Alex Ovechkin’s decision to skip the 2019 NHL All-Star Game has been met with some criticism from the hockey community, including a fellow legendary goal scorer.
Brett Hull was in attendance at Enterprise Center in St. Louis Thursday night to watch the Blues host Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. The Hall of Famer spoke with Blues reporter Jeremy Rutherford and expressed his disappointment in Ovechkin’s choice to rest his body to prepare for another lengthy playoff run.
“I wish a guy like Alex Ovechkin would play,” Hull told Rutherford. “I know they get tired and what-not. But still I think he should play. They could make it so he doesn’t have to do a whole bunch of things. But the fans deserve to see a superstar like him.”
Ovechkin remains as entertaining a star as anyone in the NHL and his bright personality has historically shone at all-star weekend. He also remains the league’s preeminent sniper, recording his league-leading 30th goal of the season in Thursday’s 5-2 loss to the Blues.
It marked the 14th consecutive season since he entered the league that The Great 8 has hit the 30-goal plateau. Mike Gartner, who did it 15 straight seasons to start his career, is the only other player to record such a streak.
Ovechkin is nearly on pace to match the career-high 65 goals he scored in 2007-08. That 65-goal campaign is considered the second-best era-adjusted goal-scoring season in NHL history.
The only player with a better era-adjusted season to his name? Brett Hull, who recorded an astounding 86 goals in 78 games in 1990-91 en route to winning his lone Hart Trophy.
Hull finished his career with 741 goals, which is good for fourth place all-time behind only Jaromir Jagr (766), Gordie Howe (801) and Wayne Gretzky (894). Ovechkin currently has 637 goals, three tallies behind Dave Andreychuk for 14th place.
Since Ovechkin hasn’t slowed down despite turning 33 this past September, the debate on whether or not he has a realistic shot at catching Gretzky has gained some momentum.
“All it depends on does he stay healthy, does he want to continue to play that long?” Hull said via Capitals reporter Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. “That’s an awful lot of goals. I remember when I hit 700 and I was like, ‘I’m still almost 200 away? I mean, it seems like you’re close but you’re really not. If anyone can, he’s the only one.”
While he was critical of Ovechkin’s choice to forgo his way to San Jose, Hull was nothing but complimentary about the Russian skill set.
“The way he shoots it, it can carry him until he decides to hang them up,” Hull added. “It’s awesome how good he shoots it. You look at these goalies now and how big they are, he still beats them. And it’s not just the shot, it’s his ability to know where to go to score. … There’s no reason why he can’t be scoring forever. I played very similar to him, except I didn’t hit anybody like he does.”
Coming from Hull, that’s a colossal compliment.
Ovechkin, who has now been selected to 10 all-star games in his 14-year career, is by no means the first notable player to miss it in favour of recuperation. In fact, the NHL deemed it a significant-enough issue in recent years it implemented a sanction for those players who refuse to participate in the festivities.
Uninjured players selected to the All-Star Game who choose to skip the showcase must serve an automatic one-game suspension – either the game preceding the all-star break or the first game after the break.
This year’s game takes place Jan. 26 in San Jose (random fact: this will be the first time in NHL history that the All-Star Game will take place on Gretzky’s birthday). The Capitals’ last contest before the break is Jan. 23 on the road against the Maple Leafs. Their first game back sees them host the Flames on Feb. 1. Ovechkin will be forced to miss one of those games.
“If you’re injured, you’re injured … but this is to grow the game,” said Hull, who played in eight All-Star Games during his career. “I know we have enough great players that as much as he’ll be missed, we have enough to entertain the fans. But still, I know as a fan of Alex Ovechkin, I’d love to see him live in a three-on-three game.
“He just won the Stanley Cup, he had a long summer and I understand that. But I’d still like all the superstars come out and pay their respects to the fans, but you know, it is what it is.”
Ovechkin wasn’t merely selected as any old all-star either. He was voted in as captain of the Metropolitan Division team by fans.
Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux, Taylor Hall, Sebastian Aho, Cam Atkinson, Mathew Barzal, John Carlson, Seth Jones, Henrik Lundqvist and Ovechkin’s teammate Braden Holtby were the other players selected to the Metropolitan Division squad. It’s unclear at this time which player will don the ‘C’ in Ovechkin’s absence.
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