When Adam Oates was an assistant coach in New Jersey (2009-2011), a lot of people credited him with the revival Ilya Kovalchuk. He pushed Kovalchuk to make the switch to right wing and Kovalchuk's transition paid off. This is one of the reasons Oates was the front runner for the coaching job in Washington. Ovechkin's numbers and opportunities had dropped off and quite frankly, he'd become predictable. Defensemen figured out how to stop that speedy rush down the left side that Ovechkin would attempt every time he touched the puck in space. Enter Adam Oates, Ovechkin switches from left wing to right wing and Ovechkin captures a Maurice "Rocket" Richard trophy and the Hart memorial trophy as the leagues most valuable player.
Now we're nine games into the second season under Adam Oates and to no ones surprise Ovechkin is leading the league in goals and shots on goal and is 3rd in total points. I've seen and heard some stuff circulating in the world of hockey that Ovechkin is overrated because he doesn't score a lot in even strength play. For the record, constantly slapping goals in on a power play isn't a bad thing. Besides, those people are eating there words after he scored his 8th and 9th goal of the season in even strength hockey last night against Winnipeg. He's on pace for 82 goals now and shows no signs of slowing down.
Lets hope the great 8 keeps lighting the lamp!!
Go Caps
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