Friedman With A Curious Thought

I had a good chuckle when social media went off about Alexander Ovechkin taking his first defensive zone face-off ths season despite the Capitals having played 73 games this season. It's not like Ovechkin has ever been up for a Selke Award in his career, and I don't think anyone would put him on the ice in the dying seconds of a game while up a goal. His talents are scoring goals, not stopping them, but Elliotte Friedman's 32 Thoughts article published on Sportsnet's website yesterday got me thinking about a new record in hockey.

To that point of the season on Thursday night in Utah, Ovechkin had watched every defensive zone face-off from the bench this season. That works out to about 4500 minutes of hockey without him ever lining up for a face-off mere feet from his own goal. It was Friedman's 32 Thoughts that got the wheels turning when he wrote,

With Ovechkin turning 41 years-old to begin the season next year, could he go an entire season without taking a defensive zone face-off? He went through 73 games this year without doing, but he could do the full 84-game schedule - it's two games longer in 2026-27! - without starting a play in his own zone if he plays next season?

I'm not sure that's a record that anyone would want to hold, but it seems like that option may give Ovechkin the best shot at scoring a number of goals while keeping him fresh for all 84 games. If scoring goals means that much to Ovechkin and his coaches and teammates are fine with it, more power to him. This could be the way he hits 950 goals in his career which would be an impressive total to reach, but it clearly requires some sacrifices to parts of his game.

Friedman notes that it would have been "tremendous" for Ovechkin to have played the entire season without ever lining up in own zone, but, considering that the Capitals are on the outside of the playoff picture right now, this isn't a winning formula. Of course, Ovechkin could have been taking defensive zone face-offs and the Capitals could be in the same position or worse, but we won't know what impact he had at helping the team win defensive zone face-offs if he follows Friedman's thoughts and commits to taking none next season.

I should point out that the Capitals saw no harm on the two defensive zone face-offs where he was on the ice in Utah, so things are looking up for Ovechkin's defensive game already! Selke Trophy in 2027?

As for the multi-city send-off that Friedman floated, the answer is a hard "no" from me. As a Penguins fan, I can ackowledge his talents, but I'm not celebrating his career in any manner. I didn't care when he tied Gretzky's record for goals, and I didn't care when he broke the record. I'll tip my cap to him when he does retire because he certainly rewrote some records that were once believed to be untouchable, but it still needs to be mentioned that he won his only Stanley Cup when Barry Trotz forced him to play a 200-foot game.

If defence wins championships, the evidence is the 2018 Stanley Cup. Records will ultimately fall, but winning never, ever gets old.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!