Just over three weeks ago, on November 19, in a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars, Washington Capitals’ forward, Alexander Ovechkin, scored a goal at 7:01 of the third period. The goal, which was Ovechkin’s ninth of the season, was also the 484th of his career, moving him past Sergei Fedorov as the top Russian-born goal-scorer in NHL history. A question entered into my mind: Is Alexander Ovechkin the greatest Russian-born player in hockey history?
On the surface, the obvious
answer is “yes.” It took Ovie 777 games in the NHL to score more goals than
Fedorov managed in 1248 games. As of today, he is up to 489 goals and is only
30 years old. Barring injury, he has a lot more hockey left in him to rack up
even more, maybe possibly hit the 700 mark.
He’s been an All-Star ten times,
won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year in 2006, won the Hart
Trophy as NHL MVP three times, the Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHLPA’s best
player three times, the Rocket Richard Award as the leading goal-scorer five
times and throw in an Art Ross Trophy as the top point getter in 2008. Again,
all before the age of thirty.
Besides Fedorov, some of the
other big name Russian players that now trail Ovechkin include Alexander
Mogilny, Pavel Bure, Alexei Kovalev, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexei Yashin and Pavel
Datsyuk. So clearly the numbers would suggest that Ovie is the greatest Russian
player ever.
However, there are two factors
that could prove that he isn’t quite there yet. First, there’s the ridiculous
theory brought about by his detractors that he has not led the Capitals to the
Stanley Cup Finals, let alone won the trophy. They’d be quick to point out that
Sidney Crosby (Ovechkin and Crosby will be forever linked in comparisons) led
the Pittsburgh Penguins to back-to-back finals appearances in 2008 and 2009,
winning the Cup on their second trip.
And yes, you can say that Crosby
has won a cup, but Ovechkin has never been surrounded by the supporting cast
that Sid had in Pittsburgh back in those years. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a
bigger Crosby fan than an Ovechkin fan, but Crosby was in a better situation
with the Pens than Ovie was with the Caps. Crosby was a piece of the puzzle,
with the help of Evgeni Malkin and company, while Ovechkin has had to carry the
Caps since he first pulled on the jersey in 2005.
There’s still time for him to
lead Washington to a championship, but even if he doesn’t, it will never take
away from the fact that he is a great hockey player, despite what his critics
say.
But, in my opinion, you can’t
determine where he ranks on the all-time Russian list of hockey greatness when
there’s no way to compare him to the great players of the Soviet Union who
never played in the NHL, or those who only played for a handful of years after
the Iron Curtain crumbled.
There were the great players
from the seventies who played on the Central Red Army team and the USSR
National team. Players like Alexander Yakushev and Valeri Kharlamov who played
in the Summit Series in 1972 and won Olympic Gold Medals and World
Championships. And then there were the players from the eighties National Team.
Players like Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makarov who also won Olympic Gold and
World Championships, but were only in the NHL for a cup of coffee. And then
there’s Viacheslav Fetisov and Igor Larionov who, while successful in the NHL,
didn’t get there until later in their playing careers.
Because these Russian born,
Soviet players—who were great in the competitions they played in—never fully
realized their potential by playing full careers in the NHL, it’s impossible to
compare them to today’s Russian players like Ovechkin. It’s all hearsay and
speculation on who was or is the best.
The safest argument is that
Alexander Ovechkin is on his way to being—if not already—the best Russian-born
player who ever played in the National Hockey League.
And let’s not forget his
professionalism and respect for the game, never more evident than the World
Championships last May. After being defeated by Canada in the gold medal game,
most of the Russian players left the ice, rather than stick around for the flag
raising and traditional post-game handshake. Ovechkin was one of the handful of
players who did stick around, trying to get his teammates to show a little
class and come back to the ice. While they didn’t listen to him or follow his
example, this display of class will forever remain part of his legacy and help
vault him into the category of all-time greats—not just Russian greats, but
hockey’s all-time greats.
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