Ovechkin Shares More Insight Into Why Scoring Has Gotten More Difficult In Today's Game, Not Stressing Over Pursuit Of Gretzky
The Capitals captain sits 42 goals away from breaking Gretzky's all-time goals record.
Geoff Burke — USA TODAY Sports - Ovechkin Shares More Insight Into Why Scoring Has Gotten More Difficult In Today's Game, Not Stressing Over Pursuit Of GretzkyARLINGTON, V.A. – Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin faces a tall task going into his 20th NHL season, as he sits 42 goals away from Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record. And though it seems so close, it's so far at the same time.
After all, scoring in today's NHL isn't easy, as the 39-year-old spoke to when training camp opened.
"Every year, it's harder and harder to score," Ovechkin noted.
Ovechkin is coming off of his record 18th 30-goal season, and over time, he explained that it's become even more difficult to put the puck in the net for a variety of reasons.
For one, the game has evolved so much since he entered the league back in 2005.
"Teams play differently. Goalies play differently, so, we’re just going to try to do our best to score goals, win games and do all that kind of stuff," Ovechkin said.
Beyond that, Ovechkin cited the ever-changing landscape of the game, right down tot the rosters as players have become bigger, stronger and, most importantly, faster.
“Every part of hockey right now is changing. You can see six years ago, some of the guys don’t even make a team, but right now they’re on the top lines," Ovchkin pointed out. So, how I said, everything is changing right now, so you just have to adjust to it."
Not only does he have to adapt, but he also stressed how vital it is to stay healthy.
"(You have to) be smart and most important thing, be healthy, because if you get injured, it's harder and harder to play," Ovechkin said.
Going into this season, Ovechkin isn't putting too much pressure on himself as he continues his trademarked "GR8 Chase" of Gretzky, and is taking things day-by-day.
“I’m always saying I just have to do my job, you know? Of course, without goals, you’re not going to win the games, but right now it’s the most important thing for us to find the line combinations because it’s new guys," Ovechkin said. "It’s basically half the team that’s new. It’s new linemates, new teammates, so you have to use that time for not thinking about goals or something else. You just have to think about, ‘OK, what’s going to work for us to get success?'
"I still have juice in my tank... right now, I’m looking forward to this year and I’m excited. That give you motivation, give you energy and give you all the kind of juice.”
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