Bowman on the 'enigma' of Ovechkin
/Hockey legend Scotty Bowman was on Hockey Central @ Noon Monday.
Fantastic insights from Bowman on several pertinent Montreal Canadiens-related topics, including observations on Thomas Vanek and Max Pacioretty. He also gave his thoughts on what a dynasty means in today's hockey climate compared with the past, as well as escalating contracts in years to come given the projected rising cap.
Bowman was asked about one of the hot topics in the hockey world: Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin and his defensive play.
"Well, I guess everything - the way he plays, he figures everything is on his shoulders. 'If I don't score goals', and it's been proven he has scored goals - it still didn't make a big difference to the final analysis of the standings...
"I mean, I don't know. Is it all the way he plays? I mean, sometimes when you get a guy that is a great goal scorer and you can change some guys, you can say 'hey, we can't win if this keeps going' and that's happened quite a bit. You've got to make sure that offensive players can do their part, but maybe they got to figure - put somebody that's going to do the other stuff with him.
"When a guy is that much of a minus, it's also a reflection on who he's playing with too and how they're playing. I don't know, it's an enigma. You're exactly right, when you get a great offensive talent and we can't change that - he can score from anywhere - but it's not a winning formula.
"I think they're going to have to really dig down deep. I mean, he's not going to go anywhere for sure, I don't think, but they're going to have to surround this guy with different kind of players. Don't you think?"
Source: Sportsnet.ca/ Fan 590