After scoring her first-ever goal, Sammi Silber breaks down the art of scoring and leadership with help from Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin.
WHEATON, M.D. -- Going into Monday's Ghost Pirates game against the Roadrunners, I'd experienced mostly everything as a hockey player: assisting on goals, getting sent to the box, dropping the mitts, blocking a shot here and there and suffering an injury after getting deked out on the backcheck. But the one thing I hadn't had yet was a goal.
Man, I really hope I can score tonight, I thought to myself as I laced 'em up at Wheaton Ice Arena.
It'd be a sweet moment, one where I could set an example for my teammates while beating the team we'd gotten our first-ever win against. Then, it came. I got a nice pass from my alternate captain James "Ortsky" Ortmann (we have a "captain's line" that has solid chemistry), and my mind flickered over to the hundreds of NHL games I've seen and all the practices I've covered.
What do I do now?
As fans love to shout at games: shoot!
It's also the first thing coaches will tell you: you can't win games if you don't score goals. And to score goals, you need to get the puck on net.
So I took a shot in the dark. It hobbled, and I looked up just in time to see it go five-hole and in. A milestone for the ages: the 5'4" pest somehow got on the scoresheet and then celebrated like she won the Stanley Cup.
Of course, it's one goal, and nowhere near 894, but it gets you thinking about the art of goal-scoring. The drive, the decision to shoot, the celebration and the passion.
And who better to break it down with than one of the greatest goal-scorers of all time himself?
Alex Ovechkin currently sits at 822 goals, 73 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time record. This past year, every night was a milestone watch, and he'd deliver: the hat trick against the Chicago Blackhawks to hit 800, the two-goal game against the Winnipeg Jets to pass Gordie Howe and his tally against the Columbus Blue Jackets to set the new all-time record for most 40-goal seasons in the history of The Show.
"When you come to NHL, you try to maybe score one goal, you know, play good one year," he said matter-of-factly. "When you reach those milestones, it's kind of crazy things."
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But what makes him such a good scorer?
Well... a lot.
Along with his insane number of goals, the 37-year-old also has the most shots in NHL history, putting the puck on net 6,335 times -- and counting. The next active player on that list: Eric Staal, who sits over 2,000 shots behind Ovechkin (4,041).
"He's one of the kind," Evgeny Kuznetsov said. "I know there's other good players, but there's only one like that."
"It's one thing to like, lead the league in scoring, year after year or whatever it is, but now it's like, 'Jesus. We're talking real stuff,'" John Carlson added at the start of the season.
His booming shot and one-timer from his office help, but his vision and hockey IQ also make him such a force to be reckoned with and a tough guy to shut down.
"He loves to score," Connor McDavid said back in December. "I think everyone does. But maybe he's on another level. He's got such a nose for the net, he just seems to know where to be."
Not to mention, he's 6-foot-3 and 238 pounds, which only adds to his power.
"If you haven't seen Alex Ovechkin play live, you don't understand how big he is. He's a huge, huge man... he's just wide, he's strong, he's big," Detroit Red Wings bench boss Jeff Blashill said. "That allows him such great strength to be able to fight people off and still shoot. He's got such a great release, and he can shoot it really from anywhere."
Blashill's point is a good one: When watching hockey, things don't seem to play out as fast as they do or as large as they do when you're on the ice in the throes of game action. The players get bigger, the puck seems harder to get, and time flies.
My goal wasn't about power -- heck, it was a knuckle puck -- but it was about getting to the right place and making the right call. Ovechkin has mastered that over time and knows when to pass and when to pull the trigger.
It's something that players can struggle with -- especially 5-foot-4 players who talk too much -- but the more practice and ice time you get, the better you become at it.
Getting the game-winner as the captain was important, as it showed that I can make an impact on the scoresheet as well. However, what's most important for me is that "C" and living up to it.
That brought my mind back to Ovechkin and how he cemented his legacy in D.C. beyond his goal-scoring prowess. His leadership has made him a staple on and off the ice. His contagious personality inspires his teammates, and it's one of several reasons why he was awarded the captaincy back in 2010 after Chris Clark's departure.
"He's always been a great leader. He's about 37 years old and scores 40 goals, I mean that's pretty impressive and says it all," Nicklas Backstrom explained. "He's been carrying this team for a long time and still does. He's still hungry for goals and he's still a great hockey player."
Getting the "C" is an honor, one that I take seriously. It means playing hard and giving a full effort, but the off-ice impact is just as important. Your voice needs to carry, you need to balance work and play, you need to be organized and you also need to lead by example.
But also, you need to be a positive, energetic presence, one your team can feed off of, and of course, sticking up for your teammates.
"He's always great. His leadership... [he's one of the] guys that we rely upon heavily to play big minutes, big goals, big situations," Matt Irwin explained. "And obviously he continues to step up and play physical, score goals and just be the Ovi that we all know."
T.J. Oshie agreed and said on a TorchPro podcast that Ovechkin gets even more excited when his teammates score than he does himself, which speaks louder volumes about his character.
Oshie also brought up an interesting point on the show about being a leader and said the one lesson he's learned is to take care of his teammates.
"It's not just like being their buddy, it's sticking up for them if something goes wrong, it's setting an example by working hard," he added.
That's why on the ice and on the bench, I never stop talking, but also make sure I'm giving all of my energy -- and my best self -- to my team.
So, a few lessons in this week's Crash The Net, one of those being to crash the net. But also... shoot the puck, talk to your teammates and be a positive presence in the room. And, on the ice, lead by example and also stand up for the good guys.