Washington Capitals Captain Alex Ovechkin: The next great one
There are not many players who are bound for greatness when they enter the National Hockey League (NHL) with high hopes and dreams, based on what they have been seeing on their television screens and live matches, but then again, not everyone is Alexander
Ovechkin.
Easily, one of the greatest ice hockey players to have ever graced the ice rink of our generation, Alex Ovechkin has established his name on top of a list many players do not even get to see after seasons of trying and hard work.
Drafted as the first overall pick during round-one of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by Washington, Capitals made a selection which they did not regret for a single moment after making it. The 25-year-old from Moscow, Russia, will be entering his seventh straight
regular season with the Eastern Conference team, which has not failed to disappoint during the past few regular seasons.
Again, the term is regular seasons. Washington ended their straight second regular season as the number one team in the conference, but failed to get past the second-round of the 2011 NHL Playoffs, which has terribly lowered its performance ratings.
Born on September 17, 1985, Alexander Mikhaylovich Ovechkin played mainly with Dynamo Moscow team in Russia prior to joining the NHL, along with frequent participation in Russia’s World Junior Championship tournaments.
He played his first North American season with Washington during 2005-2006, in which he participated in 81 matchups and contributed a whopping 106 points (52 goals, 54 assists), along with a plus-minus rating of two and 52 penalty minutes.
The following two seasons during 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 were career makes for Ovechkin, as he potted 92 points (46 goals, 46 assists) and 112 points (65 goals, 47 assists) during both respectively.
Last season, Ovechkin faced a new down low of only being able to score 85 points (32 goals, 53 assists) in 79 games. In total, the left winger has played 475 games and scored 614 points (301 goals, 313 assists).
Certainly, he still has much time to grow as a player, but the question still remains, which is of outmost importance according to the topic we are discussing, is whether Ovechkin is the better player over a number of other NHL talents like Corey Perry,
Sidney Crosby or Martin St. Louis.
One thing that should be remembered is that each and every player has a different style of play which overall affects what level he can possible reach after a certain time limit.
The first aspect one would notice about Ovechkin’s name is his passion and dedication to the sport of ice hockey. It can quite easily been seen now that Alex certainly does possess passion and interest in the sport like no other.
Along with his dedication comes the physical part of his play which truly allows him to reach further than any other player in the NHL. Ovechkin does not care whether there is 100 men in front of him, the Russian players goes up gets what is his.
Viewing his past performance, it is not hard to tell that if Ovechkin remains healthy for the upcoming seasons, he will certainly without a doubt, lead the league one day in terms of performance and leadership qualities and even be called the “Great One”
some day.
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