This has reached the point where it is annoying me. There is a common wisdom out there that Alex Ovechkin is a grossly overrated hockey player who only had one move and now that the "League" has "figured him out," he sucks. Unfortunately, like most common wisdom, it is anything but wise. It is ridiculous.

It didn't really bother me when Pens fans spewed it, because most of them are the same bandwagon jumpers they accuse Caps fans of being. They almost loss their team until an outstanding young hockey player named Sidney Crosby saved it for them, and they have shown no class ever since. When things don't go their way, they do things like walk out of a Winter Classic with 6 minutes left down only two with two of the best scorers in hockey on their team.

Then the Canadian media piled on. But I ignored that because that is largely a nationalism bias and many of them should be ashamed of themselves. But now I am hearing Caps fans say it. "What's wrong with Ovi? Why does he suck now?" That annoys me. Here I make only a few points. I could go on, but I think this will be sufficient.

Alex Ovechkin is 4th in NHL history in points per game in the playoffs according to the trusty Wikipedia machine. That's when it "matters," right? He is behind two losers named Gretzky and Lemieux, and Barry Pederson. Comparing Ovi to any of these guys given the differences in era is a bit silly, so lets compare him to a contemporary. The previously mentioned Sid the Kid is 5th behind Ovi. Ovi has 1.351 PPPG and Sid has 1.323. Ovi sucks.

Ovi had 2 goals tonight against the Detroit Redwings. He now has 32 goals and 24 assists for a total of 56 points. Another consecutive 30 goal season. This puts him 9th in goals in the league this season during a down year for him. 5 of the 8 guys ahead of Ovi play for teams with more points than the Caps and at least 6 of them are having career years. Ovi sucks.

Let's not forget that this is in a down season not only for Ovi (no one is denying that, only the idea that he sucks and is obscenely overrated), but for the team. They have been bad by any standard, but downright awful compared to the last 4 years. How down a season? Let's find out. Alex Semin is the second leading scorer on the Washington Capitals. He has 18 goals and 28 assists for 46 points. That is 10 less points than Ovi, and Ovi has nearly DOUBLE THE GOALS OF THE NEXT LEADING CAPS GOAL SCORER. Ovi clearly sucks.

Of course, Semin and Ovi don't play on the same line most of the time, and Ovi usually gets the better defensive competition, which focuses almost exclusively on him. So, let's compare apples to apples. The next highest scorer on the team that has routinely played on a line with Ovi this year is Nick Backstrom with 13 goals and 29 assists for 42 points, a full 14 points behind Ovi. But here is the thing -- Backstrom has not played in months! Leaving Nick aside, Marcus Johansson has the same number of goals and one less assist as Nick. He has played some of his time with Ovi, but no where near all of it. Ovi sucks.

So Ovi is in the top 10 in goals, but is in a tie for 128th in assists. Now surely some of this can be attributed to it being a down year for him, but a bigger part of the problem is that NO ONE ELSE IS PRODUCING. You can't get an assist if no one is scoring the goal. The next three guys who have played a significant *part* of the season on Ovi's line have all have 13 goals. Really lighting it up. Keep in mind that Ovi is 5th on the team in assists and 4th among forwards. He is third among forwards who have not been injured for 4 months, so it is not like Ovi is being selfish and failing to put line mates in a position to score. Assists are also not what Ovi is paid for, as opposed to someone like Sid, where half of his genius is setting up his line mates. Ovi sucks.

Ovi is a -10, but again this is not what he is paid for. It does, however, remind us that the Caps D has been abysmal, not only defensively, but offensively as well. Dennis Wideman is the exception (though he has significantly cooled off), but he has 15 points more than John Carlson, who is a -12. Mike Green, the Caps offensive defenseman superstar, has 7 points this year, due to a combination of injury and poor offensive play. Ovi sucks.

We will just leave out the coaching and system changes over the last 2 seasons. Ovi obviously sucks.

I can hear the haters now. "These are excuses. He is a $13 million a year player and has to play like it. He has to score 50 goals a season. He should be able to carry the team on his shoulders for that money just like Sid does" Bull. Anyone who thinks that is just delusional. A season has to be examined in context.

Oh, and for the Pens fans, I have said from the beginning that if I had to build a team around one guy, it would probably be Sid (despite his being a baby) not Ovi, but they are completely different players. The comparison has always been a bit silly, even when Ovi had the advantage for a while there. It worked for the NHL marketing folks, so there you go.

Is he having a down year? Yes. Does he have to make some adjustments? Probably. Does he suck? Of course not. Is he anywhere near sucking? No. Is he an overrated player who suddenly has nothing because he has been figured out? Most likely not. Let's see what happens between now and when he turns, oh, I don't know, 28. Sorry, haters.

Oh, btw, want some visual evidence? Check out his goal against Chicago two nights ago.

BB has been playing around with taking Ovechkin off of the point on the power play.  I have been hoping for this for weeks and have been muttering about under my breath -- or outright screaming about it -- at games for some time.  Tonight, Ovi was off the point.  Good, right?  Well, not necessarily.  I, personally, would like to see Ovi at the half-boards for the PP.  Instead, Ovi was in front of the net.  And when I say in front of the net, I mean he was doing his best Mike Knuble impression about an inch from Marty's grill.  The idea, as I understand it from some I have spoken to, is that if Ovi draws a double team it sets up the screen and creates confusion in front of the net.  This may be BB's plan going forward.
Fair enough.  That might work.  The point of this post is actually not to debate the merits of Ovi's positioning on the PP, but to recognize a problem the Caps will have to address in the future if this is going to be their approach.  What I noticed tonight was, I think, a subtle yet brilliant response to Ovi parking 2 inches in front of the goaltender at 5 on 4 (5 on 3 is another story).  If Ovi in front of the net is going to be a permanent feature, the Caps will have to decide what to do if another team takes this approach.  Did you see what the Devils did?
They ignored him completely.
That's right, one of the top goal scorers in the world, the guy with arguably the best mid-range wrister in the game, and they pretended he didn't exist.  Why?  What good is that killer shot if you are less than a foot from the crease?  The Devils strategy was to let Ovi stand there while they played the rest of the Caps 4 on 4.  They decided to clog the passing and shooting lanes and challenge the Caps to get the puck to the net.  A gamble?  Sure, but it worked beautifully for at least two of the Caps' 5 on 4 power plays.  The Devils effectively neutralized Alex Ovechkin without anyone touching him.
The Caps won the game, but, in my humble opinion, New Jersey won that coaching round, as the Caps did not appear to make any adjustments -- none that worked, anyway.  It struck me as a brilliant approach, and one the Caps will have to be ready for if they want to park Ovi in the crease for future power plays.

Okay, so if anyone can possibly be as insane about jersey decisions as I am, this is the place I am likely to find him/her.  I'm looking for advice, my friends.

I am going to the Winter Classic, and I need a jersey to wear to the event.  I presently own three Caps jerseys, but I don't think I can wear any of them.  Two (Liut and Backstrom) are autographed and I don't want to risk some jerk throwing beer on them.  The unsigned jersey is my Ovi jersey, but I figure there will be plenty of them already and I like the idea of not being another Ovi jersey among many Ovi jerseys.  This means I need to buy a new jersey, and seeing as the WC jerseys are cheaper than a regular caps jersey, why not a WC jersey for going to the WC, right?

The next question: what player?  This is where I seem to be incapable of making a decision.  I have narrowed it down to a top 2 and a few other underdog possibilities.  They are listed after the jump, along with the pro and con arguments I have come up with, some of which are unique to me.  Any opinions would be much appreciated.  If you are just going to tell me that I am insane, don't bother as I have already heard that one from several people.

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So I experienced something new at a Caps' game last night against the Rags.  My friend and I were sitting in our season ticket seats and, while the seats in front of us are also season tickets, one of them was occupied by a guest last night.  The guest was a leaner, blocking my view of over half of the Rags' zone in the first period.

Now, I have run into leaners before.  Usually, I politely ask them to lean back, they realize what they were doing, apologize, and lean back.  Not this guy.  This guy informs me that I am out of luck because people in front of him are leaning forward and I should talk to them.  Well, actually, he should talk to them, but okay, no problem.  I told him I would do that.  I waited for the period to end so as not to disrupt other fans enjoyment of the last 5 minutes and then again, politely, asked him who was leaning forward.  Long story short, we nearly came to blows.  No class.

At first I was ready to just chalk it up to bad luck and hope that this guy did not reappear come playoff time.  Then, as I was talking about it with my friend outside after the game, another season ticket holder approached us, said he had overheard the conversation, and told us that he had been having similar problems.  Some further help from a friend then showed me that we really were not alone: http://www.japersrink.com/2010/2/5/1296007/friday-caps-clips-a-somewhat-dirty#30310394

The other season ticket holder mentioned that he had dropped an e-mail to Ted Leonsis about the issue, and had gotten a very nice response.  I, too, sent Ted a note last night.  I suggested that something about leaning be added to the Puck In Play announcement at the beginning of the game (and possibly each period) so that folks would have some established credibility when asking people to lean back and that the ushers would have something to cite to if they had to get involved.  I also got a prompt and pleasant response from Ted.

If any of you have had similar problems, it may be worth mentioning it here so word spreads or maybe even dropping Ted a nice note (WashingtonCaps@aol.com) in further support of some kind of announcement.  For the regular season it is not a huge deal, but the playoffs are another story.

Above all, I was just glad to get confirmation that I was not wrong in my understanding of hockey fan etiquette.  A public thank you to you for your kind response, Mr. Leonsis.  Go Caps!

I will be missing most of the first round and part of the second round due to a trip to Italy (ill timed, I know, but necessary and fun).  Does anyone have any idea where I might be able to catch the Caps (or any playoff games) in Rome, Florence, and/or Venice?  I am willing to sacrifice sleep.  Anyone know of any American sports bars there?  Does NHL.com have some kind of service and, if it does, is it any good?  Help?!?!