Alex Ovechkin’s Game Seven Guarantee: Confidence or Arrogance?
Washington Capitals superstar forward Alexander Ovechkin isn’t the first player to guarantee his team will come back and win Game 7, but he is the latest one to do so.
According to TSN, Ovechkin told reporters after his team’s loss in Game 6:
“We’re going to come back and win the series,” he said. “We’re going to play our game, and we’re going to come back and we’re going to play Montreal or Tampa.”
OK, so he didn’t say the word “guarantee,” and it isn’t the same as what Mark Messier did, but it is close enough. He is declaring that his team will win, pure and simple.
It could absolutely happen. His team took the first game of the series at Madison Square Garden, so they know how to play in front of that raucous, taunting crowd. They might have watched the Rangers come back from a two-game deficit to tie things up, but the Capitals have also shown heart and fight in each of those games.
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Not to mention, the Capitals just fell short of a comeback in Game 6, but they played whistle to whistle leaving everything out on the ice. The team was able to make a third-period push and score two goals late to get within one.
Some, who know how Ovechkin can be will think his statement is just a show of arrogance. Most of those people will be New York fans.
But as captain this is his job. He is telling everyone that no matter what happened in the past two games, he has complete faith in his team. I think in these situations statements like this are more for the players than for the opposition or media. Ovechkin is trying to rally the troops by letting them know that they are still in this game and, no matter the odds against them, they are still playing—which means they still have a shot.
I don’t mind when players make these types of statements. Would I do it? No, but that’s because I know I wouldn’t be able to live it down if I were wrong. But I think they show confidence and even a bit of defiance. Look, he’s not bashing the Rangers, he isn’t saying that his team deserved to win the last game, Ovi is really just saying that the Capitals are still in this series and they have just as good a chance as the Rangers to move onto the next round.
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Ovechkin, no matter what he says, is going to get criticized. He is one of the best players in the world, but hasn’t made it to the conference finals in his career. Sure, there is always room for improvement in his game, and I believe under Barry Trotz Ovi has matured, but he is only one man. It is his entire team that will need to prove his statement true.
Ovechkin might have said the words, but now it is up to his teammates to back it up. They have to push back just as the Rangers have done in the past two games. Everything is on the line, and the Caps can either put up or go home. It’s really that simple.
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