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Alex Ovechkin's Capitals mirrors the Red Wings of Steve Yzerman two decades |
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By Gilles Moncour
A talent-laden team hires a respected, veteran coach to take them to the next level, and the squad coalesces into a beast, winning the NHL’s Presidents Trophy as the NHL's number one team for two straight seasons. Both of these seasons, however, end in failure as a conference rival seems to be an insurmountable block.
The team’s superstar captain, a player whose abilities and accomplishments have placed him among the greats in NHL history for over a decade, suddenly finds himself on the wrong side of 30, facing the prospect that his legacy will be tarnished by the inability to lead his franchise to the Cup.
Stung by the consecutive playoff failures, but still possessing a strong core, the team puts together a solid season, but is way under the radar. As the playoffs begin, the hockey world’s zeitgeist focuses on more compelling stories elsewhere, as the window to immortality seems to be closing.
With pundits expecting failure, fans ready to turn ugly, and facing their rivals yet again, the team plays with a focus and drive not seen in previous years. Where before, the “choke” was expected and inevitable, it is replaced by an icy calm and steely gaze: “we may live or we may die — but we will compete.”
With a singularity of purpose, the team surges past their rivals and drives on inexorably to the holy chalice of Stanley’s Cup. The decade-long ascension has finally been completed and the star has cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats.
* * * *
No, this is not the dream of a hopeful Washington Capitals’ fan, but rather the true story of 21 years ago: Scotty Bowman’s Detroit Red Wings banished the ghosts of playoffs past by defeating Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche in the Conference Finals and began their dynastic run as Steve Yzerman lifted the 1997 Stanley Cup.
Like Alex Ovechkin today, Steve Yzerman was captain of his team and 31 years old as the 1997 playoffs began, with 13 years of brilliance suddenly taken for granted as the playoff upset losses mounted on his back. Like Ovechkin, Yzerman seemed a changed man that spring, a steely confidence but never cockiness that his team would overcome; the 1000-yard stare of a hardened battlefield commander who knows that pain and perseverance are indispensable to victory.
Scotty Bowman was in his fourth year with Red Wings after a legendary coaching career, but even he was questioned for being “over the hill” and out of step after failing to bring a superior team the Stanley Cup. Bowman’s Red Wings won the President’s Trophy in 1995 and 1996, but their bogey team was the Colorado Avalanche of Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Patrick Roy. But finally, the Red Wings got past their nemesis in epic fashion... the weight on his team lifted, the Wings steam-rolled the Flyers and won that elusive Cup for Detroit in 1997.
Barry Trotz, like Bowman, is in his fourth year with his team. Of course, Trotz does not possess Bowman’s championship pedigree — no one does — but was brought in and made a good team great, winning the President’s Trophy in 2016 and 2017. However, playoff failures to the rival Penguins threatened to sour his impact with the Capitals in many eyes. Finally, the Capitals turned the tables on the Crosby-Malkin duo, and their new-found resolve was evident again as they defeated Tampa Bay in seven games. Now, one hurdle remains.
Today’s NHL is a generation removed from the one inhabited by Yzerman, Fedorov, Shanahan and Bowman, and the backstories of the Wings with the Russian Five and goaltending carousel are surely different. The hard realities of the salary cap on sustained excellence means the Capitals’ window is indeed closing very rapidly. And, of course, the wonderful and absurd spectre of the Vegas Golden Knights — rewriting the history books of not just the NHL, but all of team sports — is an X-factor that even Igor “the Professor” Larionov would have trouble wrapping his head around.
But still, the unmistakable parallels remain between the two teams and their charismatic captains Ovechkin and Yzerman: veterans who have lifted the fans out of their seats and faced the music after playoff defeats with equal distinction. Two warriors who entered the playoffs in their 31st year looking not for redemption — but rather confirmation — of their place in game, and the honor of leading their teams and their cities to their place in history.
One man’s destiny has been written.
For the other, the climactic chapter begins tonight.
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