Alexander Ovechkin: The Unjust Fall of a Hockey Legend – Is Retirement on the Horizon?

Alexander Ovechkin / Photo: © Patrick Smith / Staff / Getty Images Sports / Gettyimages.ru

Alexander Ovechkin in the next two seasons they could rewrite NHL history and break Wayne Gretzky’s scoring record. In addition, Ovechkin is able to become the first hockey player to reach the mark of 900 goals. However, amazing achievements are approaching the horizon and the status of the best sniper “Washington” The Russians were not enough to get into the 50 best hockey players in the league.

Experts were just disappointed with the striker’s performance last season and believe that at 39 years old, the Capital striker can no longer be called an elite player. Blatant disrespect to the legend!

Controversial level

Different rankings of the best players always cause controversy and criticism, but it is still very difficult to create such a list so that it is suitable for all fans. Someone will always wish that their favorite hockey player should be ranked higher. However, this is a matter of taste, but the television company NHL Network did not include Ovechkin in the 50 best players in the league. It is interesting that the Washington captain took 30th place there last year.

At the same time, the rating was compiled based on how the hockey player played in the 2023/24 season, and not on what the hockey player won in his career. And the experts did not like the performance of our partner, although it cannot be said that Alasdair failed the last regular season.

In fact, he had certain problems with changing his chances. However, after the All-Star break, the forward improved and eventually scored 31 goals and provided 34 assists in 79 meetings, becoming the team’s best sniper and second scorer. And Washington entered the playoffs largely thanks to Ovechkin’s effective actions. In the last nine meetings of the regular season, he scored 7 points (5 + 2).

Alexander Ovechkin (left) / Photo: © Scott Taetsch / Contributor / Getty Images Sports / Gettyimages.ru

However, the Russian did not reach the top 20 conditionally. But his eternal rival Sidney Crosby played a full regular season and was more productive in terms of personal statistics – 42 + 52, so his 11th place in the rating looks fair. But there are other names on the list whose presence is surprising.

For example, Kyle Connor from Winnipeg, who took 45th place in the list of the best hockey players. In the last regular season, he played 65 games and scored 61 (34 + 27) points. He, of course, caught some fire in the playoffs, but overall he had a weaker season than our partner, which did not stop him from entering the elite club.

NHL Network experts also forgot about other Russian players. Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin and reigning Stanley Cup champion Sergei Bobrovsky were overlooked by the list’s compilers. And yet, the strongest fifty dollars did not do without our hockey players: the rating included Kirill Kaprizov (25th place), Andrei Vasilevsky (24), Artemy Panarin (15), Nikita Kucherov ( 7) and Igor Shesterkin (6).

At the same time, it is surprising that Kucherov was lower than Shesterkin, Leon Draisaitl (5), Cale Makar (4), and Auston Matthews (3). Nathan MacKinnon went second, and Connor McDavid first.

As for Ovechkin, this is not the first time he has missed the top rankings. Also in September, Alexandra was ignored for the first time by the Canadian television company TSN when they were compiling a similar list. However, not everyone is sending captain Washington into retirement. For example, The Score believes that the promoter is one of 10 representatives of the hockey world that will have a greater impact on the appearance of the upcoming season.

But anyway, in the 2024/25 season, Ovechkin has to prove whether all the experts are wrong or not.