Alex Ovechkin Will Make History By Not Winning

Alex Ovechkin has cemented a legacy in this area that can only be eclipsed by a certain few, and those people barely touched a hockey rink in their entire lives.  He is the greatest professional athlete the DC area has witnessed in the last 20 years, and his dominance within his sport has not been seen in this area since Walter Johnson pitched for the Washington Senators.  Proof of this omnipotence will be on display over the next week when Ovechkin scores the 600th goal of his career, and it could be on display over the next two months if Ovechkin is able to reach the 50 goal mark for the season and win his seventh Rocket Richard Trophy.  All of these accomplishments, though, will be eclipsed by Ovechkin's inability to win the one thing that could vault him into the position of "Greatest DC Sports Figure"; winning the Stanley Cup.

Ovechkin will set numerous milestones when he scores his 600th goal, hopefully in the next few games, and hopefully in front of the Capital One Arena crowd.  Ovechkin will become the 20th player in NHL history to score 600 goals.  Even more impressive is that he will be only the sixth player to score 600 goals with one franchise.  The others are Bobby Hull with Chicago (604), Joe Sackic with Quebec/Colorado (625), Mario Lemieux with Pittsburgh (690), Steve Yzerman with Detroit (692), and the great Gordie Howe with Detroit (786).  That is elite company, but given the lack of credentials Ovechkin carries he must be lumped in with a not so illustrious section of this fraternity.  When Ovechkin scores his 600th goal he will be one of five players to have scored 600 goals and not won a Stanley Cup in their career.  The others are Dino Ciccarelli, Jerome Iginla, Mike Gartner, and Macel Dionne.  Even more depressing is the fact that Ovechkin will be  one of only three players to have scored 600 goals and never reached the Stanley Cup Finals.  Gartner and Dionne never made it to a Stanley Cup Final in their career, although an asterisk needs to be put next to Gartner as he was traded away from the 1994 Rangers that eventually won the Stanley Cup. So Ovechkin will set precedents for both career glory and futility when he tingles the twine for the 600th time in his NHL career, and this paradox only thickens when looking at more seasonal accomplishments.

Two years ago, Alex Ovechkin became only the 11th player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season at age 30 or older.  The last player to do that before Ovechkin was Jaromir Jagr in 2005-2006. Ovechkin has been bucking the trend in an era that is supposed to be unfavorable to goal scorers, and if he can reach the 50 goal plateau again this season he will once again find himself in unique company.  Only Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito, Mario Lemieux, and Bobby Hull had multiple 50 goal seasons at age 30 or older, and Ovechkin stands to join their ranks this season.  But if he accomplishes this task, Ovechkin will join Marcel Dionne as the only Non-Stanley Cup winners of this group.  Even if Ovechkin cannot reach 50 goals this season, he is currently leading the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy with 40 goals.  If Ovechkin stays a top the goal scoring leader board it will be his seventh Richard Trophy of his career.  The Rocket Richard Trophy has only been given out since 1998, but it does not look good when its' most decorated recipient is one of only two players who have received this trophy and never even played in a Stanley Cup Final.  The other is Jonathan Cheechoo.  Once again Ovechkin's goal scoring will make history for both good and bad reasons, but for all the career futility that has been outlined here there is one caveat the Ovechkin has in his favor.  He is still playing.

Ovechkin leads a Capitals team that was not supposed to be where they are this season.  Last year was supposed to be the Caps' best chance to win the Stanley Cup, but they fell short again and a large chunk of their talented core left Washington.  Taking their place was a group of unknowns that has only put the Caps in a position to win their division against staggering statistical odds.  The Caps have the 6th worst 5v5 Corsi Against total this season, which means they give up a ton of shots on net at even strength.  They are 8th worst in 5v5 Corsi +/- (-248) and Corsi% (47.99) meaning that they are allowing a lot more shots on their net as they are putting on their opponents net at even strength.  And if you're looking for salvation in the power play, it may dishearten you to know that the Capitals have the 5th worst penalty differential in the league at -32, meaning that they have taken 32 more penalties than they have drawn this season.  And yet they are only one point out of the Metro Division lead, and three points out of being the third best team in the Eastern Conference.  This Capitals team may be forging and identity that it has not had in a long time, and Alex Ovechkin will be at the forefront of it.

This could be Ovechkin's chance to not just make history through his goal scoring, but to also make history through playoff success.  He has captained high flying teams in the past that have underachieved, but now he is at the helm of a team that is building its identity organically for the first time in almost a decade.  This team has built its own expectations rather than having lofty ones bestowed upon them from day one, and that may be the formula that gets the Capitals going to the next level.  The team has faced massive adversity at numerous times this season, and yet they are still firmly entrenched within the playoff hunt despite inconsistent play and shaky goal tending.  Building success from within seems to have been lacking in the Capitals ever since they shocked the world in making the playoffs in 2008, and it may be the formula that takes Alex Ovechkin to the team success that has eluded him his entire career.  Ovechkin currently leads an opportunistic team with an elite goal tender with something to prove that has had a chip on its shoulder about its playoff futility for a decade.  If Ovechkin cannot embody that sense of grit and lead this team to a championship, then he may be the first NHL player to make history for what he did not win for his city and fan base.

Ovechkin's Possible Farewell Speech

In the immortal words of DMX, "Here we go again".  The Capitals find themselves on the brink of elimination in the second round of the playoffs and again the Penguins are on the opposing side.  This scenario has happened so many times over the past decade that you would think the team and the fan base's acquiescence to failure would numb them into a stupor of denial once again.  But this year is different.  This year could mark the end of an era with all the impending free agent signings/decisions the Capitals need to make this off season, and the Ovechkin trade rumors gaining more traction in the wake of another perceived playoff collapse.  Even if the Capitals somehow comeback against the Penguins and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals there will still be drastic changes to the Capitals' roster due to the fact that there are too many high profile free agents to sign and limited cap space.  The greatest iteration of the Capitals roster in the Ovechkin era will come to a crashing end whenever the Capitals decide to exit the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, and it very well could be tonight, which is why Ovechkin needs to give a kick ass pregame speech tonight.

The Capitals have been built around the greatest goal scorer of his generation, and he needs to be the one to deliver the speech that could possibly bring the Capitals back from elimination.  The speech, though, needs to be more heartfelt and emotional rather than a rah rah type speech.  You would assume that over the past four games the Capitals have gotten in each others' faces, called out people's names, broken enough sticks on their lockers, and used the F-word like its going out of style that another speech like that would ring hollow at a time like this.  Ovechkin needs to be the one to address the whole team tonight in a way that gives the team a renewed sense of brotherhood, and in my opinion here is how it should go:

"Alight boys, listen.  Tonight could be our last game together so listen closely.  I've had some pretty good success in my career:  Heart Trophies, Rocket Richard Trophies, goal scoring milestones, but I have never been a team champion at the highest level.  For all my success, I have never been able to inspire the teams I have played on enough to win it all.  That is why I am skating with Lars and Willy tonight, because my play so far has not lived up to the "C" I wear on my sweater or the pedigree I have built.  I asked to switch lines [this is just an assumption on my part but just go with it] because Bura has been killing it and I have been dragging TJ and Nicky down so far this series.  I have to face reality that I am not the goal scorer I was 10 years ago.  Think about that Nick [Ovechkin looks at Nick Backstrom in a reminiscent way].  Ten Years together.  The Young Guns, remember?  Hmfh, Not so young now, I guess. Right John? Karl? Beags? Ten years.  Some players don't get half that time to play together in this league, but we have had the privilege to be on the same team for Ten Years.  And we have been able to bring up guys like you Schmidtty......Kuzy..... Bura.........Willy.....Orly.....Holts........[Ovechkin looks at each one of them in the eye] you guys haven't been here as long but this is the only NHL team you have ever known.  You guys have put on a red sweater for your entire NHL career and not thought twice about it.  And when TJ, Justin, Winnik, Nisky, Brooks, Shatty, Lars, when you guys came in it was like we never missed a beat.  We're a family, but we know what is coming.  Most of us will not be here next year. The family is getting broken up after this season whether we win or not.  Ten years, Nick.  Ten years could be over tonight.  It will be over no matter what after these playoffs.  Which is why I ask you to play for that.  Fuck the Stanley Cup.  I want those ten years to last a little longer.  I want to play with the best team I have ever played with a little bit longer.  I want to see TJ score from the slot as many times as I can, I want to see Karl shut down the other team's best line, I want to see Willy check people as hard as he can, I want to see Kuzy make some ridiculous move and put a wrister over the goalie's glove, I want to see Winnik forecheck the shit out of the other team's top line, or Shatty unload some ridiculous shot from the point.  That is what I want, boys.  I don't want Ten Years to end.  I want to keep the only team I have ever known together for a little bit longer.  I'm playing tonight because I want to see all of you wear that red sweater for as long as possible.  I'm not playing tonight for any trophy.  I'm playing for my brothers who I want to keep here as long as I can.  From now on we play for each other, and if that means we get out of this series alive, then we know we have already won, because we get to have those Ten Years last one more game.  Let's go boys."

That is the route I would take with this speech, but that is just me.  And Ovi, since I know you read this blog religiously, please feel free to use any part of this you would like.