After abruptly ending his postgame press conference last Saturday following a Caps' 4-1 home loss to the Panthers, it was hard not to notice that Head Coach Glen Hanlon made a point of arranging a one-on-one meeting with Tarik el-Bashir of The Washington Post immediately afterwards.
Now we know what el-Bashir was working on -- a direct message from the Caps braintrust to Alex Ovechkin that it was time to round out his game:
But the remarkable statistics and extensive collection of highlights aren't enough for Capitals Coach Glen Hanlon and General Manager George McPhee. They want more from their prodigy -- much more, in fact. What they seek, however, won't always be reflected in box scores or celebrated on sports highlight shows."He's already proven to a lot of people that he's an elite player," McPhee said. "But he wants to win a Cup. Our objective is to find how he can help us get there. Look at a player like Steve Yzerman. For years, he scored lots of points, but he really needed to learn how to play defense in order to win a championship."
Wow. From Hanlon:
"If it's a 2-1 hockey game in the third period, you're not ever above the puck, ever," Hanlon said. "You can't assume someone else is going to get the puck out. If you aren't exactly where you are supposed to be, it throws everything into chaos. That's why when the game is on the line, there are certain guys who are out there. We want Ovie to be one of those guys, every single night."
And finally, from the only guy in the locker room who can call out Ovechkin with any credibility...
Capitals goaltender Olie Kolzig, who often has the clearest view of who is in the proper position, was more critical of his teammate."It's not blowing the zone to get a head start on a defenseman," Kolzig said. "It's not about cheating. It's playing the system and playing it right in his own end. He's made strides, but then he takes a step back. He's got to remind himself every game that it's defensive zone first. Because you win championships with defense. And he's the kind of guy who can help us win a championship, but he's got to be committed in his own end."
With all those goals and assists, it's easy to ignore that -6 now isn't it?
At the top of the story, el-Bashir lists a number of future Hall of Famers who added tenacious defense to their resumes -- Steve Yzerman, Mark Messier and Rod Brind'Amour. What he doesn't mention is how tough a transition this can be for an offensively minded player. For Yzerman, in particular, it was a difficult process, one that wasn't completed until later in his career when Scotty Bowman finally beat it into him.
Credit to el-Bashir for doing a story that was looking all of us in the face.
UPDATE: One reader passes along a comment I hadn't thought about:
Oh, and a note about Hanlon's callout on Ovechkin -- has anyone linked the holes in AO's still developing game to the fact that he was passed over as captain earlier this season? Because I heard some rumblings back in Sept. that it was a factor.
Interesting thought. Be sure to follow the comment string below the story too:
Nice support from the Caps management! The first Caps to start in an all star game in probably a decade and they puke all over the guy. Nice! Sure Ovie needs to improve on defense, but McPhee better get him support and Hanlon should get his team to play a level of consistency day in and day out before they can throw stones at Ovie. Ill take a GM and coach with the qualities of Ovie before Ill take Ovie with the qualities of Hanlon and McPhee. Any day.
Meanwhile, Ovechkin will be participating in an online chat at WashingtonPost.com at 12:00 p.m. U.S. EST. Submit your questions now.
UPDATE: Japers' Rink chimes in with some sensible thoughts.
