Long-Term Snares

This can still be Alexander Ovechkin's moment.

Sure, another may come. But at some point, if Ovechkin wants to be regarded as something more than a hockey version of Dominique Wilkins, a great scorer and that's about it, he has to do something more, like turn a lost cause into, at the very least, a fight to the finish.

You know, like Jonathan Toews did for Chicago in the first round.

Yet again, the Caps are on the verge of failing terribly in the NHL playoffs, and this is surely becoming a broken record, a talented team that turns out to be much less than the sum of its parts. 

Ovechkin is finishing his sixth NHL season and will be 26 in the fall. He's no longer hockey's future; he's the present. But it's been made abundantly clear in these playoffs that, unlike his arch-rival Sidney Crosby, Ovechkin hasn't added to his game or developed in ways that make him more difficult to defend and his team tougher to beat.

It's the same old, same old, and what Josh Gorges and Hal Gill easily snuffed out last spring, Eric Brewer is snuffing out this spring. It's a bull-rush charge down the right wing and an attempt to step inside against a left-handed shooting defenceman, usually from 25 feet out or more. Or it's the one-timer from 50 feet. But that rush almost never sees Ovechkin dart to the outside and then cut to the net, or work a give-and-go with a teammate, or make a move and then find somebody else open. The obvious contrast in this series with Tampa Bay has been watching Marty St. Louis, Vinny Lecavalier and Steve Stamkos work together to create chances for each other, while Ovechkin stubbornly goes solo time after time.

"They are uncanny when they want to get a goal," said an admiring Mike Knuble of the Caps about the Tampa attack. "It's like they just snap their fingers or hit a button. They just dial it up. You can see it. It's like they flip a switch. When they are down, it's just like they think, 'We know we are going to score.' I don't know what it is … it just leaves you flabbergasted."

That's how people used to talk about Washington. But these days, the Caps aren't so flabbergasting, at least not in a good way, and Ovechkin seems so. . .predictable, really. If he won't change, or adapt, it's hard to see at this point how his team can succeed, particularly a team that is very young at key positions and lacks stand-on-your-head goaltending.

Artistically, last year was Ovechkin's worst season. Statistically, this year has been, and all this with 10 years still to go on his 13-year, $124 million contract that didn't make a lot of sense at the time and makes less now.

It remains remarkable how these long-term committments so often produce less-than-splendid results, but teams still believe that it will be different for them.

Right now, Washington's decision to go long with Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom (10 years, $67 million) is looking not so different than the 2007 move by the Ottawa Senators to lock up Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza to long-term contracts in a bid to nail down the future.

The Sens were coming off a Stanley Cup final appearance, Heatley was a 50-goal shooter and Spezza a better point-per-game centre who could also score. Four years later, the Senators are at the bottom of the league, Heatley is in San Jose (without much in Ottawa to show for the trade) and Spezza is no longer a point-per-game player.

We can debate the reasons. But the contracts obviously didn't pan out for the team, and certainly didn't secure the future.

The Caps, meanwhile, have locked themselves into deals with Ovechkin and Backstrom for even longer, with both under contract until 2020, and Oveckin a year after that. Ovechkin's performance and numbers have clearly declined. Backstrom's production fell to 65 points this year from 101 points a year ago, and in these playoffs he's been a disaster, with no goals and just two assists.

Make no mistake about it, these are high end players, world class players, players that any team around the NHL would be glad to have, although perhaps without those contracts attached.

But five years after everyone laughed at the New York islanders for signing Rick DiPietro to a 15-year contract, teams are still signing these deals, and they rarely seem to produce even the same production from the athlete as before, let alone enhanced production.

Maybe it's the money that takes the edge off the player. Maybe it's the scrutiny, or the pressure, or the extra attention. Who knows exactly why. But it's worth noting Crosby was off to arguably his best season this year before being injured, and by comparison his is a shorter-term deal with only three more years to run.

Ovechkin and Backstrom, of course, have all the time in the world to turn this story around. But the Caps would like it to be now against the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

 

Comments

[Sanj]

Agreed that Ovie needs to add more moves to his arsenal for next yr. But to single handlily blame him for the Caps being elimiated this yr is unfair. Did u see Game 3? Ovie was doing all he could do and then some to win. He can't help it if the rest of his team is chipping in. The Caps have alot of problems but Ovie isn't one of them.

[Jay]

At least Ovechkin tries. You can't say the same for Backstrom, Semin or Green. Has any defenceman looked worse than Green ?

[Tanner J]

I think with Ovie, youre seeing the same thing that happened to Kessel for the first 40 games of this season. With no one else scoring (and Grabbo had to kind of use those 40 games to build a reputation as a guy to defend against) the defense can focus on one guy. When Backstrom gets 100 points, and Semin 40 + goals, you cant just focus on OV.

Also lets not forget that TB is a shamefull team to watch. They have Stamkos, Lecavelier, Malone and St. Louis, yet they are more boring to watch than Nashville. The NHL needs DESPERATLEY to make 2 rule changes. 1- bring in illegal defence penalties. 2 - If a team refuses to forcheck, you are allowed to go offside.. Call this the Tanner Rule, cause I invented it. Hell, lets make it 3 - No instigator rule, so you can beat the bejesus out of the boring ass team.

[Terry in Pittsburgh]

Agree with the other comments. AO is the least of the Caps' problems. When the series ends the self-important owner will fire Boudreau, who will then become the next coach of the Leafs by December 1st when Burke finally tires of Ronnie-boy...

[David Bacque]

Sorry guys AO IS the Cap's problem. He is all hustle all right but it amounts to nothing because he is not a team guy. Beadreau knows it too; he talks about 'guys not doing what the game plan calls for'.....really, just who do you think he's talking about? But don't get me wrong AO can play but he's not the 'leadership' guy and he's being asked for that. Bad combination and that means they go out.

[Al]

Agree with Tanner. TBay should be deducted points in each round for not playing with any aggressiveness.

As for Ovie... he hasn't been the same since Game 7 against Sid.

[The J]

Maybe instead of the Nique comparison, you could have used Lebron as the basketball counter-part. Great player on a great regular season team, but his teammates always disappeared when it mattered and left him as the only star getting anything done. Lebron had to leave for Miami for a chance. AO might be stuck in Washington for a long time.

Plus, Nique just won a fight.

[moe green]

I'm not sure how I could care any less about this year's playoffs. If Vancouver is eliminated by San Jose I won't even bother checking the scores in the morning. Ovie-schmovie. The Caps are doomed. The real question is: How could a team as stacked as the Bolts have beens so average all season long? Wanna watch a boring final? Try San Jose versus Tampa. Yick.

[bill smith]

The tanner rule I love it.
Especially #3
Is anybody else tired of the phony Clint Eastwood stare imitation by the Tampa coach?

[D]

The J you gotta get your facts right. The bolts had 4 fewer points than the Caps at the end of the season, which is damn impressive. They are a great team and they have the potential to cause a lotta damage to any team they play.
The Caps need more role players. People willing to do the dirty work. Can't see them doing better if Green, Backstrom and Semin don't step up.

[nhlpro]

Alex Ovechkin is the best player in the world. PERIOD. Hes only 25. 26 in the fall, theyll win the cup next year. He is only 25, yet hes being called out like this?. . i hate crosby fans. hes a good player, but give ovechkin malkin...and theyll be a dyansty. Enough with the ovechkin hate.. im sick of it.. hes the best player in the world. hes going take the hart next year, with the rocket, with the conn smythe, WITH THAT THE STANLEY CUP. He is the most entertaining player, and best player. His intensity, pure passion for the game makes him unstoppable. Hockeys a team sport, his team didnt step up, but hes ONLY 25, AND YOU EXPECT HIM TO WIN CUPS LEFT RIGHT AND CENTRE...YZERMAN WON 4 CUPS AND DIDNT WIN ONE UNTIL HE WAS 30, OVECKINS NOT EVEN IN HIS PRIME. IM DEFENDING HIM AS A FAN OF HOCKEY. NOT AS A OVECHKIN FAN. PURE FACTS, HES AVERGED 50 GOALS IN HIS CAREER AND YOUR TELLING ME IN A MODERN NHL... CROSBY HAD MALKIN.. MALKIN IS A 100

[Leafsfan]

Guys if Tampa's so boring to watch, then plain and simple don't watch it. The Stanley Cup Playoffs isn't about being the flashiest team, it's about being a team that can win. Tampa's showing they're a team that can do that. There's not going to be some stupid tanner rule so give it a rest, Bolts are moving on, Caps are out. The winning team beat the flashier team, plain and simple.

[Keen]

I don't know if it's the money or if Ovechkin is just not very hockey smart. he seems like a physically gifted player who just relies on that part of his game, and can't think to save his life. probably because he never had to

[Ron]

You know Damien, Ovechkin is a really good player but people who try to put him in the same breath as Sidney Crosby are just dead wrong. He is not a good two way player and for all his dash and flash my guess is he will not be able to lead the Caps to a cup anytime soon, if ever. The mark of a great player is that he makes everyone around him better and in fairness up until now that is not the case with Ovechkin.

[Phil]

I am a Leaf fan living in the hostile enemy territory of Ottawa. Much as it pains me, I think you are being a bit unfair to Spezza.

His production this year is not quite a point a game, 57 in 62. At the same time, he was injured and out for quite a while. And he really has little support on that team anymore - Heatley is gone and Alftredsson is fading.

Spezza has always been more of a playmaker/passer than a scorer, although he can do that too. But there is nobody on the team that can convert his set ups anymore.

He and Kessel could use each others skills and both would flourish.