Typically when one thinks of the best hockey players in the world, the concept of big hits doesn’t usually come into play. I don’t believe I ever saw Wayne Gretzky check someone. Mario Lemieux? Once in a while. Pavel Bure? Not unless he was going to end up getting hurt on the play. Sidney Crosby? Sometimes, but it’s not really a big aspect of his game.
Alexander Ovechkin is the best player in the world today, and the Washington Capitals will have to play without him for a couple games.
This past Sunday on the NHL showcase on NBC, Ovechkin sent Blackhawks defensemen Brian Campbell into the boards from more than three feet away – earning the Boarding penalty which was levied against him, injuring Campbell in the process.
It was learned yesterday that Ovechkin would serve a two game suspension for the hit.
This isn’t the first time Ovechkin has been called a dirty player. He has been known to get bad penalties for Boarding in the past.
Not only is Boarding an aspect of Ovi’s game that he needs to change, but in the past he had a tendency to cause knee-to-knee hits, which are potentially career ending – not only for the recipient, but also for Ovechkin.
Part of the reason Ovechkin is so beloved is because he’s a powerful and passionate player. During the Olympics, he made my wife and I stand up and cheer during Russia vs Czech Republic when he FLATTENED former Washington Capital Jaromir Jagr.
I hope Ovechkin continues with the big hits, but I also hope he plays smarter. No more Boarding, no more knee-to-knee. Just good clean hockey with huge hits. If he doesn’t, I fear someone will step up and attempt to put Ovi on the shelf, which would be really unfortunate for not only the Washington Capitals, but for NHL fans around the world.
Here’s a video of some of Ovechkin’s big hits.
It’s a fine line Ovechkin plays at, but most of the time the questionable hits happen because he plays just so damn hard. Like, he puts everything he has into every shift and plays balls to the wall when he’s out there. I do think some of his hits need to be smarter, however, Berry Melrose said it best when asked about it on ESPN, “Instead of making Ovechkin change his style and play less hard, here’s a novel idea, why don’t the other guys step up their game and try to play as hard as Ovechkin?”
I think if it happens once a season, then the “Oh he just plays hard” argument holds water. But he takes runs at players and the knee to knee hits are just dirty.
If EVERYONE was playing the way Ovechkin plays teams would have to bring popcorn vendors out to play because of the injuries/ejections/suspensions.
I am not going to comment because I don’t want to start a war. I like Ovechkin. I will leave it at that.
I like Ovechkin too. I’d love to have him on my team, cuz he’s a natural goal scorer. I like that he has a visible love for the game… but that doesn’t take away from the facts that every year he has a few hits that are suspect.
Its cost him games, which would be more frustrating if I was a Caps fan, cuz you want your best player on the ice as much as possible.