After the Washington Capitals lost to the New York Rangers in Game 7, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was quick to distract attention away from himself, when asked about the quick exit from the playoffs.
“Nobody remember losers,” he said. “Everybody remember only winners.”
Non-winners may have a little remembrance as well if they sound a little sore. He told a Russian newspaper that the imbalance of penalties between the Capitals and the Rangers was suspicious; that the Rangers went through without one penalty in Game 6, and that the Capitals were getting penalized for every possible circumstance. To him, a conspiracy theory, pointing towards the league’s intention of a profit, was evident.
Ovechkin is two-time NHL MVP, and is a huge factor in the Capitals success during the regular season, leading the league with 32 goals. But when it came down to postseason, he only scored once in the seven games against the Rangers.
But, as OV later stated, “Team success is most important thing out there…I didn’t score and we lose. I score, we lose… [e]verybody have to make a difference.”
He is correct: the Rangers, as a team, fizzled in 2010, after earning the Presidents’ Trophy for most standing points in the league. Then in 2011, they were swept in the second round. Together, the Capitals are going to have to bring their regular season action into the playoffs.
However, he contradicted his “No ‘I’ in Team” attitude by saying that the primary reason that for the Rangers’ series victory was due to goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, who OV said was unbelievable. So, which is it? Can one player make the difference?
What do you think? Could the Capitals still be in the playoffs if Ovechkin’s performance matched the regular season? Or, does the whole team need to get a playoff wake-up call? Let us know by making a comment below, or tweet it to us, using the hastag R-M-L.
