Ovechkin's Legacy Would Be Tarnished If He Didn't Win The Cup
14 years after he was drafted. 1,003 regular season games, 607 career goals, 1,122 points, plus 121 playoff games and 117 points. Finally, Washington Capitals legend Alexander Ovechkin is a Stanley Cup champion.
Fair or unfair, the greatest Russian player in NHL history was going to be labeled as the Dan Marino and Karl Malone of hockey - the man who couldn't win the big one. Ovechkin was on his way to surpassing Marcel Dionne as the greatest hockey player to never win a Stanley Cup.
No, Ovechkin - in his age 32 season - wasn't slowing down. He had 49 goals and 87 points in the regular season. But the salary cap was going to decimate this roster even more - as if losing Kevin Shattenkirk, Justin Williams, Nate Schmidt, Karl Alzner and Marcus Johansson last summer wasn't bad enough.
In short, this was The Great Eight's last great chance at a Stanley Cup. And finally, Ovechkin has erased the label of not being able to win it all. He's now a seven-time 'Rocket' Richard Trophy winner, three-time Hart Trophy winner and a Stanley Cup champion. Oh, and for good measure, he took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as league MVP.
When you look at the greatest athletes in North American sports, you see almost all of them have won a championship. Michael Jordan won six. Magic Johnson won five. LeBron James has three. Wayne Gretzky won four Cups. Sidney Crosby has three. Tom Brady has five Super Bowl Rings. Peyton Manning won two. Joe Montana captured four.
As such, it's why people like Malone and Marino had their careers overshadowed by their inabilities to win a ring. They were just as dominant as any other players in their era, but the two Hall of Famers just didn't win when it mattered most.
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Ovechkin simply doesn't deserve to be in that narrative. He took over a horrendous team with no future after being taken with the first overall pick in 2004. Four years later, Washington was in the playoffs.
Over time, their expectations grew from making the playoffs to winning a championship, but it was just constant heartbreak. In 2009, Crosby and the rival Penguins embarrassed them in Game 7 of the second round, eventually winning the Stanley Cup. Washington won the Presidents' Trophy in 2010, only to blow a 3-1 series lead and fall to the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in seven games.
Then the top-seeded Caps were swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the 2011 playoffs. They then followed with consecutive playoff exits to the New York Rangers. In 2014, Washington missed the postseason altogether, which led to Adam Oates being hired as head coach and replaced by Barry Trotz.
The Capitals shifted to a more defensive style of hockey, but Trotz allowed Ovechkin to play his game. Washington advanced to the second round of the 2015 playoffs and captured a 3-1 series lead over the Presidents' Trophy Rangers. But Washington blew that lead and lost Game 7 in overtime. Just more misery.
But 2016 and '17 both looked like the years for Washington. They won the Presidents' Trophy in both years, bolstering elite scoring, tremendous defensive play and a world class goalie in Braden Holtby.
Same old story, however. The eventual Stanley Cup champion Penguins brought more heart and pride to the playoffs, eliminating Washington in the second round both years. With that, the championship window looked closed.
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The Capitals managed to capture a third consecutive Metropolitan Division title, but nobody thought Ovechkin and the Capitals could do it. It was either going to be the Penguins or powerhouse Tampa Bay Lightning or Boston Bruins winning the east. Ovie and co. didn't have a chance.
But all Ovechkin did was rally Washington down from 2-0 down in the series to dispatch the Columbus Blue Jackets in round one. All he did was feed Evgeny Kuznetsov the game-winning goal in Game 6 of their second round series with Pittsburgh, finally taking down the Penguins. They finally conquered their Kryptonite.
All the Capitals did after that was defeat the red-hot Lightning in seven games, who only needed 10 games to reach the Conference Finals. Up next, it was the expansion Vegas Golden Knights - who were looking to complete the greatest Cinderella story in the history of sports.
But nope. This was the year of Ovechkin and the Capitals after all. They dispatched the surging Golden Knights in five games, bringing Washington its first world championship since 1991 - when the Redskins beat the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI.
15 goals and 27 points in 24 playoff games this year. Ovechkin carried the Capitals on his back, beginning in Game 3 against Columbus and all the way to the Stanley Cup. Now, his legacy is complete, and nobody can ever criticise him again.
Ovechkin can now enjoy the rest of his NHL career just piling up the stats and adding more trophies to his collection. Maybe another Stanley Cup awaits, maybe not. But if there are more championships to be had, none of them will be as sweet as the first.
Because 2018 was the year Alexander Ovechkin completed his legacy and finally won the Stanley Cup. Take him off your list of legendary athletes who couldn't win the big one.
