hockey

THE RUSSIAN MACHINE

/ thewildshamrock / Leave a comment

How many people are really that excited by Alex Ovechkin making NHL history with his 895th goal that breaks the Great One’s record? The Great One is Wayne Gretzky, probably the best hockey player of all-time some would say. Gretzky became the all-time NHL goals leader back in 1994 when he passed the great Gordie Howe who had 801 NHL goals in his career. Gretzky would hang up the skates lighting the lamp 894 times in his NHL career. The Great One held the record for 31 years and 14 days until Sunday when Alex Ovechkin AKA the Russian Machine made history. He’s also known as the Great 8 or in some circles goes by The Mechanic. Ovechkin hits a laser blast past the New York Islanders goalie for a power play goal and it becomes the record setter. Ovechkin hails from Moscow as Russia is his mother country and has had pictures taken with their dictator Vladimir Putin. The dick head Putin sent out his congratulations to Alex as Russia was successful at least at taking over a record unlike the country of Ukraine. Ovechkin plays for the Washington Capitals which is now Donald Trump country. The Great One had personality as a player your own kid can get behind. While Ovechkin looks like a guy after a hockey game who takes on a job to make a hit on somebody for the KGB. Maybe that’s why they nicknamed him The Mechanic.

It definitely was a surreal moment on Sunday after the goalie, Alex Ovechkin, did his own slip and slide version on the ice. Instead of that yellow plastic sprinkler laid out on the grass for kids to play on during hot summer days. The NHL and the game of hockey have always been a classy sport in sportsmanship. After a playoff series that could go the distance and turn most of your guys black and blue from the grinding punishment by each team, they always shake hands when that playoff round concludes. The Capitals face the Islanders and all the New York players shook Ovechkin’s hand. The New York crowd on hand witnessed NHL history & got to their feet to give the superstar a loud round of applause out of respect for the accomplishment on the ice. Ovechkin scored the goal off his fellow countryman in the Islanders net, Ilya Sorokin, who he joked about in a good way. The assists on the goal came from two of the Great 8’s longtime teammates, Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome. The goal occurred in the 2nd period as the game had a special stoppage as Wayne Gretzky was on hand to congratulate Ovechkin on breaking his record and did so with class. Gretzky remembered Gordie Howe being there at the stadium when he broke his record back in 1994. Ovechkin also mentioned his former teammates. Even the ones who could not play that game due to being injured. He said all the right things and had his family around him celebrating the NHL milestone with him. It’s a record he should be able to hold, like Gretzky did for a long long time.

It took Alex Ovechkin 61 games as he scored his 42nd goal of the season to break the Great One’s record at the age of 39. You have to respect anyone playing a professional sport in their late 30’s and has those kinds of results. It’s a contact sport as well which takes a lot of wear and tear each grinding season you play. He was not like some old veteran past his prime who should have been put out to pasture just hanging on to break some kind of iconic record. Ovechkin will be a for-sure first round ballot Hall of Famer as now he has the record of 895 goals as he dished out 724 career assists for a total of 1,619 points. He will get past 900 goals but 1,000 may be out of his reach at this age. He has played 20 seasons in the NHL all with the Capitals which is unheard of in sports playing your entire career with the same team. Even Wayne Gretzky played with more than one team as he played for the Edmonton Oilers and LA Kings. It was great for Capital fans seeing their guy break that NHL record wearing the Washington sweater. Ovechkin showed he was a class act guy not wanting to break this special milestone with a empty net shot as he had the other night before the Sunday game versus the Islanders. Now the Capitals as a team have gotten past this hurdle of this special record their teammate broke. They can gear up for the NHL post-season. As a team, the Capitals have played well all season as they are in first place in the Metropolitan division with a 49-19-9 record. Ovechkin helped the Capitals win their first and only Stanley Cup a few years back. This Capitals team has a great shot at winning it all this season. The Great One won a total of 4 cups in his legendary career. When you compare the basketball careers of Michael Jordan and Lebron James, what’s the best way to win that argument? Jordan won six titles and never lost in a championship game. King James could have all the stats but Jordan is the GOAT in the NBA.

When we think of Russia as a country, their land grab in Ukraine is a conflict that has gone on long enough. This war has affected their athletes as the Russian country has been banned from the Olympics and many international sports competitions around the globe. During the early 1980’s, we thought their Olympic hockey team was invincible.

When that underdog hockey team, the U.S.A, pulled off the miracle win against that Red Army Russian team in those 1980 Olympics, it was special. We as a country have been through the Cold War with the USSR. We have had peace with them for many years as well. I don’t want to sound like Rocky Balboa after Rocky 4 in his peace speech after the Italian Stallion defeated the Russian boxer Ivan Drago. Most people in the world have nothing to with the people that work our governments. Even though technically we get a say via a vote. I’m sure Alex Ovechkin puts his pants and skates on one leg at a time. I’m sure most Russian citizens like to sit down at their local pub and have a drink just like the rest of the world. Great food and drink along with some great sports competitions is what the world should be about. How many Capitals fans have waited a long time to see that franchise win a cup? Ovechkin helped deliver that. Maybe you can throw him a new nickname like “The Capital Machine.” Right now he wears number 8 and the Great 8 seems to be the perfect name for a guy that just broke a NHL record that is one of the hardest to break in sports. It’s a great moment for whichever race, color, creed, country etc etc. I saw this record broken twice in my lifetime and many may never see this again for very long time. Talking about a different generation a long time from now. You have to have longevity and prepare your body & mindset to stand the grueling game for 20 seasons or more, along with having the talent to do that. Impressive!!

CAN A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR SAVE THE DYSFUNCTIONAL BLACKHAWKS?

/ thewildshamrock / Leave a comment

It has been another disastrous year for the Chicago Blackhawks as they will miss the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs for the 5th season in a row. The Blackhawks are at the bottom of the Central division standings of the Western Conference with a 20-41-9 record. The original six franchises were sellers at the deadline. Many hockey experts have said they are wasting away the talented young superstar they have in Connor Bedard, who is 19 years old in his second season in the NHL. The Blackhawks are on their second head coach for the season as Anders Sorensen is no better than the guy he replaced in Luke Richardson. The jury is still out on the Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson which he may have made a savvy move to right the ship for Chicago. Davidson corrected a bad move made by the former GM for the Blackhawks’ Stan Bowman. Davidson was able to get rid of the high price stink in the locker room who is paid a hefty salary in defenseman Seth Jones. Chicago may have their future goalie from the Panthers in Spencer Knight, a 23 year back up net minder for Florida

When you are a young goalie and play behind a superstar, Sergi Bobrovsky, you’re probably not going to get much playing time. Bobrovsky was one of the main cogs in the Panthers machine which is why they won the Stanley Cup last year. Plus the reason the Panthers are perched once again on top of the Atlantic division in the Eastern conference of the NHL world and will be one of the top seeds. Spencer Knight was first round pick of the Panthers in the 2019 NHL draft where he was selected 13th overall. He has so far played in 86 NHL games in 4 seasons and has a record as a starter of 46-29-7 with 5 career shut outs. He has 2.77 GAA (Goals Against Average) of 2.77 in those 86 contests with a save % of .906. This season with the Panthers & Blackhawks so far combined he has a record of 14-12-1 with two shut outs and 2.50 GAA and .908 save percentage. Knight before being traded to the Blackhawks had a 12-8-1 record and posted both of his shut outs with Florida. For the Blackhawks he is six games in and has a 2-4 record which makes sense. The Panthers are the better team and have the better personnel so the stats will teeter downward wearing the Indian head sweater.

I was not sure what the hell Stan Bowman was thinking when he orchestrated the trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets to acquire Seth Jones. The Blue Jackets received defenseman Adam Boqvist and plenty of draft capital. The Blackhawks did get some draft picks in return from Columbus along with Jones but are not the high kind of picks Chicago gave up. Jones also was thrown an 8 year extension on the contract he already had with the Blue Jackets worth 76 million which equals out to 9.5 million annually. For what the Blackhawks at the time were not going anywhere in the standings and surly did not need a high price defensemen who has only made one all-star appearance in 12 seasons. Bowman crawled away from his GM post at the time for his cover up of the Kyle Beach sexual assault case that still brings dark clouds hovering over the United Center where the Blackhawks lie in their muck. Jones has not played well in Chicago and is not worth the money the team invested in his talents. He wanted out, Kyle Davidson accomplished that, and it may be the move that will keep his job. The Blackhawks will still be on the hook paying 26% of Jones’ salary while Chicago gets the young U.S.A. born goalie and both teams rearranged some of their draft picks in the deal.

The Chicago Blackhawks traded their starting goalie Petr Mrazek to the Detroit Red Wings. The Blackhawks still have Arvid Soderblom, a Swedish goalie who has been in the league for 4 seasons and is still young at 25 years of age. He has 83 NHL games under his belt and his record is not very good at 15-51-11. Let’s not forget he has played on bad hockey teams since he entered the league, all with Chicago. With Spencer Knight and Soderblom pretty much at the same age and same amount of games, I like where the Blackhawks goalie room is at and has a chance to flourish. Knight helped the Panthers win the Stanley Cup last year. He has learned from Sergi Bobrovsky in Florida and that should help him take the next step in Chicago. Right now the Blackhawks defense is in shambles. All the veterans the Blackhawks signed in the off-season did the team no favors. Some of them were dealt to other teams. Connor Bedard’s development as a player seems to have taken a step or two backwards. Many experts still scratch their heads on why the Blackhawks never made Bedard a Captain this season. The Blackhawks still have multiple other younger pieces on this current roster that need to develop along with Bedard, who is the face of this franchise.

The Blackhawks need another solid piece to play along the side of Bedard. Like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. The Blackhawks also on those teams had Patrick Sharp and the veteran Marion Hossa was the missing piece that made that dynasty finally gel as they won three Cups. They can’t waste Bedard’s youth on bad team after bad team. The Blackhawks have to help this young goalie Knight as well by getting stronger defense. If they don’t, the confidence of Knight and Bedard will be crushed & then this franchise will be set back in space years that it takes to get to the planet Pluto. This franchise is already going back to the dark times before Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews took the ice. Nothing but crickets chirping in the stands. The team is on a new network along with the Bulls and Blackhawks that most of Chicago is unable to see. Most of the bar scene don’t even care if they have this network because they are all bad teams. With Jones gone, the locker room is saying the same thing, “Good riddance,” which is a start to fixing a franchise that is broken once again. Bringing back memories when the home games were not televised and blacked out by Bill Wirtz, who goes down as one of the worst owners in sports. This latest move by the Blackhawks gives the team a Knight in shining armor, but they need an army of horsemen to bring respect back to one of the original six.

RUSSIAN ATTACK

/ thewildshamrock / Leave a comment

This Russian attack is not the Soviet Army invading our country like in one of the greatest under the radar movies in Red Dawn, which has a cult following. This is not the insensitive invasion of Ukraine by the dick head Vladimir Putin.

This Russian attack is a lone wolf named Alex Ovechkin, invading the Great One’s all time goals list in the NHL. The Great One being Wayne Gretzky. Ovechkin, nicknamed the Russian machine, needs only 37 goals to tie a NHL record that in our lifetime we never thought we would see get broken.

In 1994 Wayne Gretzky was skating with the LA Kings when he scored his 802nd goal to pass up another legend hockey player. That player was Gordie Howe who had 801 goals in the NHL.

Gordie skated 25 years for the Detroit Red Wings & then went on to the WHA (World Hockey Association) to play a few more years. The WHA would fold up shop and eventually merge with the NHL back in 1979.

Howe would end up playing one more season in the NHL as a Hartford Whaler. On October 15th of 1989, Gretzky was only 28 years old and passed up Howe’s 1,850 points in his first year with the Kings against his old team, the Edmonton Oilers. The great one even added the overtime goal in that game to give the Kings a 5-4 win over the Oilers that historical night. The great one scored 894 goals in his career playing in 1,487 games in a 20 year NHL career and retired at the age of 38. Even if Alex Ovechkin breaks his record, I think many will say Wayne is still the best hockey player of all-time in the NHL.

This is the 20th season for Alex Ovechkin who was drafted by the Washington Capitals number one overall back in the 2004 NHL draft. Ovechkin is 39 years old and has played his entire career in Washington. Ovechkin helped the Capitals win their first ever Stanley Cup back in the 2017-18 season. Ovechkin has played in 1,434 games in his NHL career and has 857 goals. In 8 games this season Ovechkin has 4 goals. Last season Ovechkin had 31 goals, his lowest amount since the 2012-13 season playing a full schedule. During the Covid season Ovechkin had 24 goals in the 2020-21 season. In the 2022-23 season, Ovechkins had another 40 or more goals as he lit the lantern 42 times. He has scored at least 41 goals in 13-19 seasons coming into his 20th year in the NHL.

How would you feel about a Russian breaking the Great One’s record for most goals all-time? Alex Ovechkin has ties to the dictator Vladimir Putin which is never a good thing if he’s seeking endorsement deals. You have to respect the work he puts in on his craft to be a top scorer in the NHL for 20 seasons. If Russia does not invade Ukraine and are still at war with their neighbor country, I’m not really writing this part of the article. Former goalie and Hall of Famer Dominik Hasik compares Putin to Adolf Hitler. He would like to see the NHL do something about the Russians in the league. How Ukraine should get some compensation to help their country which could be paid out players from the Mother Country. Hasek wants the NHL to fork over the money as they have allowed Russian players in the league since the war started in 2022. The Russians that play in the NHL give their own country and world advertisement that nothing is wrong in the world. The Russians have been banned in the Olympics. Putin’s country still has his own people in sports across the world like tennis. Do you fault players who most likely want to play the game then fight in a war? How these players make money in the states and Canada and help their own back in the old country. You know some of that money is then taken by the Russian government to buy more bullets or tanks to kill innocent people and children always become victims.

Some of these Russian players have been some of the best players in the NHL over the decades. If Ovechkin breaks Gretzky’s record, it’s like Barry Bonds being the home run king cheating and passing Hank Aaron, a guy who did everything right. I don’t think of Ovechkin as a guy that cheated the game. If he gets the record this season or if it drags into next, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth because he is a guy that had his picture with Putin. He is a guy that never said anything bad about his buddy dictator when reporters brought it up to him after his country invaded. Playing the old Nintendo game called Rush’n Attack which was spelled differently so no feelings were hurt during the sales in the late 1980’s during the Cold War. That is how the relationship seems to be strained as we look at it like the video game or Red Dawn the movie. We have to always look at most people in every country and believe they do not want to be involved in a war. They want to make a living they love with a significant other and have kids while being happy. How ironic that if Ovechkin does pass the great one, he is wearing a Capitals sweater and plays in the nation’s capital. Maybe Donald Trump will have his ICE guys take care of him on the ice. Trump may also be in a selfie with Ovechkin and text it to his old buddy Putin in Russia. Right now it just does not feel right for anyone to be close to the Great One’s record.