Alex Ovechkin: The NHL's Best Player
by J.P. on Sep 13, 2009 9:04 PM EDT
41 comments
It's not exactly breaking news, but The Hockey News' annual yearbook is out, complete with its ranking of the top fifty players in the NHL (see last year's rankings here), and here's their pick for number one:
(click to enlarge)
Three other Caps made the top fifty as well (rankings and blurbs - presented without comment - below):
22. Mike Green. He gained 25 pounds last season when he sat out with a shoulder injury, but that didn't prevent Green from leading all defensemen in goals. His playoff performance exposed his defensive flaws, but what he lacks in his game can be taught. What he has, can't be.
27. Nicklas Backstrom. With 121 assists in his first two seasons, Backstrom has undoubtedly benefitted from playing with the NHL's best goal-scorer in Ovechkin. But who's to say Ovechkin would have this many goals if not for Backstrom's great passes?
40. Alexander Semin. There was a time last season when Ovechkin wasn't only not the best player on the Capitals, he wasn't even the best Alex. That designation belonged to Semin, who increased his production over 2007-08 by 37 points and his plus-minus by 43 (from minus-18 to plus-25).
If this FanPost is written by someone other than one of the blog's authors, the opinions expressed in it do not necessarily reflect those of this blog or SB Nation.
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In other news, water is wet.
Though the comments about Sid’s #1 ranking last year were pretty funny.
IS PAЯTY NOW
by Your Nation's Capital on Sep 13, 2009 10:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Where’s Schultz? #7? #8?
Atta dinnin stick a who!
by Gould Old Days on Sep 14, 2009 12:17 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
So Green, Backstrom & Semin are all debuting on that list eh?
Frankly I’m surprised Semin isn’t in the top 30.
by Laich on Sep 14, 2009 8:25 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
He starts on fire, gets injured early, then falls off the map despite finishing at roughly the same rate. He’s top-20 IMO.
by red army line on Sep 14, 2009 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The durability issue is part of that, no doubt. He’s got more talent that most every player in the league…
Let's go Caps!
by MikeL-Caps on Sep 14, 2009 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Does the font on the magazine spread scream “ESTRADA” to anyone else?
by thehoagster07 on Sep 14, 2009 10:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I didn’t think there was ever any question that Ovie’s the best.
Sidney who?
by Brad_Richards_Rocks on Sep 14, 2009 11:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
22. Mike Green. He gained 25 pounds last season when he sat out with a shoulder injury
Damn, Greenie, you were only out for 21 days.
by David M. Getz on Sep 14, 2009 12:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
A man’s gotta eat.
IS PAЯTY NOW
by Your Nation's Capital on Sep 14, 2009 12:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
That has to be incorrect.
A man must have a code.
by Fehr and Balanced on Sep 14, 2009 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
that’s what I’m thinking. Unless he was consuming 6,00 calories a day or something insane like that.
if he had gained 25 pounds, then I think it would have had a noticeable effect on this hockey. Instead, he came back and continued on his merry way to putting up numbers most forwards are jealous of.
by RedBirdie on Sep 14, 2009 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Unless he was consuming 6,00 calories a day or something insane like that.
If I recall correctly, Green was featured in a local magazine’s health issue and said he eats about 5,500 a day.
by David M. Getz on Sep 14, 2009 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He hurt his shoulder and had some sort of flu-type bug. Did he completely stop exercising? I’ve done some horribly unhealthy things to my body and never even come close to putting on a pound a day for 3 weeks.
A man must have a code.
by Fehr and Balanced on Sep 14, 2009 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I know every time I come down with the flu I end up 5-10 pounds lighter because I end up eating so little (and frequently unable to hold it down….)
by RedBirdie on Sep 14, 2009 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I hear you on that one. I get like that with allergies – I get really bad post-nasal drip and if I don’t control it with Sudafed, my stomach gets upset. Weird but true. I dropped five pounds one week before I figured it out.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
by gotsparkly on Sep 14, 2009 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
When I get post-nasal drip and weight loss it’s from another cause.
A man must have a code.
by Fehr and Balanced on Sep 14, 2009 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
The time frame is off – he didn’t gain all the weight while he was hurt, but he did continue to gain weight once he returned.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
by J.P. on Sep 14, 2009 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
One meal at the Cheesecake Factory down the street from Kettler, and you’re good for that 5,500.
by Stephen Pepper on Sep 15, 2009 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
If it is, it’s not off by much. He definitely let himself go a bit, but has since gotten the message about taken care of himself.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
by J.P. on Sep 14, 2009 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
This isn’t just letting himself go. This puts Kyle Wellwood on the cover of Men’s Health. I didn’t see him without equipment last year so I have no idea what he was or wasn’t hiding under there but that just seems like an extreme amount of weight to put on if you are doing anything active at all.
A man must have a code.
by Fehr and Balanced on Sep 14, 2009 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think we’d all agree that a man’s metabolism changes a bit as he gets older, and this might be a contributing factor – maybe he used to be able to get away with eating a certain way that finally caught up with him.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
by J.P. on Sep 14, 2009 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He’s not even 24 and he’s a professional athlete. I realize that a man’s metabolism slows down as he gets older (learned a hard lesson) but he’s not that old yet. I just can’t fathom that someone that works out as much as he has to, even if just practices and games, could put on almost 2 Freshman 15s in a month. It makes a lot more sense with the time frame clarification you give above but I’d like to really know the start and end dates when this weight gain happened. Also, if there was some documented evidence that he put on a bunch of weight why hasn’t it come out until now? Previously it was just “concerns about his conditioning” which could be explained because of his injury and flu, but an NHL player putting on 25 pounds in season is really ridiculous.
A man must have a code.
by Fehr and Balanced on Sep 14, 2009 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I was just starting to type something similar as you posted. 23 is way too young for the metabolism to change that way. Maybe 25 pounds over the course of the season, and you’d like to think some/most of that was muscle.
by gfcaps fan on Sep 14, 2009 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Even the muscle angle is unlikely just because they do so little heavy weight lifting in season. That’s why the off-season is so important; it builds the base that you need to last you a full season. When guys have to rehab all off-season they still aren’t back to where they should be because instead of putting on muscle and getting in shape they are busy healing/rehabbing.
A man must have a code.
by Fehr and Balanced on Sep 14, 2009 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Like I said, it wasn’t a month – it continued through the rest of the season and even started before. And I wouldn’t be able to confirm the veracity of the number itself, but would not doubt the ballpark.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
by J.P. on Sep 14, 2009 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I’m not doubting you. I’m just curious as to what the reality was. You and the other people that cover the Caps closely saw him in street clothes much more than I did and would have a better idea of what kind of shape he was in all season. I’m just wondering why massive weight gain didn’t show up on the radar until the 09-10 training camp. People notice a weight gain/loss of 10 lbs. so for 25 to be unnoticed for so long is just weird.
A man must have a code.
by Fehr and Balanced on Sep 14, 2009 1:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It was on the radar towards the end of last season, and people certainly alluded to it without calling him out directly (for example, Puck Daddy: “One thing is certain: Green’s level of, and commitment to, fitness needs to improve for next season.”), especially since he was still racking up the numbers along the way.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
by J.P. on Sep 14, 2009 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah I’d heard the general fitness and commitment complaints but I assumed that was tied to his play on the ice. I thought that most of the critics were just uninformed jackholes that would leech on to any story they could, facts be damned. The utter lack of recognition of his shoulder injury that many of those sources showed, and the constant “but he sucks in his own end” garbage pretty much confirmed that I didn’t have to take anything those sources had to say too seriously. If one of them had come out and said “Mike Green is visibly fatter” I would have paid more attention.
A man must have a code.
by Fehr and Balanced on Sep 14, 2009 1:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed. Probably a combination of that and the fact that the guys who saw him on a regular basis and would notice such things were handling it with kid gloves.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
by J.P. on Sep 14, 2009 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah. Do you think GMGM or BB asked Tarik, Corey, et. al. to refrain from sounding the alarm?
A man must have a code.
by Fehr and Balanced on Sep 14, 2009 1:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
No, I don’t think GMGM would ask the media for any favors. More likely, the reporters either didn’t notice, didn’t think it was a big deal, or didn’t want to potentially sour a relationship over the matter.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
by J.P. on Sep 14, 2009 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
That sounds more realistic. I’m just a little annoyed that one of the few things we would have wanted to know about Green was withheld.
A man must have a code.
by Fehr and Balanced on Sep 14, 2009 2:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well, the Rink Rats have been contesting allegations of “lack of conditioning” all summer. Perhaps it wasn’t so much "alleged’ as “actual”.
But regardless, a 23-year old elite athlete can work it off in a hurry. Even AO looked a little pudgy in those pix from Siberia a few weeks ago, and he’s apparently in phenomenal shape now.
IS PAЯTY NOW
by Your Nation's Capital on Sep 14, 2009 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think Green looks good right now, and he’s clearly on message about off-ice conditioning – when I was talking to him on Saturday, he mentioned it in answering a mostly unrelated question.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
by J.P. on Sep 14, 2009 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
by J.P. on Sep 14, 2009 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hopefully that talk was over light beers (for him at least).
A man must have a code.
by Fehr and Balanced on Sep 14, 2009 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I was contesting the allegations because nobody raised any evidence other than “he sucked in the playoffs.” Given the other things going on, I didn’t think that was an accurate conclusion. If they had said he is visibly fatter or 25 lbs. heavier I would have been more concerned.
A man must have a code.
by Fehr and Balanced on Sep 14, 2009 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Incorrectly worded I think
Possibly meant to imply he had gained 25 pounds before the season that he would eventually sit out 21 days. Two different facts that had no relation and shouldn’t have been put in that order as it incorrectly implies one caused the other.
Your favorite meme is dead
by Edanger6 on Sep 14, 2009 3:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I doubt it, especially given that Green was bigger later in the season than at the beginning.
by David M. Getz on Sep 14, 2009 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
that’s a lot of carry out.
from the house that Red Jesus built
by bigonetimer on Sep 14, 2009 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Washington
|
70 | 47 | 14 | 9 | 103 |
|
Atlanta
|
69 | 29 | 29 | 11 | 69 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
69 | 28 | 29 | 12 | 68 |
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Florida
|
68 | 28 | 30 | 10 | 66 |
|
Carolina
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