Alex Ovechkin
“We will chase perfection, and we will chase it
relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way,
we shall catch excellence.”
-- Vince Lombardi
Wayne Greztky holds the all-time goal scoring record in the
NHL, but Alex Ovechkin arguably the unparalleled leader in goal scoring over
the span of a career. Ovechkin finished
his 15th NHL season with 48 goals, tied with David Pastrnak of the
Boston Bruins for the league lead and a share of the Maurice “Rocket” Richard
Trophy awarded to the league’s top goal scorer.
It was his ninth Richard Trophy (the first he has shared), but as
amazing as that is, the 48 goals in 68 games left him after 15 seasons with an average
of 50.25 goals per 82 games played over
his career. Only three of the 45 players
in the 500-goal club averaged 50 or more goals per 82 games over their career,
and no, Wayne Gretzky is not one of them (he averaged 49.30 goals per 82 games
in his career). The others are Mike
Bossy (62.48) and Mario Lemieux (61.84), players who played most of their
respective careers in a far more offense-oriented NHL.
What made this season remarkable was not so much Ovechkin
winning another Richard Trophy, but in how he got there. His 48 goals in 68 games was the most
goals-per-game he had over a season (0.7059) since he posted 56 goals in 79
games (0.7089) in 2008-2009 at the age of 23.
And, in the season with a season context, Ovechkin recorded six or seven
goals in five of his seven ten-game segments (he also had a four-goal segment
and an 11-goal segment to round out his season), more evidence of his
consistency.
There was, however, an odd character about his goal scoring
this season, that being that it did not seem to matter much unless he scored in
bunches. When he did, that is when he
had two or more goals in a game, the Caps were quite successful, going 10-1-2
in the 13 multi-goal games he had. No surprise
there. But in games in which he had a
single goal, 18 in all, the Caps were 9-7-2, bringing their record when
Ovechkin scored any volume of goals to 19-8-4.
In games in which he did not score a goal, the Caps were 21-12-4. The standings points per game when he scored
(1.35) and when he did not (1.24) were not all that different, although over an
82-game season it would mean nine standings points.
Fearless’ Take…
The sustained excellence of Ovechkin continued in
2019-2020. He became the second player
in league history to post 30-goal seasons in each of his first 15 years in the
league, tying Mike Gartner. There is now
only Gartner ahead of him in total career 30-plus goal seasons (17). His 48 goals this season were his 11th
40-plus goal season, breaking a tie for second place all-time with Marcel
Dionne and Mario Lemieux. Only Wayne
Gretzky (12) has more. He had 13
multi-goal games to take over fourth place on the all-time list of multi-goal
games (145) and is within striking distance of Mario Lemieux for third place
(154). He had four hat tricks, breaking
a tie for fifth place with Jari Kurri when the season started and giving him 27
for his career. He had goals in 31 of
the 68 games in which he played, giving him goals in 530 career games, one
short of Luc Robitaille for eighth place all-time. His ability to climb as many statistical
lists as quickly as he has been, at age 34, is amazing.
Cheerless’ Take… Goals are goals, and few do it better than
Alex Ovechkin but it isn’t all there is, even for a goal scorer. Ovechkin did something no one in the history
of the NHL did before this season. His
48 goals and 19 assists are the first time in NHL history a player posted more
than 45 goals and fewer than 20 assists in a season. Those 19 assists were a career low for
Ovechkin. There was also the minus-12
rating, the third-worst of his career and worst since the infamous minus-35 he
posted in 2013-2014. In doing so, he
became the first player in NHL history since 1959-1960, when the NHL began
capturing plus-minus statistics, to post more than 45 goals and record a
plus-minus worse than minus-10 for a third time (the third instance was in
2006-2007, when he had 46 goals and was a minus-19).
Odd Ovechkin Fact… Alex Ovechkin is the league’s all-time
leading goal scorer in one respect. No
first overall draft pick in the history of the league has more career goals
than Ovechkin (706), the first overall pick of the 2004 Entry Draft. Mario Lemieux, taken first overall in 1984,
is second (690). He is almost 250 goals
ahead of the next player on that list who remains active, Sidney Crosby (462),
taken with the first overall pick in 205.
Odd Ovechkin Fact II… When Ovechkin finished this season
with 48 goals, it marked the 11th time he finished an NHL season
with at least 45 goals. That would be
one more than the total number of 45-plus goal seasons recorded by Hull…that
would be Bobby (five) and Brett (five), combined.
Game to Remember… February 22, 2020. History isn’t a fairy tale, and making it
sometimes comes with blemishes. It does
not make reaching an historical milestone less significant; it is just a fact. And that is the set up for what transpired
when the Caps visited the New Jersey Devils in late February. The Caps were in a rut, losers of five of
their previous six contests (1-4-1) when they faced the Devils. Ovechkin, who was chasing his 700th
career goal, went five games without a goal in that run before snapping that
drought with a goal against Montreal before skating against New Jersey.
With his career goal meter now on “699,” Ovechkin and the
Caps fell behind by a pair of goals to their hosts before making a
comeback. Tom Wilson got the Caps on the
board with a goal in the 15th minute of the second period to draw
the Caps within a goal. The 2-1 Devils
lead would hold up into the third period, but early on in the final frame,
history would be made:
The milestone goal tied the game 4:50 into the third period,
but that would be the last highlight for the Caps on this afternoon. The Devils broke the tie on a power play with
1:59 left in regulation to win, 3-2.
Nevertheless, Ovechkin secured his place in NHL history as the eighth
player (naturally) to reach the 700 goal mark for a career.
Game to Forget… February 10, 2020. Relationships forged in battle toward a
common goal are lasting, but it is also satisfying to take advantage of a
former teammate when they depart for another team. Same goes for coaches. It might be a special incentive among
Capitals to perform well when facing former coach Barry Trotz, who guided them
to a Stanley Cup, but who now leads the New York Islanders. For Alex Ovechkin and the Caps, satisfaction
was not to be had when the Isles visited Capital One Arena in February.
Things started poorly for the hosts – Anthony Beauvillier
scored twice in less than three minutes to give New York a 2-0 lead less than
seven minutes into the game – and things got worse from there. The Caps never
really made much of a game of it, falling behind 3-1 after two periods and
allowing two more goals before the third period was 11 minutes old. Two late goals were largely cosmetic in the 5-3
loss. Ovechkin, who in addition to
facing his old coach was still in pursuit of his 700th goal (he was
at 698 in this game), had what might have been his worst game of the
season. In almost 22 minutes of ice
time, he was blanked on six shots (12 shot attempts) and was on ice for all
five Islander goals. He was on ice for a
John Carlson goal to bring his game rating to a minus-4, the second of two
minus-4 ratings he had this season.
Postseason…
Ovechkin was conspicuously absent in the round robin,
failing to record a point in three games while averaging more than 20 minutes
of ice time per game. He was far more
productive in the first round series against the Islanders, recording half of
the Caps’ eight goals scored in the five-game series loss. But what stuck out in the end was that after
scoring two goals, including the game-winner, in Game 4 and with the chance to
make a series of it, Ovechkin went without a point and was minus-3 in Game 5
that ended the Caps’ season. Oddly
enough, it was only the second time in his career he was minus-3 in a playoff
game, the other also at the hands of the Islanders in Game 6 of the 2015
Eastern Conference quarterfinal, a 3-1 loss.
Looking Ahead…
Just about everyone in Capitals Nation knows that Alex
Ovechkin is entering the last year of the 13-year/$124 million contract he
signed back in January 2008. And,
negotiations on an extension are on hold for the time being, at least until the next training camp.
Few entertain a serious feeling of dread that Ovechkin and the Caps will part
ways, but this is a point in time when Caps fans realize that the end of the
Ovechkin’s career road is now in the windshield, and most of the best days are
in the rear-view mirror. It makes for a
certain urgency in pursuing another Stanley Cup, but also a certain poignancy
in realizing one of the great careers in the NHL is entering its autumn years.
In the end…
Early in his career, Alex Ovechkin chased records. Then, he chased the validation that comes
with winning a Stanley Cup. Now, he is
chasing history. Having missed more than
half an NHL season (47 games) to labor and pandemic issues over his career, he
is somewhat handicapped in his pursuit of the all-time goal scoring record held
by Wayne Gretzky. Nevertheless, even
with that burden, he is one of the greatest goal scorers (if not the greatest) in
the history of the league and amazes with his high level of production well
into his 30’s. He continues to set a
high standard of personal performance, and it is that high standard that makes those items Cheerless pointed out stand out a little more. Still, if
hockey signaled goals with yellow lights, perhaps Alex Ovechkin would have
slowed down by now.
It does not, and as long as it doesn’t, Ovechkin gives little hint of slowing
down.
Grade: B+
Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images North America
