Capitals Name Alex Ovechkin Captain

[Nightshade88]

ARLINGTON, Va. – Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin took the ice for tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens wearing the captain’s ‘C’ on his sweater, introducing him to the Verizon Center fans as the 14th captain in club history. Vice president and general manager George McPhee and head coach Bruce Boudreau made the selection and Boudreau informed his team of the decision this morning.

Ovechkin, 24, is the first European-born captain in Capitals history and the second-youngest captain in team history (Ryan Walter was 21 when he captained the 1979-80 team). The Moscow native is the sixth Russian-born player to be an NHL captain and joins Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk as the only active Russians to captain their teams (Pavel Bure, Alexander Mogilny, Alexei Yashin and Alexei Zhamnov are the previous ones). Ovechkin, who has been one of Washington’s alternate captains since his second season in the league, succeeds Chris Clark as Capitals’ captain following Clark’s trade to Columbus last week.

Midway through his fifth NHL season, Ovechkin has already distinguished himself as arguably the greatest player in the league today. Each of the past two seasons he has won the Hart Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL’s most valuable player as voted by the media and the players, respectively, becoming the first player since 1997-98 (Dominik Hasek) to win the Hart in consecutive seasons. He has also captured back-to-back Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies as the league’s top goal scorer and won the 2006 Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year in a landslide vote.

Ovechkin is just the second player all-time to be named to the NHL First All-Star Team in each of his first four seasons in the league, joining Montreal goaltender Bill Durnan (1944-47), and has played in three NHL All-Star Games. He was recently named to his second Russian Olympic team.

Off the ice, Ovechkin has embraced the Washington, D.C., community and shown a commitment to the city and the franchise. He is in the second season of a 13-year contract, the longest in Capitals history, that he signed January 10, 2008.

Since 2006 Ovechkin has purchased eight Capitals season tickets as part of his Ovi’s Crazy 8s program and donates them to Most Valuable Kids to be distributed to underprivileged children and soldiers in the area. He has made multiple visits to Children’s National Medical Center as well as area schools and rinks and has hosted a beautification project at a D.C. junior high school. He was the spokesman for the Capitals’ holiday toy drive last season and the Honorary Chair of the 2006 Caps Care Classic. In his spare time Ovechkin regularly cheers on his counterparts at Washington Wizards, Washington Redskins, Washington Mystics and Washington Nationals games. He received the key to the city from Washington, D.C., mayor Adrian M. Fenty in June 2008, the day after becoming the first major professional sports MVP in Washington, D.C., in 25 years.

[dtdc2k3]

Originally Posted by Nightshade88

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=512478


Bad move in my opinion, but we will see how it works out.

Why is it a bad move?

[Nightshade88]

Originally Posted by dtdc2k3

Why is it a bad move?

I don't excactly think it's a bad move, I guess I worded that wrong, I just have a problem with teams naming their best player captian. It's becoming a trend in the NHL and I just think it's wrong. Who knows though maybe he will be a great captian and lead them to a Stanley Cup. I just have respect for teams that have captian that aren't super stars. Guys like Ethan Moreau, Rod Brind'Amour, and Chris Clark (when he was captian) I always respected the teams for naming these guys captian rather than just their best young player.

[dtdc2k3]

Originally Posted by Nightshade88

Didn't see that thread.

I don't excactly think it's a bad move, I guess I worded that wrong, I just have a problem with teams naming their best player captian. It's becoming a trend in the NHL and I just think it's wrong. Who knows though maybe he will be a great captian and lead them to a Stanley Cup. I just have respect for teams that have captian that aren't super stars. Guys like Ethan Moreau, Rod Brind'Amour, and Chris Clark (when he was captian) I always respected the teams for naming these guys captian rather than just their best young player.

i feel that way to i think that player getting the C because that the team will eventually be theres is retarded i.e. pitt givng crosby the C because hes sidney crosby while they had vets like garry roberts and mark recchi who should have been first in line. i think this situtation is different ovi was offerd the C before they gave it to clark and he turned it down because he wasnt ready for it. i think that he is now. his english is ALOT better, he is the best player on the team and he shows his leadership by doing the small things. u can say hes greedy and doesnt hustle but after watching him grow in to a better player hes improved greatly in his own zone. i think hes ready to be the captin of this team and so do all the players on the caps heres a quote from BB

know [the players] were really happy when I told them this morning. This doesn't happen too often, but the group got up and cheered. I had talked to a lot of them in the last couple days and they said that Alex was the only choice; he's our leader, he's our guy.

I think the thing that really sort of shows how ready he was, when I talked to him a few days ago, he said, 'I would gladly accept the responsibility, but only if my teammates want me to.' ... So, he was already thinking about the team rather than thinking about himself, which is what good captains do.

[2yt4u]

I think it's a decent move,Ovy comes to play every night,leads by
throwing his weight around and by lighting the lamp alot.
The only other guy I might have gave it to for this year would
be Mike Knuble but no time like the present I guess.

[canuckfan]

It was only a matter of time, really. But its another big, mature step for Ovechkin. He should thrive with this added responsibility, but we'll have to wait and see!

[CapsFan99]

He is not only there best player, he single handedly brought the team from last to best in division. He single handed carried the team on his back in the playoffs.

He deserves it because he is the face of the Caps franchise.

And the players cheered when they found out OVY was captain, it doesn't get much simplier then that of how great he is for the caps.

[Hagstrom]

Ya, I think he deserves the captaincy and I respect him a lot for not taking the C when offered it the first time. I always wondered why Crosby was immediately made Captain, same with Toews.

I admire the fact the Ovy worked towards it.

[Blouin]

no surprise here.

[staal4pm]

No surprise and I like this move by the count. He was clearly the best option on that team. He's young, he's dynamic, he's charismatic, he's brought hockey back to relevance in the District. Hell, they even beat the Redskins in the ratings last week in the DC area. Since his arrival, they have clearly passed the Nationals and probably the Wizards.

He brings it every night, his love and excitement for the game is palpable, and he's probably the most captivating player in the league today. He won't play any defense, but he hasn't for the better part of 5 years. As long as he keeps potting 50+ goals and hits like a man possessed then it's all good.

[Godly_goon]

maybe im just old school but i think a captain needs to fight every once in a while.. so maybe this will be alexander ovechkins first real FM coming soon

[Isles4life]

With Clark traded, I'm not sure there really was another option on the Capitals. Ovechkin is without a doubt the cornerstone of that franchise, and I think he is maturing as a player. I still think he might have been better off doing a little more maturing with just an 'A' on his sweater, but he was obviously going to be named captain sooner or later. I think he'll grow into the role.

[mattyp]

Originally Posted by dtdc2k3

i feel that way to i think that player getting the C because that the team will eventually be theres is retarded i.e. pitt givng crosby the C because hes sidney crosby while they had vets like garry roberts and mark recchi who should have been first in line. i think this situtation is different ovi was offerd the C before they gave it to clark and he turned it down because he wasnt ready for it. i think that he is now. his english is ALOT better, he is the best player on the team and he shows his leadership by doing the small things. u can say hes greedy and doesnt hustle but after watching him grow in to a better player hes improved greatly in his own zone. i think hes ready to be the captin of this team and so do all the players on the caps heres a quote from BB

Pitt offered Crosby the C halfway through the season and he also refused it because he wasn't ready for it, and why would you give the C to 2 players who have 1 year deals and who they likely knew wouldn't be there the following year? (recchi, roberts) Just because you're a veteran doesn't make you a leader, and just because you're young doesn't mean you can't be a leader. Crosby was apparently very vocal in the dressing room and he lead by example with his exceptional play and they knew they were signing him to a long term deal, so why not make him captain? I personally thought to myself that OV should have been captain all year, and when Clark was traded I expected the announcement the next day. The only problem I have with Euro captains is if they can't speak english too well how can you captain a team? If the Pens would have made Malkin captain that would have been BS even the fact that he is assistant I don't like, the guy can still barely speak english so there is no way that he is stepping up with a motivational speech between periods, unless Gonchar translates it for him

[Habib Goldstein]

It's only fitting for not only the best player on the team, but the best player in the league, to be named captain, now that he's a little more mature.

[Philly Reign]

I agree naming a player Captain simply because he's the best player on the team is stupid, however in Ovechkin's case I think it was the right move. The guy is a role model, he has fun with the game, and he's a game changer...not to mention he's the best goddamn player in the league. I give this move two thumbs up.