All the great ones eventually recognize this formula. NHL career scoring leader Wayne Gretzky took five years to first taste playoff success.

“The Cup drives me crazy,” said Phoenix Coyotes coach Gretzky, who lifted Lord Stanley's mug on four occasions as a player with the Edmonton Oilers. “That's what we play for and that's what we want. You have to prove to people that you are a winner. The important factor of the whole season was an opportunity to win a championship.”

The struggle was equally arduous for Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux, who waited seven years to wear his first crown. Like Gretzky, Lemieux was showered with individual recognition, all the while burning inside for the chance to be recognized as a champion.

“My goal was to win the Stanley Cup and I didn't worry much about what people thought of my career,” Lemieux said.

Although he’s still an outsider among this group, the thing is, Ovechkin gets it. He understands that to be rated among the all-time greats, he’ll have to achieve greatness when the Stanley Cup is on the line.

“My personal stats, it's personal stats, but right now I think about the team,” Ovechkin said. “We want to win everything. And our goal is not just to be playing, but we want to be the top team in the league.”

In can happen over the course of much heartbreak and discouragement, such as Yzerman endured, or it can come quickly. Ovechkin experienced the postseason for the first time last spring. Lemieux had won a solitary playoff series and owned a meager 11 games of Stanley Cup playing experience for his career when he led the Penguins to back-to-back titles in 1990-91 and 1991-92, turning in Conn Smythe Trophy-winning performances each spring.

Video   Ovechkin celebration over the top? March 22: Mike and Pierre comment on whether or not Alex Ovechkin's 50th goal celebration was too excessive.

Lemieux got over the hump when he was afforded a supporting cast. Jaromir Jagr was a rookie with the Penguins in 1990 and the club added another star in Ron Francis in a trade-deadline deal. Yzerman didn’t achieve glory until the likes of Sergei Fedorov, Nicklas Lidstrom and Brendan Shanahan arrived in Detroit. In Edmonton, Gretzky was ultimately surrounded by future Hall of Famers such as Mark Messier, Grant Fuhr, Jari Kurri and Paul Coffey.

Slowly, the Capitals have assembled a talent pool to aid Ovechkin’s cause, drafting Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom and acquiring Fedorov to offer a veteran winning presence.

“Right now, we have a great chance to move forward,” Ovechkin said, while realizing the road to a title is one that’s paved with potholes and adversity.

“It's hard work here, and nobody gives you easy ways,” he said. “You have to fight. You have to live for this, you know.”

It’s what makes a player a living legend, after all.

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