"I don't think we have to listen to those [critics]. We have to listen to [ourselves]," the Capitals captain said.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — While last season was filled with milestone pucks and quite a few moves up the NHL's all-time goals list, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin doesn't exactly look back at it all too fondly.
The 38-year-old not only dealt with the passing of his father last season but was playing through multiple injuries that made things more difficult as the year went on and the playoffs got more out of reach.
"I don't think it sits well with him that we missed the playoffs. He didn't have fun down the stretch last year," general manager Brian MacLellan said. "He wants to win, he wants to compete, he wants to be at the highest level."
So, when the season ended early in April, Ovechkin took the extended summer as an opportunity. He went on a family vacation and returned home to Moscow, where he reflected and pondered the possibility of change ahead of his 19th NHL season.
"It was a busy summer for the organization. I think for us as players, we just kind of wait [for] what's happening, who's staying, who's not, who's going to be traded, who's not," Ovechkin explained, adding, "You have four months to get ready, get your body ready for the season, for training camp, it helps."
There was not only change for the organization, but for himself as well. Ovechkin made some tweaks to his offseason training but put the biggest priority on addressing his ailments from last year, which included a series of upper and lower-body injuries that led to him missing a handful of games.
"I did some different stuff, but the most important thing is I have to recover my body from what I have last year," Ovechkin noted. "I feel good. I hope it's not going to come back for me.
"If you can skate, if you can do something, you want to play. But sometimes it's kind of like, you can't do certain things on the ice, off the ice as well. So you try to do your best to come back and sometimes it works and sometimes not," he added.
Ultimately, the Russian compared the long summer to a bit of a "wakeup call," and said that it helped him clear his mind and shift his focus.
"It was, 'Okay, we have to be more sharper at the beginning of the year, because those points that we lost when the season start, it cost us.' With 20 games left, when you try to catch different teams who are ahead of you, it's kind of those points that are important."
Now back after missing the postseason for the first time in nine years, Ovechkin said he still sees Washington as a contender, and that there's a new edge and new energy with Spencer Carbery now at the helm.
"Consistency [is important]. Everybody has to be on the same page... we're going to [learn] the systems to go through training camp to games, and I'm sure we're going to do fine," Ovechkin said.
The regular season opens on Oct. 13, where Washington will begin its journey toward a comeback. While there's a desire to prove critics wrong, Ovechkin said there's only one group he's looking to show something to: his teammates and coaches.
"I don't think we have to listen to those guys. We have to listen to [ourselves]," he said.