- To continue in the same vein as "Fallacies abound" below, Jasper over at the excellent Capitals blog Jaspers Rink is a little exasperated with Alexander Ovechkin recently:
Since authoring "The Sequel" on February 18, Alex Ovechkin has racked up six goals and seven assists in a dozen game, a 102-point pace over the course of a full season. He had a ten-game point-scoring streak snapped last night, and has been held off the scoresheet just two times in his past 22 outings.
Not bad.
But do you want to know what is bad? Over that 12-game span mentioned above, AO has a minus-8 rating (including back-to-back minus-2's in his last two games), and hasn't had a plus rating in a single game.
...
Alex Ovechkin, it seems, is bored. Bored enough to take shifts off.
...
In some ways, it's too bad AO isn't a little more motivated by individual accomplishments and accolades (he certainly doesn't have a second consecutive Hart Trophy locked up quite yet), because the team could use a more focused version of the Great Eight right now. And perhaps it's been a necessary break of sorts for him. But it's just about time for him to put the team back on his broad shoulders. It's time for the leader to lead.
Not focused? Bad leader? Bored? These all rang alarm bells in my head, so I looked at AO's ES numbers over the span in question:
+68 corsi, 9.4 SH%, .894 on-ice SV%, 6.8 on-ice SH% (!!), 96.2 PDO.
Ovechkin hasn't been bored recently. He's been unlucky. Theodore has been fairly awful in WAS the past little while (especially behind Ovie for whatever reason) and that on-ice SH% is way, way too low considering who Ovechkin is and who he plays with.
I don't blame Jasper for being annoyed and casting about for explanations - look at WAS ES SH% since Feb 18: 5%! I can't imagine how frustrating the last month or so must have been for Caps fans. But there's no way a club with that kind of personnel up front continues to shoot at 5% 5on5. I suspect Ovechkin's focus and leadership will improve once the percentages go up.
- I have a piece up over at Flames Nation on Calgary's potential first round opponent(s). My conclusion? Edmonton would be ideal...because they stink.
- Fun fact: Kevin Lalande went 3-0-0 of the CBJ farm team was named player of the week in the AHL. I have a link to the story over at SBN. Clearly he's trying to prove my assertion that a 4th round pick for a minor league goalie was an overpayment.
EDITED to add this link from the new Puck Prospectus (H/T Jonathan Willis). The piece is on a pervasive NHL-wide cowbell: size. Or, more accurately, the mistaken belief that BIG = GOOD -
This is clear evidence that size by itself is often considered an important factor by NHL teams when drafting players. It is far too common a problem to be explained by claiming that scouts saw something in each of these failed draft picks, and that they just didn't pan out. It is systematic and pervasive. Brian Gionta was also drafted in 1998, at #82 overall despite excellent scoring totals. His major problem was his height (5'7”). NHL teams show a definite preference for large players who don't play well over small player who do play well.
Iain Fyffe uses the 1998 Entry draft as a case study to prove his point, although wonders if this misconception is starting to fall away in the "modern" NHL thanks to the renewed emphasis on speed and skill in the wake of the obstruction crack down.
