from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

Former Nashville coach Barry Trotz might want to call Scotty Bowman and ask how the greatest coach of them all, can change the spots on a scoring leopard.

In the early 90s, Bowman went about convincing his Detroit captain Steve Yzerman to park his run of 100-point seasons to become what we used to call a “two-way player” and now we refer to as playing “a 200-foot game.” Stevie Y had been around for about 10 years, had one 155-point season, but for all his points, he hadn’t won any team prize...

Trotz has the same task with Alex Ovechkin in Washington. Everybody knows he’s the elephant in the room there. Two Hart trophies, four 50-goal seasons, one of 65. No Cups, nary a playoff game past the second round since he was drafted first in 2004. Ovie isn’t selfish. He’s stubborn. He longs to carry the Cup around the ice just like his Russian countrymen Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh and Pavel Datsyuk in Detroit.

But he’ll need a coach to tell him how, without neutering him.

Trotz, who agreed that Ovechkin gets too much credit when the Caps win and too much blame when they lose.

“Like a coach,” joked Trotz, speaking on his cell while riding in a cab to the airport in Washington Friday.

It’s finding the balance with Ovechkin. He knows the talented ones often “want to do it my way.”

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