Sports Illustrated on Ovechkin: A "Falling Star"

By Dan Steinberg







Time was, you could comfortably call Alex Ovechkin one of the two best hockey players in the world and no one would notice. To some segment of the casual sports fan, that's probably still the case. But eventually, even the casual sports fan is gonna notice stuff like this.

Ovechkin is tied for eighth in the NHL in points. He's behind Sidney Crosby, despite having logged 50 percent more games. He's tied for 20th in goals, with the lowest shooting percentage of anyone in the top 50. And he's 37th in the NHL in goals-per-game.

Whatever the reason and whatever the long-term prognosis, Sports Illustrated headlines like the one above will help sway the casual sports fan.

"The truth seems to be that the league has solved Ovechkin," the story goes. "Opponents used to back off him when he had the puck for fear he'd skate past them if they got too close. Now they beat him by being more physical."

(Via Capitals Outsider)