone he played with better and not just himself.

^

Though I'm appalled that I'm agreeing with an example involving the Red Wings, I totally agree with the core message: it's a team sport. Be a team player. Ovechkin is not a team player, and I'm not sure if he ever can be.

Wow, the US Olympic hockey team doesn't even get any air in the US? That's just fuckin' brutal...



Couldn't agree more. Yzerman is one of my all-time favorites as well, and for the same reasons. I think it's why I'm drawn to Crosby in the current NHL. I see a lot of the same qualities in Sid that Steve had when he played.

Try ctv.ca, it's on in sportsnet here in Canada right now, Hiller is owning.

I strongly disagree with points being the worst representation of a player's value, you guy's are making him seem like a dick D:
But he's one if not THE greatest character in the game right now, he does not need to boost his ego, he knows he's good and he would do anything to win. Tell him to take a slapshot to face from Znedo Chara to go to the Stanley Cup Finals and he would do it. Since Ovechkin was deemed captain the Capitals have won 14 games in a row and 14 of 16 games. He has done nothing detrimental to his team and don't you think he wants to win the cup? He was heartbroken on how they got knocked out last year to the eventual Stanley Cup champions.

This is never going to end, it's like the Fleury discussion on the pens forum D:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUX55aFf4TI

My view on it. fin.

Lol, I remember watching that shift and thing dear fucking god, that was just plain awful.