yave1964 Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 A couple of nights ago against the Winnipeg Jets Alex Ovechkin scored his 600th career goal, the fourth fastest ever to do so behind only Gretzky, Mario and Brett Hull. He is 32 and showing no signs of slowing down. I am posting a two part question in here the first is: WILL OVIE EVER WIN A CUP? A team award but one that the teams greatest players are supposed to carry them to, the Great Eight needs to get out of the second round first, his biological clock is ticking, as is the clock of the Capitals in general. How many years does he have left? How many more do they have before the window is permanently closed? the second part is : WILL HE BREAK THE ALL TIME GOALS RECORD OF 894? Ovie is 32 years old, to say that he starts to slow but still is a decent goal scorer going forward, averaging 30 a year, by the time he is 40 he would still be 54 goals short so that is not going to cut it. The same 8 years, 35 a year he is within 14 and clearly he hangs around long enough at that point to break the record. He is an elite goal scorer one of the greatest ever at doing so and clearly he has a chance. Working against him are a couple of things, number one, his team is still relevant but slipping back to the pack, first and foremost. Second is it is becoming quite common for Euro's to head back to Mother Russia mid/late career for a time to satisfy the home country. Datsyuk did it. Kovalchuk has done it. Radulov.Jagr played for several years in the KHL. Every year and more and more it seems that a Ruskie returns to the land of Borsch and Vodka for a time because of love of Country. Ovechkin has always been proud of his heritage and there is a very real possibility that he opts mid/late career to go back for a season or two, possibly returning to North America down the road. Of the two questions, one at a time my take: 1) I personally feel that any team with Holtby, Kuznetsov, Carlson, Ovie and Backstrom along with a decent bunch of secondary players can compete. I think the window is clearly closing due to age and defections, there is a very real chance that Calrson, an UFA moves on after this year. Even returning I believe that as currently built the Caps have at most a 2 year window before age and other factors catch up. The East is deep but every team is flawed to some degree or another so a hot Holtby could make it happen. 2) Saying that he will average 35 goals a year between the ages of 33-40 is a tall order but he is still at the peak of his goal scoring ability with 42 goals in 70 games so far this year 50 is well within reach. If the following 2 years he manages to pot 50 each year, he is looking at 700 through the age of 34 and only trailing by 194. Playing through 41, averaging 25 goals a year he is right there knocking on the door so he doesn't need to remain elite. just a very good player into his early 40s. The odds are against it but I believe it is possible. Just being able to say that someone may be able to make a run at a record most thought would never be broken says just what a great player number eight really is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDevil Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 I don't think he wins a Cup with the Caps. I think eventually he'll leave them to chase one though. The goal record, I think he gets to somewhere around 850-860, but doesn't catch Gretzky. I would love to be wrong about both of them though. Ovechkin might be my #1 player on another team I'd like to see win a Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 You hit the nail on the head: Russian players go to the KHL at some point, and I think the decision to leave the NHL for hockey in Russia someday will allow Ovechkin to enjoy a life-long "what-if" question attached to his goal scoring. I will explain: - If he stays in the NHL, he is unlikely to break Gretzky's record. - If he leaves for the KHL, he can always claim that he would have broken Gretzky's record but chose not to. The latter is probably good enough for most Ovechkin fans who will look back on his career and claim that his goal scoring was better than Gretzky. On the other hand, there's always a chance that the game could open up more in the future. (Open up by way of larger nets, rule changes, etc. which allow players to score off the rush again.) If that happens, then Ovechkin might return to a few 60 goal seasons again and we may see goal scoring levels approach 1980's levels again. Under that scenario, he could challenge Gretzky's record if he stays healthy. The odds of continued good health are unlikely though. Ovechkin has never had any major injury like similar stars before him. Pavel Bure had all sorts of knee ligament tears and other things which wrecked his career. A similar injury to Ovechkin would mean an entire season lost and this debate would be over with for good. If I had to make a prediction, I'll say he gets to ~700 goals in the NHL before calling it quits due to some combination of: Injuries KHL time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluPuk Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 Comparing OV to Gretzky? Ridiculous IMHO. Sorry, but I gotta call 'em as I see 'em. OV is not a hockey player at all, he's a goal scorer and a very good one but there's a huge difference. OV is like a mike Bossy was, or more accurately, like a Jari Kurri was. Remember him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted March 23, 2018 Author Share Posted March 23, 2018 22 minutes ago, BluPuk said: Comparing OV to Gretzky? Ridiculous IMHO. Sorry, but I gotta call 'em as I see 'em. OV is not a hockey player at all, he's a goal scorer and a very good one but there's a huge difference. OV is like a mike Bossy was, or more accurately, like a Jari Kurri was. Remember him? never compared Wayne to Ovie, the question was not is Ovechkin as good as Gretzky, lol, I woulda been rightfully ran off the forum. The question is will Ovechkin break the all time record for goals scored, one of about a million records owned by Gretzky. Bossy was a hell of a player fr a brief time whose career was cut short by chronic back injuries, his numbers would have been insane otherwise. Kurri was a great but his numbers were way overinflated because of playing with Gretzky, Ovechkin is imho superior to either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyClarkeFan16 Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 I'm glad Oven Chicken is going to the Finals and I hope he wins. One of the true great characters in the game who swallowed a lot of crap about not being successful in the playoffs. Of note, Oven Chicken is a term of endearment. My late father was a fan, but he had a hard time pronouncing his name, hence why we called him Oven Chicken in our home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J0e Th0rnton Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 On 5/24/2018 at 10:57 AM, BobbyClarkeFan16 said: I'm glad Oven Chicken is going to the Finals and I hope he wins. One of the true great characters in the game who swallowed a lot of crap about not being successful in the playoffs. Of note, Oven Chicken is a term of endearment. My late father was a fan, but he had a hard time pronouncing his name, hence why we called him Oven Chicken in our home. hehe My dad calls Chuck Liddell "Chocolate L" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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