Ovechkin milestone thread - 850 and Beyond!

[BallardEra]

795 goals in 1302 games played equates to 50.1 goals over an 82 game span.

 

[Firsov99]

Ovechkin's physical game is overstated. While he throws a lot of hits, he isn't taking punishment around the net or anywhere along the boards because he's usually around the middle of the ice or swoops in late to catch a rebound around the net. If you look at him play shift by shift, there's many shifts where he won't make physical contact with another player.

Disagree. Ovi is in his 18th(!) season in the league. You can’t judge his physicality by watching his game only for the past few seasons. Yes, he has adjusted his game, otherwise he would not have played for this long, but he has been a power forward for most of his career. And if you dish out hits, your body still takes punishment. His durability is as legendary as his goal-scoring prowess in my view.

 

[Firsov99]

I absolutely love to visit this thread after an empty net goal. It's even better when he gets two!

Imagine what would happen if Ovi gets a hat trick of empty netters

 

[filinski77]

Will be interesting to see how Ovi’s career ends. He still can score goals, but is tied in points around 50th in the league. I mean, Crosby has more goals than him so far. He’s limping by, though not surprising given he’s like two year older than Crosby, right?

Yeah, Ovi’s 37 years old, and has like 3,500 hits in this league. The fact that he’s 50th in points is fine for his age and wear and tear.

He’s tied for 8th in the league in goals (I think) at 37. That’s remarkable.

 

[gtrower]

Yeah, Ovi’s 37 years old, and has like 3,500 hits in this league. The fact that he’s 50th in points is fine for his age and wear and tear.

He’s tied for 8th in the league in goals (I think) at 37. That’s remarkable.

T-8th goals
T-37th points

 

[Sun God Nika]

I absolutely love to visit this thread after an empty net goal. It's even better when he gets two!

Im sure caps fans would trade all of Ovi's career empty nets in return for a lockout/covid season back.

 

[Hatfield]

Give Ovechkin 7 other hall of famers, let's see how he does.

As it stands, Ovie has only ever had 1 (Nick Backstrom) unless you want to count 38 and 39 year old Fedorov.

I don’t think Backstrom even makes the HOF. I think he should, but he’s a very borderline case.

 

[SkinsFan09]

Ovechkin's physical game is overstated. While he throws a lot of hits, he isn't taking punishment around the net or anywhere along the boards because he's usually around the middle of the ice or swoops in late to catch a rebound around the net. If you look at him play shift by shift, there's many shifts where he won't make physical contact with another player.

Ovechkin's work around the net is incredibly underrated. To suggest he doesn't do work down there is completely untrue.

 

[ViD]

Funny reading this coming from an Oilers fan. A franchise with the two best players in the world, with all the scoring titles imaginable but very little team success to speak of.

The Caps and Ovi did OK, all things considered

View attachment 618456

@Rengorlex consider deleting the account after this burn

 

[SkinsFan09]

Ovie set a new league record for empty net goals last season and he would be on pace to break it again this season if he had not hit the post multiple times. People just look at the goal totals anyway, as Caps fans rightly point out! So as long as he gets them it wont matter how.

I just wish all empty net goals and assists were eliminated from the stats for all players, it would give a more balanced view and not reward greedy cherry picking which is clearly completely pointless.

So we're eliminating Gretzky's then because he has the most ENG ever.

And Ovechkin did not set a new record he had the same as Pavel Bure did in Florida. And the year before last he had zero ENGs.

Capital franchise has always been about maximising Ovechkin's totals. A marketing tool.

Except that time they hired Dale Hunter. Or when they hired a coach in Barry Trotz who is anything but offensively minded.

 

[DarrylshutzSydor]

Gretz was credited with 56+/- empty net goals, Oie is at 50 +/-, really doesnt matter, the other half Gretz's goal might as well have been empty nets.....

 

[HurricaneFanatic]

Gretz was credited with 56+/- empty net goals, Oie is at 50 +/-, really doesnt matter, the other half Gretz's goal might as well have been empty nets.....

This argument is so stupid.

 

[M2Beezy]

For all the Ovi hating crybabies

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Yeah, Ovi’s 37 years old, and has like 3,500 hits in this league. The fact that he’s 50th in points is fine for his age and wear and tear.

He’s tied for 8th in the league in goals (I think) at 37. That’s remarkable.

I didn't say otherwise.

For all the Ovi hating crybabies

I don't think anybody is hating on OVI in this thread of late, just discussion of nuance.

 

[shtorm2005]

The point is that not every player gets equal chances during their careers to get empty netters.

Players don't get equal chances to play in playoffs, so why then playoff stats matters?

 

[Hockey Outsider]

If Ovechkin was trying to selfishly maximize his goal totals, he would have shot the puck as soon as he got it on the 2nd goal. (He was at the blue line and had a clear shot at the empty net).

Instead, he skated towards the Flyers' net before flicking the puck in. That took three seconds off the clock. It was so late in the game it probably wasn't going to make a difference, but he did the right thing in terms of helping his team.

 

[EpochLink]

I remember his first NHL season he scored over 50 goals, I cannot believe he's about to reach 800 for his career. I just turned 20 that year and just turned 37 last month, it's been a blast watching him play.

 

[shtorm2005]

If Ovechkin was trying to selfishly maximize his goal totals, he would have shot the puck as soon as he got it on the 2nd goal. (He was at the blue line and had a clear shot at the empty net).

On the first goal, he was unselfish too. Looked first to give a pass, but nobody was there.

 

[vippe]

Waking up this morning and seeing OV scoring 2 ENG - I knew this thread would be 'interesting', was not dissapointed.

Inching closer

8 games left before christmas
11 games left before 2023 start

Would be cool to see him both upcoming benchmarks in this time frame

800 before Christmas and 802 before 2023 :>
The team is playing a bit better lately, despite them being injury riddled, so hopefully they can find some consistancy going forward which definitely would help production.

 

[Randyne]

The point is that not every player gets equal chances during their careers to get empty netters. If you play for Arizona for 20 years you will get significantly less chances at empty nets than if you play for a power house team for 20 years. And add the cherry picking on top of that, and you get stats that does is skewed.

In last 10 years Sid has 55 empty net points = 7% of his total points. Ovi has 37 = 5%.

 

[Jags]

If that had gone wrong, Green probably would have sustained a career-threatening injury. But that door would have ended up with an Ovi-shaped hole in it like a Bugs Bunny cartoon, Ovi would have played that night, probably put up a goal or two, then poured one out over his fallen comrade at the bar after. The dude is a ridiculous physical specimen.

Seriously though, his durability is at least as impressive as his goal scoring. To have that kind of durability, missing almost no time to injury in all those years while also being a very physical player (#4 in hits among all players during his career) is absolutely bonkers.

 

[Firsov99]

For all the Ovi hating crybabies

Way to rub it in. I like it

 

[Jags]

It matters in every discussion you have when you just put raw numbers for players against each other without giving the context.

Fair enough, but the context you gave isn't all that logical. The teams in constant position to put up EN points are good teams in large part because of the players you're criticizing. It's been part of the game forever, and icing a 1-goal game with an ENG is a no-brainer.

Saying that ENG points shouldn't count is just silly. It's just another form of a man disadvantage, and one that teams choose willingly.

Also, what would it change? The all-time points list would shift a little, but not in a huge way. And you'd be taking away points those guys earned. Their team earned a lead in a game, and everything that comes with it.

If you want to quibble about the second ENG, fine. There's a decent point to be made there. But this guy is climbing an IMPOSSIBLE mountain, and you think he should balk at a freebie every once in a while? Pfft.

As for Konecny, sour grapes. Understandable frustration on his part, but it doesn't take a man to get butthurt over an ENG. If you don't want him to score that one, stop him. It's never his job to do your job.

 

[markog]

Will be interesting to see how Ovi’s career ends. He still can score goals, but is tied in points around 50th in the league. I mean, Crosby has more goals than him so far. He’s limping by, though not surprising given he’s like two year older than Crosby, right?

Washington is/has missing half of their line-up.

 

[Craft Beer Lover]

Fair enough, but the context you gave isn't all that logical. The teams in constant position to put up EN points are good teams in large part because of the players you're criticizing. It's been part of the game forever, and icing a 1-goal game with an ENG is a no-brainer.

Saying that ENG points shouldn't count is just silly. It's just another form of a man disadvantage, and one that teams choose willingly.

Also, what would it change? The all-time points list would shift a little, but not in a huge way. And you'd be taking away points those guys earned. Their team earned a lead in a game, and everything that comes with it.

If you want to quibble about the second ENG, fine. There's a decent point to be made there. But this guy is climbing an IMPOSSIBLE mountain, and you think he should balk at a freebie every once in a while? Pfft.

As for Konecny, sour grapes. Understandable frustration on his part, but it doesn't take a man to get butthurt over an ENG. If you don't want him to score that one, stop him. It's never his job to do your job.

Konecny couldn’t hold Ovechkin’s jock strap. Poor wittle baby!