TORONTO, ON - Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates scoring a goal with ... [+]

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Maybe the Maple Leafs needed to hear it, and maybe they needed to hear it from someone like him.

Alex Ovechkin, the sage, 15-year veteran with matted, greying hair, spoke freely Tuesday morning about the importance of going through ups and downs with a core group.

His message was backed by the experience of a 660-goal scorer who finally won a Stanley Cup at age 32 after nine failed attempts at passing the second round. After reflecting quickly on his own team, Ovechkin gave a review of the Maple Leafs, a talented bunch without an identity.

"I think, for them, they're still a young group of guys and hopefully they're gonna learn," Ovechkin said to a crowd of reporters at his stall. "But it's up to them - how they want to do it and if they want to play for yourself, or if they want to win a Stanley Cup they have to play differently. It's no doubt."

Those comments came around noon, after Toronto had already held its morning skate and wrapped up pre-game media obligations. So it wasn't until after Tuesday night's game, a 4-3 overtime win for Washington (in which Ovechkin potted the winner, ironically enough), that the Maple Leafs had a chance to publicly respond.

Auston Matthews, a leader in Toronto both as a goal scorer and an alternate captain, kept quiet at first. When prompted, he pointed out the Capitals' lengthy journey: "How many times did (Washington) lose to Pittsburgh before they finally broke through? ...You learn from those experiences and you try to capitalize moving forward."

Morgan Rielly, another alternate captain, responded simply with, "no comment from me."

Mitch Marner, the third alternate, summed it up this way: "I think everyone's gonna have their opinions on our group. We're a family in this group. We don't need to start commenting and get a story outside of it."

So, all in all, pretty mum from the leadership core Ovechkin was most directly talking about (keep in mind, John Tavares would have weighed in if he wasn't absent due to injury).

Head coach Mike Babcock, on the other hand, had plenty to say.

"Well, I don't know if he's wrong," Babcock said. "I think he knows because he lived it. If you look at Steve Yzerman (who won his first Cup at age 31), he lived it. A lot of guys live it until they're 30. You've got to decide whether you wait until you're 30 or do you want to figure it out now?

"It's the ultimate team game and you've got to sacrifice individual rights for team rights. I say it all the time, it's (about) the two points in the game and it has nothing to do with the points you get yourself. It's a process for young guys."

Is it that simple? Are older players truly less concerned with individual success, in a way that makes them more capable to go the distance?

Toronto's average age is 26.4 years, which is fourth youngest in the league. It is also quite a bit younger than each of the past five Cup winners.

via Hockey Reference

No, of course it's not that simple. But it's part of what Ovechkin was alluding to.

And to be fair, it's difficult to know exactly what his monologue meant, particularly the key phrase, "play for yourself." Could he be referencing Toronto's top-heavy payroll, which features three of the NHL's seven highest-paid players?

Regardless, Ovechkin's comments landed with impact; particularly for Babcock.

"It hurts my feelings - I can tell you that," said Babcock, whose group is off to an underwhelming 6-5-3 start on the heels of three-straight first round playoff exits. "I'm the coach, I'm supposed to get all this organized. But we know this. We're working toward it every day. We're talking about it every single day."

It took Ovechkin 10 go-rounds in the playoffs to win the Cup. For Yzerman, it happened in his 12 th trip to the postseason. Toronto's core has been together less than half that long.

So, panic isn't the best move here. But neither is apathy.

"You don't like hearing things like that said about your squad," Maple Leafs defenseman Travis Dermott said. "If he's saying that, there must be at least a little bit of truth."

A star player doesn't speak out about another team every day (or every year, really). Now, it's up to Toronto to respond.

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