NEW YORK—Like any great story, this one begins in Las Vegas.
Before Alex Ovechkin willed his Washington Capitals to a 2-1 victory in Game 1 of their second-round series against the New York Rangers on Thursday night, there was a four-hour meeting between the superstar and his new coach Barry Trotz at last year’s NHL Awards. It did what so many players are trying to do during a postseason game—set a tone.
Trotz wanted more from Ovechkin.
“I asked him to do certain things,” an engaging Trotz said in the media room at Madison Square Garden after the win. “Really, what I told him was, I wanted him to be more active. I thought he had too much glide in his game. When I was in the other conference (coaching the Nashville Predators), we talked about how he wasn’t skating and how easy he is to cover.
“I said, ‘I want to have a plan to get you the puck. Do what you do when you have it. Do what I want you to do when you don’t have it, so we can get it back to you.’ ”
Ovechkin has always been a generational talent, a game ...
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Article written by Dave Lozo
New-Look Alex Ovechkin Setting Tone for Capitals, Keys Thrilling Win vs. Rangers
April 30th, 2015 by Dave Lozo Leave a reply »
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