Alexander Ovechkin has come under unprecedented pressure this offseason. Following the American fans, who demand that the leadership of “Washington” get rid of the star hockey player, experts spoke about the harmfulness of the player to the capital’s club.

Like, the Capitals need rejuvenation, and Ovi is not getting any younger every year. But isn’t it stupid to drive a star hockey player out of the club after every failure, and after a while admire his genius again?

“Ovechkin is over”

Tariq El-Bashir of The Athletic, a reputable online sports publication, agreed with the thesis that the Russian is hindering the restructuring of the Capitals. However, the journalist is not going to hang all the dogs on Ovi. A decent portion of criticism for an unsuccessful season went to other veterans of the capital’s team.

Discussions about the need for Ovechkin to Washington once again intensified a year ago, when Alexander’s contract was coming to an end. Not to say that the fans opposed the new agreement, but still, his term was surprising – Ovi will play for the Capitals until the end of the 2025/26 season, when he will be 40 years old.

Ovechkin is over. They’re just not competitive anymore. I don’t think any of these guys will have a good season. I don’t think Ovi will even come close to Gretzky’s record. I don’t think he will score even 30 goals this year,” said former hockey player and now television analyst John Scott before the start of the season.

Alexander Ovechkin / Photo: © The Washington Post / Contributor / The Washington Post / Gettyimages.ru

The expert turned out to be wrong about Ovechkin’s goalscoring abilities, but outside of the regular season, the leader of Washington’s attacks really looked unconvincing. The already mentioned El-Bashir noticed that the problems of the capital club in the playoffs were largely due to the low performance of the leaders. Alexander, with the only goal scored, was no exception here.

Won’t be as effective as before

It is worth saying that this is not the first time Ovi has been criticized in his long career in the context that he has lost his best qualities. And he got it both in America and in Russia. Any bad period in the season was perceived as the beginning of the decline of the superstar. Now even the comments of experts about the game of a Russian five, eight, or even more than a dozen years ago sound a little funny. For example, in 2011, hockey functionary Igor Kuperman stated that the leader of Washington is no longer the same as he was two years earlier.

“It’s time for Ovechkin to remember the days when he was just starting to play in the NHL, and forget about the status of a rock star,” his former teammate Olaf Kolzig insisted in 2012.

“Ovechkin will definitely not be as effective as 6-7 years ago,” Boris Mayorov said in 2013.

Team Canada’s world champion Mike Commodore insisted he would have done anything to get Ovechkin out of Washington after yet another setback by the Capitals in the 2017 playoffs. The former hockey player was hindered only by the inability to influence the personnel policy of the capital club.

With each new season, there were no fewer similar statements. Even such a great master as Ovechkin experienced downturns at times. This, in turn, was reflected in both his ability to score goals and Washington’s results.

Alexander Ovechkin / Photo: © Gerry Angus / Icon Sportswire / imago-images.de / Global Look Press

The failure of the Capitals in the playoffs again allowed to put on a worn record that Alexander was no longer the same. The negative about the hockey player overseas is also added by his decision to spend his vacation in Russia. But, it is worth assuming that in the fall Ovi will begin with renewed vigor the pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s record for the number of career goals, and all today’s critics of the athlete will again begin to admire him.