Posts Tagged Alex Ovechkin
Ovechkin Suspended For 2 Games
Posted by Derek in NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Opinion on March 16th, 2010
“The National Hockey League has suspended Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin for two games for his hit on Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Brian Campbell on Sunday afternoon.
While the Capitals were not happy with the suspension, vice president and general manager George McPhee chose not to expand on his feelings.
“We have no problem with the way Alex tried to finish his check. Unfortunately, an injury resulted. We are disappointed with the suspension but do not want to comment further,” McPhee said in a statement Monday.” (Source:TSN)
This feels like Deja Vu to me, but as I stated in an earlier post when The Washington Capitals’ forward Alexander Ovechkin was suspended two games after his knee-on-knee hit with Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Tim Gleason, this is a trend that is going to continue as long as Ovechkin continues to abuse his “star status”.
I’ve watched the replay of this hit on Brian Campbell several times and I can’t even understand why Ovechkin delivered the hit in the first place. Campbell had already moved the puck, which is likely why he didn’t anticipate the hit coming a couple seconds after the fact, but in true Ovechkin style, he recklessly pushed Campbell into the boards to “finish his check”.
Like I said before, I’m a fan of OV’s game but he needs to figure out where the line is, when finishing a check does nothing to impact the play in a positive way for his team.
Judging by his comments, (his comments are detailed below in Mark’s post, along with video of the hit) he still doesn’t even see what was wrong with the play in the first place… That speaks to bigger problem, to say the least.
Ovechkin Gets 2 Game Suspension
Washington Capitals’ forward Alexander Ovechkin has been suspended two games after his knee-on-knee hit with Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Tim Gleason.
Ovechkin was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct on the play, which left both players sprawled on the ice.
“I regret that this has happened,” Ovechkin said in a statement. “I’m glad that Tim wasn’t injured because I never ever want to see anyone get hurt. I am disappointed to miss these games and I can’t wait to get back on the ice next week to help my team.” (Source: TSN)
Who didn’t know this day was coming? You can argue until you’re blue in the face as to whether or not Ovechkin intentionally knee checked Tim Gleason, or Sergei Gonchar in the playoffs last year for that matter, but the fact is that Ovechkin’s been running around taking every opportunity to hit guys as hard as possible, regardless of the potential consequences, for a couple years now.
I’m a fan of tough hockey as much as anyone is, and for the most part I’m a huge OV fan, but at some point the NHL is going to have to stop giving him free reign on the ice. We all know that there’s a different set of rules for star players, a little nudge-nudge, wink-wink type of arrangement where a guy of Ovechkin’s star power will be given a little extra rope to play with, as long as he keeps putting fans in the seats.
Here-in lies the big problem though….star players are supposed to use this extra rope to put pucks in the net, not to take liberties with other players careers. How can the NHL talk about getting tough on headshots, and charging, and all the other types of questionable hits that happen during a game, when one of their marquee player is just as guilty of these hits as anyone else?
In hockey, as in life in general, these things have a way of balancing out and it will be a tremendous loss for hockey when Ovechkin gets seriously injured, whether by a hit he delivers or receives, but it seems inevitable that it will happen.
Around the Boards: Savard about to sign, Ovechkin hurts knee, DiPietro mid-Dec return, Gagne Skating
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on December 1st, 2009
- Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe: Marc Savard and the Boston Bruins could announce today that they’ve agreed to a 7 year contract extension with a cap hit in the $4.5 - $4.8 million range. Savard will be 39 when the contract expires. With a cap number that low, this deal will be front loaded for the first 5 or 6 years.
- Corey Masisak of the Washington Times: Alex Ovechkin went knee-on-knee with Carolina’s Tim Gleason. More will be known at tests are performed today. OV was given a 5 minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct. I think the NHL might be investigating this hit, as it might be another reckless play by him.
- Steven Marcus of the Newsday: Rick DiPietro is eying a mid-December return to the Islanders, after completing a conditioning stint in the AHL. Martin Biron rumors should heat up over the next couple weeks, and look for the Isles to trade once DiPietro returns and they have faith that he’ll remain healthy.
- Jay Greenberg of the NY Post: The New York Rangers would love to add some scoring, but they handcuffed by some questionable contracts signed by Glen Sather. It still amazes me how Sather is still the GM of the Rangers.
- Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News: Simon Gagne is back on skates earlier than expected after his abdominal surgery, but he’s not close to getting back into the Flyers lineup.
Kaleta Suspended
The Buffalo Sabres will be without Patrick Kaleta for two games after the forward was suspended by the NHL on Saturday.
Kaleta took a major boarding penalty and a game misconduct in the first period of Friday’s game against the Flyers when he hit Philadelphia centre Jared Ross. Ross left the game and did not return.
Kaleta has three goals and three assists in 21 games this season. He is eligible to return to action on Dec. 3 against Montreal. (source:TSN)
It looks like fellow colleague Mark was right earlier today when he posted (in his daily “Around The Boards” column) that Kaleta would receive a suspension for his hit on Jared Ross of the Flyers last night.
I’m not really sure I agree with this decision, and I admit that I’m not overly familiar with this Kaleta character, but I felt like Jared Ross turned his back at the last minute. The problem with being a “usual suspect”, like Kaleta apparently is, is that there’s no way you’ll get the benefit of the doubt that the hit was un-intentional, and the NHL is going to make an example out of you.
We all know that there has been a double standard regarding a players star status vs length of suspension for years. Lets face the facts here, the NHL is a business and it isn’t good for business to suspend Alex Ovechkin for a borderline hit.
We could go through example after example of grinder type players getting the shaft or star players getting off easy but it boils down to this; It is much better to make an example out a guy who won’t affect the bottom line…A player with OV’s star status will make opposing teams money when the Capitals come to town (outside of the large markets, that sell out anyway, like Toronto and New York for example) so it’s in all the owners best interest to keep him on skates and selling tickets.
Kaleta, on the other hand, well…….enough said.
Around the Boards: Kovalchuk talks positive, Malkin and Ovechkin returing tomorrow? Komisarek and Orpik out weeks
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on November 13th, 2009
- Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: Oilers forward Robert Nilsson is in the doghouse and may find himself on the trading block. The Predators and possibly the Hurricanes could be interested in Nilsson, who has skill but has been inconsistent.
- Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: Despite the rumors circulating that the Detroit Red Wings might be interested in trading for JS Giguere, GM Ken Holland says he hasn’t talked about any trades, nor does he expect to any time soon.
- Jeff Klein of the New York Times: Thrashers GM, Don Waddell says the Ilya Kovalchuk’s negotiations have been ‘very positive’. It’s not noted if Ilya or his agent agree, but at least they continue to talk. There is still talk out there about Kovalchuk returning to Russia.
- Corey Masisak of the Washington Times: Alex Ovechkin could return this weekend.
- Mike Spellman of the Daily Herald: Marion Hossa has begun some little contact drills to test out his surgically repaired shoulder. He should begin full contact next week, and could see some game action during their current trip.
- Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Brooks Orpik’s ‘lower body injury’ will keep him out the lineup for about 2 weeks, which is better than originally feared. Evgeni Malkin has been cleared for contact and could return on Saturday.
- Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star: Leafs defenceman, Mike Komisarek will on the IR for about 3 weeks with a torn muscle in his quadriceps. Carl Gunnarsson was called up to take his roster spot. Ian White moved up to the number one defensive unit with Tomas Kaberle. Jeff Finger was paired with Francois Beauchemin, Luke Schenn and Garnet Exelby are the 3rd pairing.
- Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe: Milan Lucic is targeting next Thursday as a return date, Claude Julien is thinking at least a week to 10 days.
Around the Boards: Forsberg, Jagr, Ovechkin and Booth
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on November 6th, 2009
- Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun: Add the Vancouver Canucks to the list of potential teams interested in Peter Forsberg. “First of all, he needs to find out if he can still play,” Gillis said. “If he can, we’re definitely interested. I’ve known his agent, Don Baizley, for a long time and I think we’d be on his short list if Peter decides he wants to play.” The Canucks have sent 2 scouts watch him play in a tournament this weekend.
- Larry Brooks of the NY Post: The Edmonton Oilers still have an interest in bringing Jaromir Jagr in to the fold. “Jags and I text back and forth. I talked to him about six weeks ago,” Renney said. “He’s on our radar. He has NHL years ahead of him. No question.”
- Corey Masisak of the Washington Times: Alex Ovechkin will be out for at least 2 more games. He returned yesterday to the ice for a skating session.
- Steve Gorten of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: It looks like David Booth will be allowed to begin light exercises over the next couple days. Booth would love to return November 20th to face the Red Wings in his hometown.
Around the Boards: Ovechkin, Staal, MacDonald and Lecavalier Updates
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News, NHL Videos on November 2nd, 2009
Injuries are the story of the day again, with 2 super stars leaving their games early. It was mentioned on either Friday or Saturday’s Maple Leaf game, that there were 100 players out with injuries. It’s simply amazing the amount of injuries with season.
- Corey Masisak of the Washington Times: Alex Ovechkin is the latest star to go down with an injury, after leaving last nights game in the second period. Boudreau said after the game that Ovechkin is day-to-day with a ‘upper body injury’.
- Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer: Eric Staal left in the second periods of last nights Hurricanes game with an ‘upper body injury’. The injury is not supposed to be serious.
- Dan O’Neill of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Andy MacDonald is day-to-day with his ‘upper body injury’, which could have been a lot worse after his face first slide into the boards Saturday night. If he didn’t move his head at the last minute to absorb the boards with the face and neck, he could have had a serious spinal injury. It was definitely a scary sight. For those who missed it,
- Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times: Vincent Lecavalier has once again found himself with new wingers as coach Tocchet searches for a way to get his star center going. Vinny will most likely be centering Drew Miller and Stephane Veilleux.
TSN vs GlobeSports Projected Scoring Leaders
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News on September 27th, 2009
In keeping with the projected scoring leaders for this season, we compared TSN’s Scott Cullen’s Top 40 projections with GlobeSports.com’s Eric Duhatschek’s. 31 players appear on both lists.
Players who only appear on 1 list as top 40 potential scorers: Ales Hemsky, Alex Tanguay, Alexander Frolov, Alexander Semin, Anze Kopitar, Brenden Morrow, Daniel Briere ,Jean-Pierre Dumont, Marian Gaborik, Mike Cammalleri, Patrick Kane, Patrick Marleau, Patrik Elias, Paul Stastny, Scott Gomez, Shane Doan, Steven Stamkos , Thomas Vanek
| RANK | TSN - Scott Cullen | GlobeSports - Eric Duhatschek | |
| 1 | Alexander Ovechkin | Evgeni Malkin | |
| 2 | Evgeni Malkin | Alexander Ovechkin | |
| 3 | Sidney Crosby | Sidney Crosby | |
| 4 | Pavel Datsyuk | Joe Thornton | |
| 5 | Nicklas Backstrom | Dany Heatley | |
| 6 | Joe Thornton | Ryan Getzlaf | |
| 7 | Ryan Getzlaf | Ilya Kovalchuk | |
| 8 | Dany Heatley | Pavel Datsyuk | |
| 9 | Ilya Kovalchuk | Marc Savard | |
| 10 | Marc Savard | Jarome Iginla | |
| 11 | Jarome Iginla | Alexander Semin | |
| 12 | Jason Spezza | Nicklas Backstrom | |
| 13 | Rick Nash | Jason Spezza | |
| 14 | Zach Parise | Henrik Sedin | |
| 15 | Henrik Zetterberg | Daniel Sedin | |
| 16 | Henrik Sedin | Vincent Lecavalier | |
| 17 | Martin St. Louis | Henrik Zetterberg | |
| 18 | Daniel Sedin | Zach Parise | |
| 19 | Mike Richards | Jeff Carter | |
| 20 | Daniel Alfredsson | Rick Nash | |
| 21 | Jeff Carter | Corey Perry | |
| 22 | Eric Staal | Martin St. Louis | |
| 23 | Jonathan Toews | Eric Staal | |
| 24 | Derek Roy | Paul Stastny | |
| 25 | Vincent Lecavalier | Mike Richards | |
| 26 | Anze Kopitar | Marian Gaborik | |
| 27 | Bobby Ryan | Scott Gomez | |
| 28 | Mike Ribeiro | Jonathan Toews | |
| 29 | Patrick Kane | Daniel Alfredsson | |
| 30 | Corey Perry | Steven Stamkos | |
| 31 | Olli Jokinen | Martin Havlat | |
| 32 | Shane Doan | Bobby Ryan | |
| 33 | Simon Gagne | Patrick Marleau | |
| 34 | Patrik Elias | Ales Hemsky | |
| 35 | Martin Havlat | Brenden Morrow | |
| 36 | Jean-Pierre Dumont | Olli Jokinen | |
| 37 | Alex Tanguay | Simon Gagne | |
| 38 | Thomas Vanek | Mike Ribeiro | |
| 39 | Alexander Frolov | Daniel Briere | |
| 40 | Mike Cammalleri | Derek Roy |
TSN Releases Projected Scoring Leaders
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News on September 26th, 2009
Scott Cullen of TSN has put out a Top 250 projected scoring for the upcoming season. We’ve posted below the Top 40. He has only Alex Ovechkin as the only 50 goal scorer, and only 3 players (Ovechkin, Malkin, and Crosby) scoring over a 100 points. Only 13 players are projected to point a game or better.
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM | POS | G | A | PTS | +/- | PPP | PIM |
| 1 | Alexander Ovechkin | WAS | LW | 55 | 54 | 109 | 5 | 43 | 54 |
| 2 | Evgeni Malkin | PIT | C | 41 | 67 | 108 | 12 | 40 | 76 |
| 3 | Sidney Crosby | PIT | C | 33 | 68 | 101 | 10 | 43 | 71 |
| 4 | Pavel Datsyuk | DET | C | 30 | 65 | 95 | 27 | 36 | 20 |
| 5 | Nicklas Backstrom | WAS | C | 23 | 71 | 94 | 14 | 39 | 44 |
| 6 | Joe Thornton | SJ | C | 25 | 65 | 90 | 19 | 39 | 53 |
| 7 | Ryan Getzlaf | ANA | C | 28 | 60 | 88 | 17 | 40 | 99 |
| 8 | Dany Heatley | SJ | LW | 47 | 41 | 88 | 10 | 31 | 82 |
| 9 | Ilya Kovalchuk | ATL | LW | 47 | 41 | 88 | -8 | 38 | 58 |
| 10 | Marc Savard | BOS | C | 22 | 66 | 88 | 7 | 34 | 72 |
| 11 | Jarome Iginla | CAL | RW | 40 | 46 | 86 | 7 | 32 | 62 |
| 12 | Jason Spezza | OTT | C | 33 | 50 | 83 | 7 | 32 | 63 |
| 13 | Rick Nash | CBJ | RW | 42 | 40 | 82 | 7 | 23 | 79 |
| 14 | Zach Parise | NJ | LW | 36 | 44 | 80 | 13 | 25 | 26 |
| 15 | Henrik Zetterberg | DET | C | 36 | 44 | 80 | 18 | 30 | 34 |
| 16 | Henrik Sedin | VAN | C | 19 | 61 | 80 | 15 | 31 | 56 |
| 17 | Martin St. Louis | TB | RW | 32 | 48 | 80 | -4 | 27 | 24 |
| 18 | Daniel Sedin | VAN | LW | 30 | 49 | 79 | 14 | 30 | 40 |
| 19 | Mike Richards | PHI | C | 29 | 48 | 77 | 16 | 32 | 69 |
| 20 | Daniel Alfredsson | OTT | RW | 28 | 48 | 76 | 10 | 29 | 30 |
| 21 | Jeff Carter | PHI | C | 40 | 36 | 76 | 12 | 22 | 70 |
| 22 | Eric Staal | CAR | C | 37 | 38 | 75 | 6 | 26 | 54 |
| 23 | Jonathan Toews | CHI | C | 36 | 39 | 75 | 14 | 26 | 57 |
| 24 | Derek Roy | BUF | C | 30 | 44 | 74 | 2 | 26 | 42 |
| 25 | Vincent Lecavalier | TB | C | 32 | 41 | 73 | -11 | 25 | 64 |
| 26 | Anze Kopitar | LA | C | 29 | 44 | 73 | -11 | 26 | 30 |
| 27 | Bobby Ryan | ANA | LW | 34 | 39 | 73 | 15 | 28 | 46 |
| 28 | Mike Ribeiro | DAL | C | 22 | 51 | 73 | 3 | 26 | 44 |
| 29 | Patrick Kane | CHI | RW | 23 | 48 | 71 | -3 | 32 | 47 |
| 30 | Corey Perry | ANA | RW | 33 | 38 | 71 | 12 | 25 | 106 |
| 31 | Olli Jokinen | CAL | C | 32 | 39 | 71 | -1 | 29 | 74 |
| 32 | Shane Doan | PHO | LW | 27 | 43 | 70 | 1 | 24 | 65 |
| 33 | Simon Gagne | PHI | LW | 33 | 36 | 69 | 20 | 23 | 36 |
| 34 | Patrik Elias | NJ | LW | 25 | 43 | 68 | 9 | 27 | 34 |
| 35 | Martin Havlat | MIN | RW | 28 | 40 | 68 | 12 | 17 | 34 |
| 36 | Jean-Pierre Dumont | NAS | RW | 22 | 46 | 68 | 3 | 19 | 26 |
| 37 | Alex Tanguay | TB | LW | 22 | 46 | 68 | 7 | 21 | 42 |
| 38 | Thomas Vanek | BUF | LW | 39 | 28 | 67 | 3 | 25 | 52 |
| 39 | Alexander Frolov | LA | LW | 30 | 37 | 67 | -4 | 24 | 28 |
| 40 | Mike Cammalleri | MON | RW | 30 | 37 | 67 | -4 | 28 | 48 |
NHL Awards
All the news from the NHL awards
- Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Alex Ovechkin wins the Hart Trophy.
- The Associated Press reports Boston’s Zdeno Chara wins the Norris Trophy.
- The Associated Press reports Pavel Datsyuk wins the Selke Trophy.
- The Associated Press reports Tim Thomas wins the Vezina Trophy.
- The associated Press reports Claude Julien wins coach of the year honours.
- Canadian Press reports Steve Mason wins Calder Trophy as NHL’s rookie of the year.
- A Complete list of all the NHL award winners.
Recent Comments