Alex Ovechkin has now scored more goals than any other player in NHL history, but over his 20-year career, his calling card hasn’t been the only one in the deck.
Ovi used to be as physical as anyone on the ice, but over the years, and wear and tear, he’s adapted his game as the game as evolved – and Alan May, who’s seen a lot of it for Monumental Sports Network, is still impressed with how he’s done it.
And as Ovi has sacrificed being the big hitter in favor of scoring and helping his team win, it wasn’t for naught…just look back at June of 2018, and seven years later as he's still in the league, and now the all-time goal king.
“As time’s gone by, he’s sacrificed some of those big hits to be closer to the position that his team needs him in, and they all learned that lesson in 2018, about when they finally became a defensive team, to win the Stanley Cup,” May said. “They knew they could score the goals, but they used to try out-Pittsburgh the Penguins with speed and odd man rushes and annihilate them physically with body checks. They finally figured it out and Barry Trotz, to his credit, finally bit the bullet and went into a defensive posture, and that wasn't lost on Carlson, Ovechkin, Wilson and Backstrom and Oshie, that they needed to be really good without the puck. And I think that's where Ovi’s proven to everyone that he loves to score goals, but I don't think we've ever seen anyone celebrate the way he celebrated when Gary Bettman handed him the cup on June 17, 2018. It’s an evolution of understanding the game and the other half of it, and if he kept it up, he’d be in trouble physically. The fact that he's still playing just blows my mind because I didn't think that body would let him.”
Listen to May’s entire visit with G&D above!