Posts Tagged Alexander Ovechkin
To MVP or not to MVP? That is the question.
After Evgeni Malkin’s spectacular performance in the Penguins, 6-2, victory of the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday night, how can there possibly be any question that Malkin deserves the Hart Memorial trophy, awarded to the league’s Most Valuable Player at the end of the season? Makin netted two goals and three assists for a five-point night against Atlanta. He just about made it a hat trick in the final minutes of the third period when he was awarded his first ever penalty shot, but the shot went wide. Regardless, Malkin proved himself in a big way in the game. (Catch the highlights here).
Crosby, Malkin and Gonchar cellebrate one of Malkin's two goals (photo Yahoo! Sports).
Malkin’s closest competitor for the award (besides teammate Sidney Crosby) is fellow countryman, Alexander Ovechkin. The Capitals frontman is currently trailing Malkin in the scoring race by 12 points, but he is a valid contender for the Hart Memorial none the less. Ovechkin is an excellent hockey player who plays exciting hockey. But the thing about “Geno,” as Malkin is called in Pittsburgh, is that he continually puts his team in a position to win hockey games.
“When you look at that award, it’s an award where they look for someone specifically who puts their team over and above and makes them win and (Malkin) does that for us,” Sidney Crosby said to PittsburghPenguins.com.
I’ll simply let the numbers speak for Malkin in this case. I will just leave you with one point to consider: The majority of Malkin’s point come from assists. In fact, 70 (70!) of Malkin’s 102 points are assists. He is leading the league in assists, followed closely by teammate Crosby, who has 65 assists. In my mind, there is something noble about a player who is leading the league in points but the majority of those points came from setting up his teammates. It takes humility and true team play to tally numbers like that. On the other hand, Ovechkin leads the league in goals with 49 (90 points, third best in the league).
Evgeni Malkin
Alex Ovechkin
You Decide: Who deserves to be MVP?
Add comment March 18, 2009
