It was announced today that Washington Capitals superstar, Alex Ovechkin, was nominated as a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the League MVP.
Ovechkin had a remarkable season, scoring 53 goals and 81 points (his highest point total since 2010-11). He won his third straight Rocket Richard Trophy for most goals while also becoming the Capitals franchise leader in goals on April 2nd when he scored his 473rd regular season goal in only his 755th game. He is also the franchise leader in points with 895 and power play goals with 176 and multiple goal games with 100.
Ovechkin powered his team like no other forward in the league, scoring a league high 11 game winning goals.
This is the 5th time Ovechkin has been a finalist for the Hart Trophy, winning 3 times ('07-'08, '08-'09, '12-'13)
His numbers speak volumes about the kind of impact he has had in the league. This season he joined an elite group of players as the 6th player in league history to record 6 or more 50-goal seasons (Bossy - 9, Gretzky - 9, Dionne - 6, Lafleur- 6 and Lemieux - 6).
The other two finalists were New Islanders Captain John Tavares and the front runner for this years Hart, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price.
Can Ovechkin win his 4th Hart Trophy?
I'd have to say no only because Carey Price was phenomenal this season. Price's numbers and the impact he had on his team will no doubt over-shadow what Ovechkin was able to do on the ice. However, I can see this being a tight vote and my nod to Price is definitely a shaky one at that.
Ovechkin could very well walk away with the trophy. Does he deserve to? Unlike my previous answer on whether or not he will win it, I certainly have to say 'Yes' he does deserve it.
The Capitals, on yet another transition season under yet another new head coach, found themselves in the playoffs once again and they could not have done that without Oveckin's goal scoring ability. Caps goaltender Braden Holtby certainly gets merit for his performance this year, but the presence of Ovechkin on the ice is enough to make teams think twice about leaving him alone for too long.
Ovechkin is that good. He may not be the best player in the world (my money is still on Datsyuk or Patrick Kane), but Ovechkin is by far the greatest goal scorer of this generation of players and will go down as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, in the history of the league.
Who do you think should win?
More to come...