Alex Semin: The Great Debate

The Washington Capitals were far and away the best regular season team last year. The Caps scored 36 more goals than any other team in the league, with a home record of 30-5-6, winning the Eastern conference by over 15 points. In a conference that was considered “weak”, a team with those credentials should have, and was considered a favourite, to go very deep into the playoffs. Alas, it was not to be, as the Capitals were finished off by the underdog team that caught fire; the Montreal Canadiens.


Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom are two budding superstars, and after Backstrom’s recent contract, these are players that Caps fans will be lucky enough to watch for years to come.

When higher seeded teams exit early from the playoffs, many point to the teams’ offensive superstars’ lack of potency. However, that can’t be said for the Caps and why they didn’t win the series; Ovechkin and Backstrom both had five goals with Ovechkin getting 10 points in the series, one better than Backstrom’s nine. Conversely, the teams’ other main offensive weapons, Mike Green and Alexander Semin, productivity was simply lacking throughout the entire series. They combined for zero goals, five assists and a +1 rating. Semin had 44 shots, 10 more than Alexander Ovechkin, but he simply couldn’t translate shots into goals. Hot goalies have won more than their share of playoff series over the years, but with Semin’s shot, speed, and hands he should have done better.