#nhl #hockey #pittsburghpenguins Alex Ovechkin & The Washington Capitals are the NHL's biggest anomaly. We take a deep dive into the game of one of greatest goal scorers in NHL Hockey history at 38 years old.
exactly man tell them. People are so focused on the game and forget these are human beings like the rest of us with lives outside their careers like really. It's annoying to see how often these players get treated like slaves
I don’t doubt that certainly played a factor. I know it would mess me up. Wanted to keep it strictly focused on his game as that’s all any of us can see.
Not a Caps fan, particularly, but Ovi has something only a handful of other NHL top tier guys have: Beast Mode. The ability to make shi*t happen when it ain't looking so good. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. And that is a learnable skill for everyone else in the dressing room. He seems to be making it work these days and I hope they make the playoffs. Beast Mode engaged!
100%. I can't believe how many delusional people out there think he can't score 50 goals in the next three, four years. It's hilarious. The capitals will keep him on the roster, (and likely pay him as much as he wants) as long as it takes to secure the record that will add tremendously to the team's legacy.
@@Waawaaweewaa_ he who laughs last... +2 goals against Carolina. one more and Ovi is going to lead the record for most 30 or more goals in a season. Right now hes at SEVENTEEN 30+ goals seasons. so watching you laughing at him just shows what of a meaningless and uneducated karen you are 🤣
I am getting old. I remember the year he was drafted and was amazed how a kid my own age was blowing up the NHL. Now, the kids being drafted today are ACTUAL kids in my eyes haha.
@youthinkyouknowme5551 likely retired 😂. That said I remember the fuss on how Lindros was the next one for a full year before he was drafted, sat out, played the Canada Cup and then was finally traded to Philly.
@@rexradar9297 Ya and Lindros helped Colorado (Quebec) win 2 Cups something he never won himself. Quebec got Forsberg,4 other players and 2 -1st round picks ~ Philly got robbed
Let's not forget that Ovi has ONLY missed like 59 games throughout his 19 season career, thus far. Also, Ovi missed out on the 2004-2005 season due to NHL Lookout, then the 2012-2013 season started late due to another Lookout, and finally, the 2019-2020 season ended short and 2020-2021 started late due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If those things never happened, then Ovi would've already broken Gretzky's goal scoring record a while ago, and also would've had more than a single 60 goal season! But still, its so impressive how little he has missed due to injury, illness, or healthy scratch. This is a very rare trait amongst great players as usually they lack in that physical longevity.
@@armandoortiz9114 sorry for that disater of a comment that you had you read. My RU-vid app has been trippin' lately, i.e. either comments just disappear or they get completely jumbled up. Anyways, I edited it. Sorry about that.
Let's not forget that Gretzky has more assists than any player in NHL history has points. And since you want to play the game of "if's and could haves" imagine if Gretzky actually decided to shoot more? You can also add in modern day stick technology as opposed to those old wooden things players played with back in the 80's and 90's .. Toss in the Red Line that took away 33% of the rink where a player actually had to gain the red line before the offense could proceed
@@youthinkyouknowme5551 His assists have nothing to do with anything and no one is comparing who is better if they played during the same era. I'm strictly pointing out the reality of what's happening, which is Ovi is on the verge of beating his goal record and if in his career there weren't the two lockouts and Covid pandemic, he would've already beat said record. I don't compare players from different eras as it makes no sense to do so. So I don't know why you're getting so triggered like it's your honor that you're defending. 🤣
@@G3NK5T42 Hey emoji boy you're the one triggered. I always laugh at you "if,what if,coulda,shoulda' people. And let me give you a history lesson since you are a little short on pointing out the history of reality. Gretzky himself went through 2 lockouts.. The 92 & 94 Strikes .And in the end Gretzky did it all in less games so all that preamble about Covid and Strikes is phantom B.S Epic Fail Care for more? I'll gladly oblige you
I understand youre north american so family means little to you but you missed the fact his FATHER DIED and he had not fully recovered the first part of the season. Khabib retired from MMA when his father died It means something in our lands. Parents mean something. I know some of your more conservative people value family, but i know from knowing north americans in both Canada and the US in my life it is NOT the same thing across the board. Thats the main reason why OVI suffered and his game bottomed out The other points you raised were valid too Greetings from a family orientated conservative Christian part of the world
@@AlexandrawOfficial_Lexi Dude, you can't make such idiotic generalizations about people. You lecture someone about having a limited worldview, while clearly displaying your own!
@@viperswhip Basic forensic statistical math says Matthews would need to score a min of 53 goals a season for the next 10 years. Matthews will already be 27 before next season starts. Never ever going to happen
@@Jobiewon@He needs only 2 22-23 goals seasons to catch and pass Wayne’s record,he has already scored 30 this year,definitely it’s gonna happen,probably end of the next season,better save you money.
I think it's partially that our timelines are the same. Both fan bases see the writing on the wall. We want our players to keep playing well, and that goes for our rivals because we need someone to "hate". I hated Crosby and Malkin 10 years ago. Now, I hate seeing them at the bottom of the standings and getting into their late 30's. I want them to do well and have Backstrom return and continue but I know it's all going to end soon. @@morrisalanisette9067
I watched the last Leafs vs Caps game. Ovi had 2 goals from his office. Everyone knows where he likes to shoot from yet he still absolutely kills it from that spot.
I wouldn't bet on it. Yeah, he was on a 60-goal pace, but for a short time. I think he's gonna score a couple more goals to get to 850, meaning he'd need 45 more to break the record. I think he's good for 25-30 next season, leaving him 15 to go at age 40 in his final season. He does tend to get hot when closing in on a record, but he's already playing pretty hot for a player his age, way higher scoring than like Gretzky or Jagr. Now, I could be wrong and he could just go _off,_ but I don't think so. Steve Dangle actually put down a prediction for the exact date he breaks the record: January 26, 2026. That's a little more than halfway through his last season... and it's Gretzky's 65th birthday.
@@Denverairsoft6890 It's been kinda funny watching like Strome have an open shot and hesitate, then pass it to Ovi. They're all thinking "what if Ovi ends up one goal short and it's _my_ fault?"
As a massive Sid fan I hope Ovi becomes the all time goal scorer. Sid is playing almost like prime Sid (considering the help he has rn) and I would love for Ovi to be the same
As a massive Ovi fan since practically their rookie days, fingers crossed man. It aint a true rivalry if only one guy is playing like his prime... And Sid is damn good these days.
Its just awesome to see both of them being such impact players at this stage of their career. Ovi will play until he breaks the record without a doubt, Sid will go down as one of the best two way players the game has ever seen. Both have cups, both first ballot hall of famers, both have been a pleasure to watch for the last 20 years in the league. As a hockey fan, you have to appreciate how spoiled we were to have them spend their careers at the same time in NHL history together as rivals.
Sid has always been a better playmaker and all around skill guy. Ovi is the better pure goal scorer, and has the size/physicality advantage, which is a big deal... but being a generational playmaker talent AND goal scorer is that much more rare IMO. Both players are special and will always be remembered for what they brought to the NHL.
I understand youre north american so family means little to you but you missed the fact his FATHER DIED and he had not fully recovered the first part of the season. Khabib retired from MMA when his father died It means something in our lands. Parents mean something. I know some of your more conservative people value family, but i know from knowing north americans in both Canada and the US in my life it is NOT the same thing across the board. Thats the main reason why OVI suffered and his game bottomed out The other points you raised were valid too Greetings from a family orientated conservative Christian part of the world
@@AlexandrawOfficial_Lexi True Putin released a video on the importance of Women needing to bear children. Definitely not because they're sending all their men to die 😅
If Gretzky had one of these modern day sticks instead of those old wood one's that weighed 20 lbs he would have had 1000 goals Hahahaha (since you want to bring up sticks)
@@youthinkyouknowme5551goalie equipment, era scoring average, defensive systems, etc. In the 'what if' department, Ovi has lost about 150 games due to lockouts and COVID. That's another 100 or so goals. Too many indicators to suggest Ovechkin would have done even better in the 80s. Gretzky's title as the great one isn't in any jeopardy either way. He himself welcomes this record breaking as a good thing for hockey, if and when it happens.
Honestly I hate when people compare him to Crosby. Ovechkin has done everything that has been asked of him and he’s always been the one to take all the criticism. Especially with all the stuff happening in Russia. Just because Crosby had more team accomplishments doesn’t minimalize Ovechkin success . I wish they were just both looked at as two of the best hockey players of all time, and nothing less
as a pens fan, i completely agree. they both are a top 10, possibility even top 5 hockey hockey players of all time. i love watching sid and ovi face each other too. its awesome!
yesssiirrr!!!! We have been blessed to see them both dominate the league for as long as they have and people tend to forget that they play different positions and have different playing styles and also forget that the stanley cup is a TEAM award. Penguin fans especially are the ones that act obnoxious, arrogant and selfish when trying to compare and contrast another
@@Avaitions_ respect to you homie. You seem like one of the very few penguin fans that isn't arrogant or selfish like most of them are. Whether you like either one of these teams or dislike em we have all been spoiled to see these guys rule the NHL and the world for as long as they have
Ovi hasn’t been the kind of guy who can take over games or generate offense all by himself for a good while now, and I’d say his explosiveness mostly disappeared in the early 2010s after boudreau was fired. But his shot is just so insanely good and his hockey instincts so sharp that he’s been able to stay relevant this long. I must admit, watching those old early to mid 20s Ovi highlights of him burning defenders with his speed makes me wish he could’ve kept that style of play up into the later 2010s. I wonder what he could’ve been if he’d had a workout/diet plan like Lebron James or Tom Brady. Nevertheless I can’t complain for what he’s given the caps and DC, that 2018 cup run will never be topped for me.
Ovechkin used to stay around the faceoff circle as his lowest position in the zone and very rarely would go in front of the net. Since about January, he's changed his game and gets a bunch of garbage goals off rebounds, stays in front for deflections, etc. Major change in his positioning and style, from run-and-gun explosive speed and shot to what we see now.
*If* the caps do make the playoffs I honestly don’t think it will be the last time we see him there. This team will be better next season. This was a chaotic year for them, new coaches, new system and Murphy’s Law was basically rolling in full effect at the center position. A more stable situation will be good for them. Keep developing those young guys, try to dump some rough contracts and hopefully get Ryan Leonard a shot. If things go right, it will be looking pretty good for them.
@@armandoortiz9114 bands kinda been broken up tbh. All that’s left from their cup squad discounting Bäckström who basically is retired, is Ovi, Carlson, Oshie and Wilson. Oshie is probably calling it quits this off-season, which is a shame cause I think just about everyone loves the dude. Ovi and Carlson are still top contributors on the team, so they’re fine and doing their thing. Wilson tho, it kinda looks like that 6.5 until 2030-31 is gonna bite them with his massive production drop this season. They need to start flipping guys like Dowd, Jensen, TVR. Ideally Kuemper too, but that’s gonna hard sell for anyone to take that contract on.
I know this is off topic. But I was wondering since you do videos where you disect why and how teams are performing so well, I was wondering if you could do a video on the Oilers from the glory years, explaining the style of play, the tactics, the reasons why they were so good?
prime ovi was the best goal scorer ever while in a low goal scoring era. He got Calder over Crosby the most overall skilled player ever. Let that sink in
Wings fan here and im total shock of where they came back from. Its an outright battle now between us, Caps, Flyers, Islanders, Penguins and Sabres for that last ticket.
I hope he breaks the record sooo bad. No reason other than it would be one of the greatest achievements in hockey history, maybe even sports considering the context of his career. 2 lock outs, pandemic shortened season, and playing in the dead puck era. I want to see it sooo bad
Thank you for doing this vid, however I want to correct you on something. Wayne played until he was 37, but he started that season when he was 36, turning 37 in February, 3/4 into the season. Last season Ovi turned 37 in September prior to the season's start, and put up 42 goals with Backstrom, Wilson, Carlson and Orlov each missing half the season, and Kuznetsov didn't play well. Ovi had an injury, and the death of his dad to deal with. He was on pace for 50 goals but missed 9 games. On top of that he had to cope with Russian hatred coming out of the left. I bet next season Ovi scores more than 50 and maybe takes the Rocket, becoming the soul owner of the most 50+ goal seasons.
No. He’ll never score 50 again. I hope you seriously don’t think he will? Did you watch the video? He explained that yes Father Time has caught up with Ovi and he’ll only be older next season and the season after that.
@@jasonvoorhees8545Did you not watch the video? He scored 18 in his last 24, a 62 goal season pace. Read again what I first said, listen closely and do not listen with your girly feelings. lol
@@jasonvoorhees8545 there goes the doubting again… in the beginning of the season everyone kept saying that he was washed out, then he gave ya’ll the finger 🖕and started putting up points with the broken team the caps are right now…
The caps are a great story this year, same with the flyers, really defying the odds and proving that a youth movement is necessary for forward progression once you hit a wall. Pittsburgh is a perfect contrast; they decided to double down on past mistakes with their new GM, added a 10m dollar contract with Erik Karlsson and he hasn’t produced like he did in SJ last year or Ottawa before that and rather than try and retool, they shipped out bad contracts and replaced them with… nothing? Bunting is a decent addition, but Graves is overpaid, Carter is still there, Malkin and Letang aren’t worth their contracts anymore and Sid is still Sid, but that’s not simply not enough. Caps and Pens are two sides of the same coin, only the caps decided not to stick with it and decided that they needed to change things up and Pittsburgh decided to pull a vintage Kyle Dubas move and run it back with minimal changes.
He’ll get goals as long as he can hang out at the opposing teams blue line or sit in the left wing circle grab up those freebies from teams with a shit PK. Saw Stamkos doing the same thing on Saturday in Pittsburgh. But hey at least the NHL learned you cant let your star players get abused every night like they let happen from 2010 through 2017.
Chris Chelios played some pretty good defensive hockey in his early 40's. But offensive production tends to wane much quicker as one reaches 35-36. Ovechkin will probably play his last season at age 40.
Few players never got beat by father time, like Lidstrom. Dude just wanted to go home and raise his kids in Sweden. Probably could be playing with Jagr if he wanted to.
He is so gonna catch Gretzky. I might not be next year but think of it like this: If Ovechkin plays the next season with only 50 games and scores 25 - 26 goals. He’d only need the remainder of the season to score at least 18 and he’d get him by two or so for 896. This man has the ability to probably be one of four hockey players from any league to score over 900 goals in professional hockey.
I really hope to see Ovi break the record. While Gretzky did do a lot to be ahead of his time and change the game to what it is today. Most of his career he was shooting on human traffic cones. To see Ovi getting this close is amazing. He should train with Jagr in the off season.
Gretzky played in an era where there was a Red Line and players could literally hook,grab and can open you. That said i believe the goaltending is much better nowadays so i guess it evens out.
All time greats like Ovi, Crosby, Gretzky, etc. etc. have a huge advantage in the later parts of their career as they are given a long leash and allowed to continue to play on 1st and 2nd lines, and rack up a lot of time on the power play. Lesser players get banished to the 3rd and 4th lines, their playing time gets slashed and they quickly fall into a downward spiral statistically. As good as guys like Ovi and Crosby are, at this point, if they were forced to play in the bottom 6 of the lineup and limited powerplay, their stats would also fall off a cliff.
i been saying this whole year not to bet against ovi. however, this caps team really did surprise me. Think about it: they lost Backstrom indefinitely, Ovi struggled to score goals in the first 30 games, their backup goalie is their main goalie now, they trade kuznetsov and Mantha, and then lose Tom wilson to suspension. And somehow there is a good chance they will make the playoffs. It's such a strange year because there are so many positives and negatives at the same time. The story really is the young kids are really stepping up and flourishing, and Lindgren is playing great too. Ovi finding his stride is pushing them over the edge
I have to say this is far better analysis than the nonsense you get from mainstream outlets who just can't but context together fro the life of them. Lost both of his top 6 C's this year with Backstrom due to injury retirement and Kuzy hasn't been there really in nearly 2 years. Then Ovi lost his dad last year which likely cost him the offseason training and it seems he may have picked up an injury then as well. Tag on a new coach and system, a new centre and a team trying to figure itself out and you have this. I'll tell you this, if Ovechkin was Canadian you'd never hear the slander, he'd be a god and get every benefit of the doubt that he rightfully deserves. People sit around and laud Crosby's current 36 year old season for a team not in the playoffs right now yet Ovechkin's was clearly better while dragging a carcass of a Caps team into the playoffs after missing more man games in their top 6 than anyone in the league that year. Ovechkin isn't done and that record is falling next year.
Like this channel and vids! But for hockey Psychology the mental strain with the issues going on back in his home country may also have played a part in Ovi's slow start too. I was talking to a Russian friend just three days ago here where I live and even they were loth to mention anything about the homeland. But that's just my two cents.
Ok … just two days ago the radio station in my truck mentioned the Capitals and Ovech and I thought how is his playing at his age.. next thing you know you have a whole thing about it and I’m watching it.
It’s impossible to compare eras because of drastic chances in the game. But take a look at the goaltending when viewing a Gretzky career highlighted clip. It was horrible because of the equipment. The fact that Ovie is going to put up 900 goals against the modern overstuffed goaltenders is amazing.
Hes the best goal scorer of all time ..lets not pretend he wouldn't already have passed Wayne by now if it wasnt for covid and lock outs . Obviously hes definitely not the all tome best player ever . But hes for sure the goal scoring goat . And btw im not a caps fan nor a giant Ovie fan . Just stating facts . He deserves to take the spot
Anyone who has been following Ovechkin for any length of time knows this isn’t the first season he’s been written off and then suddenly he’s averaging over a point per game the last quarter of the season.
It's not quite fair to bring up Gretzky, he was injured and spent. Other players did better. Selanne scored 27 goals at 38 and over 100 goals afterwards, Howe scored 39 goals as 38 yo and also continued on with over 100 goals, Daniel Alfredson had 24 goals in his 38 yo season and over 100 after turning 38, Messier and Jágr Also had good goal scoring records...
@@cohengamertv6548 That was the only way Howe could have a big role opportunity. Imagine if he had had a big role on a good team at 52. He could have broken 60 points.
I'm Russian. In my opinion, Ovechkin played very poorly in the first part of the championship because he approached it in bad shape. Last year, the team did not make the playoffs, Ovechkin went to Russia, where he lived for several months. He was having fun, leading a public life. In my opinion, he started the season with a lot of extra weight. He was very big, very heavy and very slow. When he couldn't score goals, everyone started saying that he was old, that Akella had missed and it was time for him to leave, that he would never be able to score 70 goals. All these things put a lot of pressure on his mental state. But Alexander is a great champion, he did not give up, he found his game, and he has already scored 26 goals. This is a great result. He can really beat Gretzky's record.
You're right his conditioning was away off. It's amazing how productivity can drop with simple weight gain. I remember hearing a rumour where he was 260 lbs heading into training camp
@@youthinkyouknowme5551 Ovechkin played soccer for the Dynamo Moscow team in the offseason. Look how heavy he was. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-47GwrqJklFE.html
I think at the end you shoulda said to see ovi in the playoffs "another time" instead of "one last time" since, who knows maybe he goes this year and next?