On a podcast broadcast early this year, Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports and Jeff Marek of Canada’s Sportsnet were talking about Phil Kessel.
Kessel is the most-skilled player on the Toronto Maple Leafs but he is far from reliable. He turns it on and off. He is a coach-killer and nobody considers him a leader. In discussing this, Wyshynski used a two-word shorthand to summarise the grim view of Kessel.
“Ovechkin north,” he said.
And this is what it has come to for Alexander Ovechkin, three-time winner of the NHL's MVP trophy, captain of the Washington Capitals, purportedly one of the game's superstars.
Whatever his regular-season successes – and this year he led the league in goals scored with 53 – he has become a frame of reference for talented bums everywhere. He is the standard for an entire sport’s divas.
The only way the big Russian winger can change this – and the same holds true for many a player’s reputation, for better or worse – is to stand out in the post-season.
The Stanley Cup play-offs begin on Thursday night. Reputations are about to be burnished or tarnished.
Not only Ovechkin, but a handful of others have much at stake in the esteem department.
The Sedin twins in Vancouver have a chance to wipe away the stench of their devastating loss in the 2011 Cup finals, when the Boston Bruins crushed them in Game 7, in Vancouver, setting off a riot. Sidney Crosby is in a reversal of fortune as first-round underdog – maybe, in a reversal of outcome, he can guide his team to a surprising victory. PK Subban led the Montreal Canadiens to the conference finals last year; but he walks the wire between bold and rash and could easily end the season as hero or goat.
But of them all, the one with the most to gain is Ovechkin.
rmckenzie@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
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• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
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Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
