Well you can put to bed all the rumors about Alex Ovechkin leaving the Caps. Washington's superstar left wing has just put pen to paper on a 13-year $124 million contract extension. That works out to just slightly over $9.5 million per season over the life of the contract, or just under the maximum amount of space Ovechkin could take up under the current salary cap. Possibly the most noteworthy part of all of this is that Ovechkin negotiated the deal himself. Now he doesn't even have to give a cut to an agent. Not bad.
$124 million buys a lot of golf clubs!Now that I'm done patting AO on the back... assuming he really does play out this entire deal with the Caps, Ovechkin will NEVER win the Cup. Ever. Before you get all riled up, hear me out. This has nothing to do with the amount Ovechkin will be making. While I do think it is a mistake to let him take up that much cap space, who knows where the salary cap will be in 10 years? This deal could end up being a bargain. Okay probably not, but my point is that the size of the deal isn't what is going to keep AO from kissing the Cup. It's the fact that the deal is with the Capitals. I just don't see the Craps ever winning the Stanley Cup. After all... they're the Capitals. I'd put the over/under for the number of times Ovechkin even makes the playoffs during that contract at 6. And if I were a betting man I'd take the under.
All bias aside, this deal is a huge gamble for the Caps. Ovechkin plays a very reckless brand of hockey and a series of long-term and possibly career threatening injuries for the talented Russian certainly isn't out of the realm of possibility. Nevermind that he plays a bit on the dirty side and could easily be the victim of some good old fashioned frontier justice somewhere down the road. Heaven help him if he boards one of Todd Bertuzzi's teammates.
In the meantime AO can kick back and celebrate his big payday, and maybe stash a little away so that 15 or 20 years from now he can buy himself a nice plaque that reads "Most Goals Scored By An NHL Player Who Never Won the Stanley Cup!" If you ask me that is the best-case scenario for Ovechkin's legacy when all is said and done.
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6 comments:
I love it. Like anyone ever thought the Pens would win a Cup until Mario came along? Ovie's setting himself up to be the savior of hockey in DC. Not bad marketing eh?
Your ignorance is unreal.
It's going to be hard to "save" a team that nobody cares about. The AO-era is in year 3 and Washington attendance is still in the toilet. The only time the Caps sellout a game is when you get invaded by Penguins fans twice a season. I wouldn't be shocked if the Caps moved before this deal ran out.
As a Penguin fan I think you're off base here, Chris. You say you can't save a team no one cares about as if it has never happened before. You should check the attendance of the Penguins prior to the 1988 season.
Mario came in 1984, when no one cared. It was only after a few years that attendance came around, and only after some winning years that it was truly a packed building every night. Very few people cared about the Penguins prior to 1988.
I'm not saying AO will turn it around for the Capitals next year, but the possibility does exist. Ted L. may not be the very best owner in sports, but he spends his fair share of money on his team if it is worth it.
The Capitals have a pretty large and passionate fan base. Attendance numbers don't always tell the whole story, and even if they did there is no saying it can't be turned around.
You're right, A.O. may never win the cup in Washington, but he may never win it anywhere else either. In a day and age where players are selling out to the highest bidder every few years, when players don't give back or have loyalty to their city, and when arrogance is off the charts it is nice to see people like A.O. sign a deal like this. He could have signed a 5 year deal, became an UFA, and probably made himself a lot more money somewhere else. Instead he took less money over the course of his career (probably) to stay with the city who drafted him and a city that has fans that love him. Good move by him. Good move by the Capitals. Good for the NHL to see the smaller market team keep their stars and terrible on you for not being able to see the real picture.
In addition, your reasons for saying the Capitals won't win the Cup is.... because they are the Capitals?!?!?! That is some really great insight there. Hard to argue with logic like that.
Its pieces like this that give the blogsphere a bad reputation. Subjective criticism not backed up by logic -- simply because you do not care for a particular fan base. At least make a penis joke or something if you're going to attack an opposing team for no good reason.
Way to completely miss the point. I never said I was applying logic here. I clearly stated that I was being very biased here and was, heaven forbid, having a little fun with the situation. In all honesty, the Caps have some good young pieces in place. AO, Semin, Backstrom, and Green are nice players to build around. Put that core in a decent market and you'd really have something.
As for not caring for "a particular fan base"... Caps fans have been through tougher ordeals than this. I'm sure they'll get over it. All one hundred and thirty two of them.
Dear moron,
Have you ever actually seen a hockey game in your pointless, pathetic life? Maybe instead of blogging about things you know little about, you should get out of mom's basement and get your butt back to work wiping tables at Burger King!
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