Former Capital: Ovechkin Needs To Shed 'Rock Star Status' - East Idaho News
Sports

Former Capital: Ovechkin Needs To Shed ‘Rock Star Status’

  Published at

Getty S 21612 OVECHKIN?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1329427356287Greg Fiume/Gett​y Images(NEW YORK) — Just a couple seasons ago, Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin was one the biggest superstars in the NHL. In his first five seasons, he averaged nearly 54 goals per game. The past couple of seasons, though, haven’t been as kind to Ovechkin. He scored just 32 goals last season, and he has just 23 goals in 53 games this season. Ovechkin’s former teammate, Olaf Kolzig, feels he knows why Ovechkin has been struggling.

“He just has to get back to being the way he was in his younger days and maybe not get wrapped up too much in the rock star status that comes with being Alex Ovechkin,” Kolzig told the Washington Post.

“Alex was getting away from playing hard, no-nonsense, honest type of hockey, exuberant hockey that he displayed the first three years that he was in the league.”

The Capitals currently sit ninth in the Eastern Conference standings.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

SUBMIT A CORRECTION