Alexander Ovechkin finished the 2007-2008 regular season with 112 points and 65 goals, both the highest of any player in the league. He's also a candidate for the regular season MVP. And what did it get him in the playoffs?
Not a lot.
The Capitals came up short in the first round against the lower-seeded Flyers, making it the second year in a row that a Southeast Division team has failed to reach the second round of the playoffs.
Evgeni Malkin finished the regular season with 106 points and 47 goals. Only Ovechkin beat him on points and he was fourth overall in goals scored. Like Ovechkin, he is a candidate for the Hart Memorial Trophy. What did it get him in the playoffs?
Quite a lot.
The Penguins clinched the Eastern Conference by defeating Philadelphia in five games yesterday. Malkin is third in playoff points and fourth in playoff goals and the Penguins have yet to lose a home game in the playoffs.
So, why is it that two players who have taken their game to the next level during this season have ended up with such different playoff fates?
Simple.
Malkin has a supporting cast and Ovechkin doesn't.
Sure, Bruce Boudreau got Sergei Fedorov to help him out at the trade deadline. And then he somehow decided that the best place to put a future hall of fame forward like Fedorov was on the blue line, effectively cutting his offensive capabilities by a significant margin.
"But wait," Caps fans say. "What about Huet?" Yes, Cristobal Huet was indeed brilliant for the Capitals after he was acquired at the trade deadline. But he wasn't good enough to carry the entire team. Even as talented a goalie as Ryan Miller couldn't do that.
Miller went to the Eastern Conference Finals with the Sabres two years in a row and played like a man possessed. The Sabres finished the 2006-2007 season with the President's Trophy. That summer, they lost their two best players, (Chris Drury and Daniel Briere), to free agency and had to match a huge contract offered to one of their players (Thomas Vanek) in order to keep him, effectively limiting their ability to sign more good players. Guess what happened the following season? They didn't even make the playoffs.
It's also worth mentioning that half of the reason the Capitals made the playoffs is because their division was terrible all year long. They got in at the last second because the Hurricanes were unable to clinch at a final home game against the Panthers, due to outstanding goaltending by Craig Anderson. Because the division leaders are automatically seeded 1, 2, and 3 in the playoffs, they crept in because they were the luckiest team in an unpredictable and disappointing division.
Fedorov and Huet are great players, and they certainly did help bolster the team, but before they arrived, who else did Washington have? Sure, Kolzig's been a great goaltender for a long time, and Mike Green and Alexander Semin chipped in some points here and there. But typically, during the regular season, the story with Washington was this: Ovechkin has an off-night, they lose.
Not the case with Malkin. He doesn't score a goal or get an assist in a game, so what? Crosby's usually good for at least a point a game. And even when they were without Crosby, Malkin could get help from Jordan Staal or Petr Sykora or Maxime Talbot or Gary Roberts, not to mention the superb defensive help he would have or the outstanding goaltending from Fleury, Sabourin or Conklin.
That's a big reason why the Penguins just won the Eastern Conference: they have the complete package: high-scoring yet responsible forward lines made up of both young stars and veteran players; excellent defensive coverage of the same nature and a goaltender who is as hot as hot can be.
And that's also a big reason why the Capitals didn't even make it to the second round: they put all their eggs into one little basket with a number 8 on it, and their playoff experience from this year has demonstrated why it's not wise for a team to take that approach.
Don't believe me?
Ask the Great One.
Not even Gretzky, in all his glory, could carry a team to a Stanley Cup by himself. After the Oilers won their fourth Cup, they traded him to the Kings, but kept his supporting cast, (Messier, Kurri, Fuhr, etc.) and they won it again without him two seasons later. Gretzky never lifted the cup again. And if Washington keeps relying solely on Ovechkin's offensive prowess, they'll never get anywhere near it.
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2 months ago
Washington doesn't have any problems scoring, Backstrom and Semin had a great series on the 2nd line against the Flyers. Their problems are more with their defencemen. Too many goals against, too many turnovers in their own end, taking too long to move the puck so they couldn't get a clean breakout. They got a bit better late in the series but there were too many nervous plays in their own end. It's true that the penguins have two number one lines and there aren't many teams (if any) who can shut them both down, but it's their strong defense that stopped the flyers as much as it was their offence. When the capitals have Nylander back from injury they won't have any problem with two very strong top lines. But their problems will still all be at the back end.
I also wouldn't have suggested planting Ovechkin in front of the net to screen on the PP. They definitely needed somewhere there but it should have been Kozlov rather than Ovechkin. Then you have a screen plus Ovechkin is free to shoot through it.
2 months ago
Oh I agree, Washington's defense is definitely their main problem and Pittsburgh's had the best defense of any team in the playoffs so far. Backstrom was good for Washington, too, but really, Washington still leans on AO way too much.
2 months ago
Saying that DC has yet to surround Ovechkin with talent is a mistake. They've been building the EXACT same way that Pittsburgh has, with the exception of the fact that Pittsburgh's d-men developed a year sooner. Pittsburgh developed most of their d-corps.
DC stealing Huet and adding Alzner and perhaps Godfrey to the club next year will go a long way towards remedying the defense problem. Look for them to pick up another defenseman (Perhaps Orpik, even) and the offense to have less problems with injuries than they did this year (losing Nylander, 80 points, and Clark, 75, was a huge blow) and maybe through some miracle Pothier won't have to retire.
Malkin's club has proved his is better this year. Doesn't mean he should win any MVP awards.
Boudreau didn't add anyone - George McPhee did.
The argument that one player can't take his team to a championship is also flawed. Patrick Roy did it for the Canadiens in his rookie season, if I recall.
You're right in most arguments though - no doubt do the Penguins *currently* have the better team. But you can't argue that the Caps aren't trying to build a team around Ovechkin.
You could also argue the Caps were one bad call away from the second round. Ask Patrick Thoresen what I mean.
2 months ago
I forgot to mention - Fedorov played Center with Semin and Laich, until he was moved to the first line during the playoffs. He only played point *rarely* on the power play. He played D in one game, when the Caps were reduced to four defensemen due to injuries.
2 months ago
Roy was not the sole contributor to his first Stanley Cup victory. Sure, he won the Conn Smythe, but that doesn't mean the entire playoff success could be attributed to him and him alone.
2 months ago
I think my main point was that that's the closest one could come. I'm not arguing that Ovechkin could win a cup on his own.
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