CALGARY — Tom Wilson smiled when requested about life as a Washington Capital lately.
“All over the place we go, individuals are going loopy,” mentioned the veteran winger, who has loved a front-row seat for what has been billed as ‘The Gr8 Chase,’ as carried out by Alex Ovechkin.
“It doesn’t matter what metropolis we’re in, all over the place he goes everyone stands up immediately with their telephones when he walks by. It’s rock star (stuff) proper now.
“The quantity of stress coming into this yr is substantial and he simply continues to impress and wow everyone. It’s fairly cool, and he carries it so nicely.”
These are certainly fascinating occasions in Washington, the place the motto should be, ‘come for the chase, keep for the sport.’
Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s purpose scoring report has him simply 20 in need of eclipsing the Nice One’s sacred mark of 894.
However a humorous factor has occurred on his approach to hockey immortality — the group that ol’ Ovi captains simply so occurs to be on the high of the desk.
The perfect group in hockey, which nobody noticed coming.
They’ve performed so with out the providers of Ovechkin’s longtime setup man, Nicklas Backstrom, and so they’ve performed it regardless of the glare the 39-year-old’s 22 targets have attracted.
“It has affected the group in a optimistic method,” mentioned coach Spencer Carbery of Ovechkin’s pursuit of hockey’s holiest report.
“Some individuals level to it and go, ‘would not it’s a distraction whenever you’re looking for a person accolade? Would not it trigger points inside your construction and enjoying a group sport?’ Nevertheless it does not in any respect.
“It truly helps our guys. It energizes our group when he is going and will get a pair early scoring possibilities, or scores early in a sport. The raise that it provides our group as a complete is unbelievable.
“He needs to attain, little question about that. He is as hungry as anyone to ever play the sport to attain, nevertheless it’s all throughout the group construction and the group profitable a hockey sport.”
Carbery insists there’s no selfishness at play, going one step additional by suggesting Ovechkin’s brilliance extends to his capability to deliver individuals into the fold, versus residing on an island.
“He does a very good job of humanizing himself,” mentioned Carbery.
“Ethen Frank was known as up and performed his first NHL video games just a few weeks in the past, and now has been in our lineup ever since. He is bought a poster of O in his room as a child rising up. And so now you are impulsively dressing subsequent to him and enjoying shifts with him, and O makes it so seamless for individuals to return into our room, whether or not it is coaches myself or new gamers, and, ‘it is no huge deal, we’re enjoying collectively. We’re on the identical group.’
“He’ll crack a joke right here and there, he’ll deliver him proper right into a group dinner or a drill after follow, and he simply makes you are feeling such as you’re simply a part of the group.”
The group itself, clearly, is deep.
9 gamers have not less than 10 targets, which incorporates the emergence of Aliaksei Protas, who’s tied with Wilson at 20 targets, and Connor McMichael who has 17.
The goaltending has been elegant, as Logan Thompson’s shiny new six-year, $35.1-million contract extension on Monday suggests.
“It’s simply the tightest group I’ve ever been part of, and the chemistry is so good within the dressing room, which is why I feel we play so arduous for one another and the coaches,” mentioned Thompson, who gained a Stanley Cup with Vegas.
“That’s a giant cause why we’ve had plenty of success. We simply don’t stop.”
It sounds an terrible lot just like the tightness, buy-in and work ethic they’ll see from their opponent in Calgary Tuesday evening.
Carbery agrees, suggesting the chip on the shoulder the Flames have carried right into a mid-season playoff spot is much like the one his Capitals have used to publish a 33-11-5 report regardless of dire pre-season predictions.
Andrew Mangiapane is aware of a bit about that, as the previous Flame was in Calgary three seasons in the past when Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau spearheaded a surprising run to the highest of their division.
“Each have been fairly good groups,” smiled Mangiapane, a former 35-goal scorer who has 10 targets in Washington and can begin on the fourth line.
“It began in coaching camp after we determined to be the toughest working group, and that’s simply form of propelled us. I simply assume we simply have an incredible group of men. Everyone is hard-working, competes and desires to do nicely.”
No another so than their chief.
“Everybody within the locker room helps one another,” mentioned Ovechkin, who lets his 22 targets and 34 factors in 33 video games do most of his speaking.
“Clearly goaltending is stable. I feel the system is working.”
Not only for him anymore, however for everybody.
