Ovechkin On Goalies

by J.P. on Oct 13, 2008 1:56 PM EDT

After Saturday night's 4-2 win over the Blackhawks, Sport-Express's Natalia Shemleva caught up with Alex Ovechkin to talk netminders (translation via The Morning Skate, which also has Slava Malamud's interview with Nikolai Khabibulin):

Were you surprised that Khabibulin was Chicago’s goalkeeper instead of Huet?

"Last year when we played against Chicago and Khabibulin stood in the goal, we lost 5-0. I think today he was the best player on the visiting team, but luck was on our side."

Before each game with Atlanta, you make a joking commitment to goalkeeper Kari Lehtonen about how many times you will score. Did you make a promise (Friday)?

"I said that I would score a goal, but it did not happen."

Did you make a promise like that to Khabibulin today?

"No, Khabibulin was not promised."

Perhaps your unexpected goals lowered his market value.

"His market value? He is not just some vegetable or fruit in the market. Khabibulin is one of the best goalkeepers in the league, as is Chicago’s other goalkeeper Huet, who was in Washington last year at the end of the season."

Would you not like to see that one of the best goalkeepers league was yet another Russian player in the Washington?

"I wish — I do not want to, it’s not for me to decide. We have two excellent goalkeepers. And we have [farmhand Simeon] Varlamov, who may come here at any time. He’s available to play in the N.H.L., he simply needs to adapt to hockey here. And this is only a matter of time."

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Nothing to do with Ovie or goalies, but why must power play and penalty kill stats be based on occurences rather than minutes? When occurences can be anywhere from :01 to 5:00, it doesn't mean much to say 3 for 9. It should be 1/4:39 (1 goal for every 4 minutes and 39 seconds).

Given that you're a CR fan and find crazy stats, do you know of anything like that?

by Anonymous on Oct 13, 2008 2:48 PM EDT reply actions

Also, 5 on 3s should be accounted for separately.

by Anonymous on Oct 13, 2008 2:48 PM EDT reply actions

OT, but HOLY CRAP and what a tragedy. :( My heart goes out to his family and teammates, especially Jagr (yes, I said that, cope).

Alexei Cherepanov pronounced dead

by this space for rent on Oct 13, 2008 4:12 PM EDT reply actions

@ Anon: I've often wondered about another way to measure PP effectiveness much like you're talking about, but haven't seen anything. You'll notice that I often will put up the number of shots and minutes of PP time, and I'm thinking of expanding that.

Similarly, a PPG that's scored a second or two after the PP ends is essentially an extra man goal (since the penalized player isn't yet back in the game). If anyone knows of any other PP metrics, I'm all ears.

@ TSFR: I agree completely.

by JP on Oct 13, 2008 4:32 PM EDT reply actions

@Anon:

ESPN did something like that when they actually covered hockey... it didn't take. It really grinds my gears, too, that a 12 second PP is treated the same as a 5:00 PP.

Side note -- if a team scores twice on a major PP, is it recorded as 2/1 or 2/2?

-d

by meep_42 on Oct 13, 2008 4:44 PM EDT reply actions

TSFR:
What an incredibly sad story. My heart goes out to his family and teammates, especially Jagr. I have no love for Jagr as a player but this transcends everything. Tragic.

by jason on Oct 13, 2008 6:18 PM EDT reply actions