Read Loyal Homer and Bleacher Fan’s argument about who they believe is the best NHL player under the age of 25.
In a league that increasingly lauds speed and skill over teamwork and toughness, Alexander Ovechkin gets a standing “O.” I agree with Sports Illustrated’s recent conclusion that Ovechkin is the best hockey player under the age of 25, and the rightful winner of this debate (please vote). In fact, SI fails to go far enough. I believe Ovechkin is the best player in the entire league. However, for the purposes of this debate framework, I will relay several reasons why Ovechkin is the best player under 25 in the NHL.
The righty is listed at a generous six feet tall and a solid 212 pounds. Despite the smallish frame, Alexander Ovechkin embodies excitement. Every time he sets foot on the ice he has an excellent chance to score. His colleagues and the media agree. In just four NHL seasons in his career, Ovechkin has already won the league MVP twice. Not only is he a good bet to score a goal when he is on the ice, he has a 50-50 shot at winning the league MVP. How many other players in the history of the NHL – or sports in general – have started their career that way? Zero. Not Wayne Gretzky, not Bobby Hull, not Patrick Roy. Ovechkin is the only player with that distinction, and he has earned it.
Ovechkin’s statistics are impressive, obviously. He is already on the list of the top 50 active goal scorers. Again, Ovechkin is in his fifth season in the league. This season he is in vintage form, already tied for the league lead in points and is second in goals… just five games in. Through those five games Ovechkin has averaged a goal and a point per game. How is that for consistent greatness?
Ovechkin has an impressive trophy closet, too. If you are curious about all of his trophies, read his Wikipedia page. But heed this warning, Ovechkin’s greatness cannot be contained by a Wikipedia page.
Ovechkin is great because of firsts… NHL firsts, not just sports firsts like that nifty MVP achievement. He is the first player in the history of the league to win the Art Ross Trophy (NHL leader in points for a season), the Maurice Richard Trophy (NHL leader in goals scored), the Lester B. Pearson award (NHL MVP – as chosen by the NHL Player’s Association), AND the Hart Memorial Trophy (NHL MVP – as chosen by the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association… yea, there is one). He currently holds the record for most goals scored by a left-winger in a single season (65), the most points by a left-winger as a rookie (106), and the award for the fastest overtime goal in the history of the NHL – six seconds. There are other all-time NHL records Ovechkin holds – already. It is logical to conclude that Overchkin may go on to have the greatest career of any NHL player ever. It is a very real possibility.
Greatness loves company, too. Great company. By a show of hands, readers, who among you believes LeBron James is the best player in the NBA ? That is a lot of hands! Like LeBron, Alexander Ovechkin – the first overall pick in the NHL draft in 2004 – is another once rare example of a first overall draft pick that actually lives up to the sensational hype. LeBron and Ovechkin are also fans of each other.
There is greatness besides Ovechkin in the NHL, too. In fact, it is the presence of other outstanding contemporary players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin that make Ovechkin’s accomplishments appear so amazing. While Crosby and Malkin – as my esteemed colleagues will boast – have won a Stanley Cup ring, they also are supported by an excellent goalkeeper in Marc-Andre Fleury. A solid goaltender enables players like Crosby and Malkin to take risks up ice, pass more aggressively, and turn their skates up the ice sooner because Fleury has proven his ability to play at a high level. Ovechkin is unable to take as many risks, but he has proven to be a more effective scorer than either Crosby or Malkin.
If Ovechkin has one flaw it is that his worst scoring day by far throughout his career is Sunday. Of his 224 career goals, he has scored only 17 on Sunday. Shameful. But, do not play him on Saturday, where he has scored a career high 51 goals (along with an impressive 49 assists).
No other NHL player combines the speed, skill, instinct, and surprising power of Alexander Ovechkin. If you refuse to take my word for it, let your eyes feast on a highlight reel unlike any other in the league.
Case closed.
