A Tweeting Ovechkin is a Happy Ovechkin is a Winning Ovechkin
March 12, 2011 Leave a comment
On January 30, 2009, Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals stopped tweeting.
Suddenly, on March 2, 2011, he returned.
In just under two weeks since this tweet, Ovechkin has tweeted another 65 times. Since his return to Twitter on March 2, the Capitals have won 5 games in a row. Scoring in each of these 5 games, Ovechkin has 2 goals and 5 assists, a game winning goal, and the only shoot out goal in a victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Going back a bit farther, the Capitals have won 9 of their last 10 games, and Ovechkin has 4 goals and 8 assists in those 9 victories. If it wasn’t for a 6-0 beat down at the hands of the New York Rangers, Ovechkin might very well have a 10 game point streak on its hands.
Statistics show that the Caps have improved this season on defense, but statistics also show that Ovechkin is having a bad year (or at least one less productive than earlier years). Pundits say that Ovie is weighed down by the Capitals’ playoff failures and Team Russia’s Olympic failures. They say that he isn’t himself, and that he might be hurt.
Now, Ovechkin’s point streak and the Capitals’ success are leaving some of these critics with nothing to say. When other teams see a happy Ovechkin, an Ovechkin slamming against the boards after scoring, an Ovechkin enjoying himself, an Ovechkin tweeting again, they are scared. Nothing appears to be weighing him down now. Whatever “himself” is, that’s what Ovechkin is now. And that’s good for the Caps and their fans.