Everything is ok with Alex Ovechkin
Ovechkin talks with media from Toronto
Q:. What's wrong with Alex Ovechkin?
Ovi: Everything is ok with Alex Ovechkin. Last night I had perfect two shots [of vodka, ok, just kidding -tj] It's great to be Alex Ovechkin.
Update: More (the transcript) from the National Post:
Is it easy for you to be happy right now, to be that buoyant guy we know that you are?
“Well, of course it’s hard to be happy when you think about the game, because we’re losing. But it’s not the end of the world. Tomorrow, we have a game. We’re going to win the game, and we’re going to be happy again.”
Everybody’s asking: And the question is ‘what’s wrong with Alex Ovechkin?’”
“Everything’s OK with Alex Ovechkin. Yeah. Everybody thinks I have to score 60 goals right now, and everybody thinks I have to have 100 points. But if I’m playing well and the team is not playing good and we’re losing, everybody says, ‘well, he’s playing well,’ and nobody’s going to say (anything) about the team. We’re not here to win the Art Ross or something. We’re here to win the big thing. I do my best. I try to score goals. I try to do what I have to do. Sometimes, I just can’t score.”
Is it hard being Alex Ovechkin sometimes, just because you do get so much attention?
“Actually, it’s fun. It’s great to be Alex Ovechkin.” (smiles)
But with all the defencemen studying you so closely …
“I love when I have attention. It would be bad if I don’t have attention. When I’m playing well, the fans start talking about it. When I’m not playing well, the fans are talking about it, and you guys are talking about it all the time. Sometimes in your career, you’re going up and down, up and down. And if you’re going down, you have to find a way to respond to it, and bounce back to that. I don’t think that I’m really down.”
Ovie, you guys came here expecting to practice today — is getting a day off maybe better for you guys mentally and physically?
“Well, of course. I think sometimes you just have to forget about hockey for a couple of hours. I know lots of guys have families here and friends. Have some dinner, lunch and be ready for tomorrow’s game.”
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6 comments:
Саша, ни о чём не волнуйся, у тебя всё будет замечательно!
And people say Ovie isn't a good Captain... He still shows up takes all the criticism, all the negativity and still tries to lead. Yes his team isn't doing and neither is he but he's still doing what he can, not moping or half assing it and that's great leadership right there.
Ovie: "Sometimes in your career, you’re going up and down, up and down. And if you’re going down, you have to find a way to respond to it, and bounce back to that."
AHA! Ovie acknowledges he's having an up-and-down season. And he has to find a way to get out of this rut. The first step to solving a problem is to realize you have a problem. So there is something wrong Ovie has to fix. Of course he'll say everything is OK so as not to appear negative or lacking confidence. What matters is he has to be honest with himself, that all is not right with his game. He has to figure out what he has to do differently, what adjustments he has to make, if he's really serious that his job is to score goals.
Special post @O: in case you don't go back to older threads, I'll thank you again here for your reply to my question on the Ovie ice time thread. I posted some comments there to follow up.
@BobbyG,
Thank you. I've added more to that thread.
As for communication between Bruce and Ovi they talk a lot during practices, seems mostly like Ovi getting clarification on the exercises. And he's not the only one. The team is doing some different things and that has everyone confused. why it is taking so long for everything to get comfortable, I don't know. Maybe because the Caps have had so few changes since Bruce and now they've had back-to-back years of changes to the system.
@O: thanks for your additional comments on the Ovie ice time thread. Yes, the Caps ineffective power play has had a negative impact on Ovie's offensive production numbers as well as the other Caps star players. How did we both miss that one?
Boudreau has shaken up his line combinations and defensive pairings a lot. I'm no coach but it seems all these changes, combined with his so-called hybrid system, has been difficult to adapt to. IMO hockey players are creatures of habit, and having to adjust to too much too soon can be confusing. Maybe that's why they sometimes look lost and unfocused. What I thought was disinterest and not competing, might actually be confusion from the mental and physical whiplash Boudreau has imposed on them by making too many changes all at once. How can lines and defensive pairings develop chemistry when there's been a revolving door lineup almost every game? Sure, injuries to key players make adjustments necessary (see Mike Green), but making changes just for the sake of doing something can be counter productive.
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