She is cute

Eric McErlain, AOL Sports, Feb. 22 "Ovechkin in love"

Thanks to the hockey blog Alex Ovetjkin, we now know that the superstar winger is officially off the market. But all the translation of the article from Sovetsky Sport told us was the first name of the lucky young lady (Katja).






Well, thanks to our friends at Sovetsky Sport, wonder no more. The pics you're seeing here were taken last week at the Washington Capitals practice facility in Arlington, VA and were provided to FanHouse exclusively.

I'd like to thank Eric McErlain for the reference to my blog. It does take time and energy to translate, so I appreciate it, Eric.

Washington Post, Feb. 20 "Ovechkin Nets a Big Goal: Wooing a Russian Beauty"

There she was at Caps practice yesterday -- a 20-something named Katja, and described by one spy as "skinny, tan, blond, hot, Russian." Two weeks ago, she flew here for the first date, and they've been together ever since. Ovechkin, 22, declined to discuss the relationship -- but happily, Katja dished to a Russian newspaper.

More...

Alex and Katja at basketball game (the Wizards feed of the Knicks game)

Update Feb. 22:

Unlike Washington Post (above), who used my translation, Canadian National Post (part of Canada.com) did put a link to my original post with translation, thanks!

The Washington Capitals superstar is courting a 20-year-old Moscow college student majoring in English. Her name is Katja and, as she revealed in an interview with Russian newspaper SovSport (and translated for those whose Russian is a little rusty), they met on the Internet back in the fall.

And great article from Japer's Rink. This is what we all thinking about... :-).

This past December, thanks to Dallas quarterback Tony Romo's very public canoodling with Jessica Simpson, football fans added another hex to the list - The Girlfriend Curse. Simpson's pink presence at a late season game was seen by some as the reason the Cowboy QB had the worst outing of his career in a 10-6 home loss to the woeful Philadelphia Eagles.

Now the question is raised locally - do Caps fans have reason to fear a Girlfriend Curse of their own?