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Alexander Ovechkin is too predictable: Retired NHLer

Sean Fitz-Gerald, National Post, Mar 8, 2012

Alex Ovechkin has 26 goals and 49 points through 62 games this season. His shooting percentage (11%) is not far off his career average (11.8%), but he has not been taking as many shots.

Alexander Ovechkin has been struggling to generate offence because he has not adapted his style of play, giving opposing coaches and players time to catch up to a forward who was once unstoppable, according to one former opponent.

Bobby Holik, who retired from the National Hockey League three years ago after playing in more than 1,300 games, said it was only a matter of time before the pace and the grind caught up with the Russian star. Ovechkin, a two-time Hart Trophy winner, is 53rd on the NHL’s scoring list this season and has been benched by both men who have coached the Washington Capitals.

“I think he was always predictable,” Holik said. “I played quite a few games against him, but at that time, it was new to everyone. He was just so physically dominating that he was unstoppable on most nights. You just tried to contain him.”

Holik faced Ovechkin over four seasons.

“As your career progresses, you don’t have the same physical edge, because that’s just the way it is — you’re just playing so much hockey,” he said. “You have to become smarter, because in the long run, you cannot sustain that kind of physical edge.”

Ovechkin has 26 goals and 49 points through 62 games this season. His shooting percentage (11%) is not far off his career average (11.8%), but he has not been taking as many shots. The 26-year-old was held off the ice for more than six minutes in a recent game.

“Defencemen on teams, they start knowing top guys, what they do, and of course you have to adjust,” Anaheim Ducks forward Teemu Selanne said in a story about Ovechkin that appeared on the front page of The Washington Times in November. “And you have to find a way to maybe do different things.”

Holik won a pair of Stanley Cup titles with the New Jersey Devils before retiring after the 2008-09 season. He has been living in Wyoming, and has launched a blog — holikonhockey.com — posting one recent entry, “What’s wrong with Ovechkin.”

“It’s not too late, or it’s not over for Ovechkin,” Holik said over the phone. “But I don’t see anybody in the organization mentoring him, or guiding him. And I think it has to come from the top.”

Dean
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