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What Happened To Ovechkin?


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What's happened to Ovie? Another year gone, another Caps exit from the playoffs, but Ovechkin had a really bad season for him. 38 goals is amazing, but 65 points is pathetic considering he was hitting 100 regularly a few seasons ago, and last year wasn't spectacular by his standers either (though 85 points is still pretty amazing). In the playoffs Ovechkin seemed to play his heart out but couldn't light the lamp against Henrik or Thomas. Before Ovie could light up ANY elite goaltender no matter what kind of streak they were on. His selfish plays have cost the caps a few times in the last 2 seasons too, not to mention he is almost a defensive liability. So here's the question: What happened to Ovie? Will he be "Ovechkin" good again or does he just not care anymore?

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He's still a good player but he seems to be no longer the elite gamebreaker he once was. You are right, 38 goals or 85 points (both in "off years") are nothing to scoff at.

Perhaps its due to him coming into camp out of shape or having a poor off-season regimen. Or maybe his drop in production may be due to the fact that his playmaker (Nick Backstrom) was out for most of the season.

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I think the NHL's general lack of offense is to blame for SOME of his drop in production. The NHL is getting more and more defensive again and that hurts some offensive guys live Ovie. I expect him to improve next year, but I don't think he'll get to where he used to be. Unless something big happens in the off-season with the NHLPA agreements and such.

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He makes 9.5 million until the end of time, no matter how he performs?

Money is always an issue, and a motivation. You have to be VERY careful who you offer one of those mega-long-term contracts to. How many players have actually improved their game after signing a 10+ year deal? Most of them have a drop-off in performance, no matter how much "character" they were supposed to have had.

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He makes 9.5 million until the end of time, no matter how he performs?

Money is always an issue, and a motivation. You have to be VERY careful who you handout one of those mega-long-term contracts out. How many players have actually improved their game after signing a 10+ year deal? Most of them have a drop-off in performance, no matter how much "character" they were supposed to have.

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He makes 9.5 million until the end of time, no matter how he performs?

Money is always an issue, and a motivation. You have to be VERY careful who you offer one of those mega-long-term contracts to. How many players have actually improved their game after signing a 10+ year deal? Most of them have a drop-off in performance, no matter how much "character" they were supposed to have had.

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Continuing my above post...

Ilya Kovalchuk

2007-2008 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 79 52 35 87

2008-2009 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 79 43 48 91

2009-2010 Atlanta/New Jersey NHL 76 41 44 85

------------New Contract-------------------

2010-2011 New Jersey Devils NHL 81 31 29 60

2011-2012 New Jersey Devils NHL 77 37 46 83

Duncan Keith

2009-2010 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 82 14 55 69

------------New Contract-------------------

2010-2011 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 82 7 38 45

2011-2012 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 74 4 36 40

Henrik Zetterberg

2005-2006 Detroit Red Wings NHL 77 39 46 85

2006-2007 Detroit Red Wings NHL 63 33 35 68

2007-2008 Detroit Red Wings NHL 75 43 49 92

2008-2009 Detroit Red Wings NHL 77 31 42 73 (*signs contract in January)

------------New Contract-------------------

2009-2010 Detroit Red Wings NHL 74 23 47 70

2010-2011 Detroit Red Wings NHL 80 24 56 80

2011-2012 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 22 47 69

Vincent Lecavalier

2006-2007 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 52 56 108

2007-2008 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 81 40 52 92

---------Signs New Contract----------------

2008-2009 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 77 29 38 67

-----------New Contract--------------------

2009-2010 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 24 46 70

2010-2011 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 65 25 29 54

2011-2012 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 64 22 27 49

Niklas Backstrom

2008-2009 Washington Capitals NHL 82 22 66 88

2009-2010 Washington Capitals NHL 82 33 68 101

-----------New Contract--------------------

2010-2011 Washington Capitals NHL 77 18 47 65

2011-2012 Washington Capitals NHL 42 14 30 44

This was also the first year of Jeff Carter's new deal.

Some young guys who are purported to have lots of character performed very well for the first couple years of their big deals (Ovechkin, Richards), but then a lack of motivation and a fondness for partying seemed to slow them down.

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Washington used to play wide open hockey and then a few seasons ago they started playing the new NHLs trap hockey and that leads to fewer chances and as you watch the current 4 teams left in the playoffs it leads to very boring grind it out hockey .

The NHL needs to save the league again or its going to keep being as exciting and entertaing as watching paint dry

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It's because of his style of play.

When there were on going debates on whether Crosby or Ovechkin was better, the answer was always clear. Crosby is the better player because he's more dynamic. Even Brodeur has the same view on both of them if you read his book "Beyond the Crease".

Don't get me wrong, Ovechkin is still an amazing player. He's fast, hits hard, and has a very strong shot. The thing is, he's not that great along the boards and his deke coming down the left wing is becoming more and more predictable. People keep claiming it's the system that has caused his production to fall, but if you watch the games you'll notice how many times he loses the puck off the rush when he tries to snipe. Defenders just take the puck away from him and it's an outlet the other way. There's a reason Bruce benched him so many times this season. Same goes with Hunter.

He's a good player, but I would rather have certain players over him. I'd like to see him succeed though. Semin is pretty much invisible come playoff time. You can tell Ovechkin's trying hard though, I've been proud of how he's played in the recent playoff years.

I just prefer players who play hard and work the boards hard. Parise is a good example.

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