Alexander Ovechkin - the latest news
(Александр Овечкин - последние известия)
Ru: Александр Овечкин, Sv: Aleksandr Ovetjkin, CS: Alexandr Ovečkin, FI: Aleksandr Ovetškin, FR: Aleksandr Ovetchkine, DE: Alexander Owetschkin
This time he defends his fellow countryman Crosby. Thanks for the effort to scare Ovechkin and Caps fans, Mr. Cherry. Some big defenseman waiting around the corner for Ovechkin, how scary! You are pathetic just saying this, Mr. Cherry. I can tell you this, two or three big d-men are waiting for crybaby right now, how's that?
Ovechkin is bigger than you, Mr. Cherry. He is bigger than anybody else before him. He will win the Olympics in Vancouver and this is what is behind Cherry's rants. Cherry is scared. And he should be. Ovie is coming after you. And no Henderson will help you this time.
You know, I've been worried for Ovie for quite some time, but then I realized this guy can take care of himself. "Count on God, but take care of yourself," that's what the old Russian proverb says. And Ovie does just like that.
"But they did have Ovechkin covered," cracked one of the Bruins commentators.
LOL.
They were commenting on Backstrom PP goal made possible by Ovechkin. Two Bruins players went after Ovechkin in Caps zone, Ovie gave a go-ahead pass to Backstrom and it was 4 Caps vs. 2 Bruins. 1:0 by Backstrom on rebound.
End of the second. At 8:48 of the second period Ovechkin scored his 45th goal on excellent pass by Backstrom Bradley.
8:48 EV WSH 8 A.OVECHKIN(45) 10 M.BRADLEY(5) 23 M.JURCINA(9)
Ovechkin and Green both have 19 points this month and tied for the most points in the NHL in February. But it ain't over yet. :-)
The Russian Roulette! From the center, 70 footer, .... in.
Caps 4, Bruins 3. OT.
Tim Thomas' last image of the game:
Update:
Lambogreeni got the edge over Ovechkin for the most points in the NHL for this month! He has 20 now, and Ovie has 19.
OT 0:22 EV WSH 28 A.SEMIN(24) 52 M.GREEN(33) 55 J.SCHULTZ(10)
Semin, through Ovechkin, said he was tired and wanted to go to the bench for a change. This is a bit conspicuous because overtime was 22 seconds old. Yes, he was on the ice at the end of the third period, but still, Semin averages more than a minute per shift on many/most nights.
The shot took off like a rising fastball and fooled Boston goalie Tim Thomas.
“That doesn’t happen very often,” Thomas said. “I mean that was one of the luckiest shots I’ve ever seen. I mean, it was about three inches off the ice until about half way to me and then it just started to lift and I missed it, or I got a good piece of it. What originally started out as a pad save turned into a glove save and I kind of missed it. … From that far away I should have it anyways, but I really don’t expect that kind of stuff to happen.”
Bruce Boudreau's thoughts on why Semin shot the puck were pretty funny.
“I have no idea," he said. "Nine times out of 10 he’ll try to deke four guys before he shoots it [in the zone], so that’s a blessing.”
Boudreau was asked if he was worried about Ovechkin when the star started a scrum in the first period after he was high-sticked.
Boudreau: "I was nervous for the other guy. As a player to get high sticked like that and nobody sees it, which is pretty amazing in itself, that sometimes if they're not going to call it you take it into your own hands. I thought he had a moment there that he lost it and then he calmed down.....I hate to bring up comic books, but he's like the Hulk. The madder he gets, the more energy he's got and everybody else watch out."
Josephine's in Washington, DC was definitely the place to be in DC. Celebrity Guests Sean Paul (#1 Selling Reggae/Dance Hall Artist) and the NHL's MVP and #1 Player Alexander Ovechkin we're on hand to celebrate (Feb. 26, 2009).
Is this the same girl from MMA event? I think it is.
TORONTO - They're doing it in honour of their parents, deceased friends and former hockey coaches. But above all, NHL players are choosing to give back in support of the international humanitarian organization Right To Play.
Alex Ovechkin, Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton and Daniel Alfredsson are among a group of 28 NHL players who will make donations to the charity based on the numbers of minutes they play in one of their games this weekend.
Each will make their donation on behalf of a role model.
* Zdeno Chara has not decided how much he will donate to Right To Play tomorrow. Chara will make a donation based on ice time -- Andrew Ference said he will contribute $100 per minute -- and based on his expected matchup against Alex Ovechkin, the captain should be getting plenty of action.
Chicago Blackhawks winger Adam Burish is clearly not impressed by the NHL's Golden Boy, Sidney Crosby. MOUTHPIECESPORTS personality Sarah Spain asked Burish about the possibility of playing Pittsburgh Friday night without their star. Find out what everyone's favorite Blackhawk had to say about Crosby and the visiting Pens.
Will Crosby ever recover from his crybaby image? I don't think so.
Some news about one of the Russian 5, Konstantinov and his family. Fedorov was very close to him in Detroit. Very good read, Kamensky talks about Joe Sakic, Messier, Mark Crawford, Avs, Devils, but I've just translated a part about Konstantinov. When Fedorov beat Caps 5:0, Konstantinov probably had 5 assists back then.
Do you see Vladimir Konstantinov? You were friends before. And we communicate now too. Vovka [tj note: short for Vladimir] is in Detroit, but his wife frequently flies with him to Florida. There our houses are in the same neighborhood. Until Konstantinovs didn't buy the house in Florida they lived in mine.
The newspapers wrote that his wife left Konstantinov. Nonsense. She is constantly with him. And she takes him to hockey games in a wheelchair. His daughter goes to college. Unfortunately, there are no improvements for Volodya. [tj note: short for Vladmir]. Hard to see him in this condition, very hard.
Did he gain a lot of weight? No wonder. When a person is without a motion, the weight is rapidly creeping up.
What are you talking about? We remember the old days, our games for CSKA, the national team. I try to remind him something, he nods. Volodya gets tired very quickly. Yes, and he has memory problems. But he recognizes me immediately.
How is Sergei Mnatsakanov doing? I don't know him well. I know that he has no changes. His head is clear, understands everything, but he also moves a wheelchair, his spine is broken.
I also read in Detroit press that Konstantinov's wife left him. So, good news to hear that she is with him and his daughter going to college. Thank you, Valeri.
Ovechkin is magical, and not only does he help the team win, you almost want to be able to say I was there when. I was there [against] Buffalo when he scored that goal. Or yeah, I was there when he did the spin-o-rama. Well, I was at the Montreal game where he got four with the broken nose, right? And he's building this body of work. I mean, he's really become kind of a cross-over cultural phenomenon.
Have people talked to you about him who are not hockey people? Yeah. In new york, we played the New York Rangers and we're down 4-0, we beat them 5-4. I get a phone call in the office from George Bodenheimer from ESPN, and he said, 'You're gonna get a call from [a director], he makes IMAX movies. [The director] said, 'I've never seen a guy like this, I want to train 24 cameras on him and make an IMAX movie. He's a phenomenon. As a creative person I'm envisioning the skating, the ice, the lights.' So he's crossed over.
Are there D.C. people who are not hockey people who have gotten in touch with you? Madeline Albright is coming to a game with her granddaughter. The other day I had a father write me a letter from New Jersey. He drove five hours from New Jersey with his son. They're New Jersey Devils season ticket holders. He drove five hours with his son on a snowy rainy day to meet Alex. And it was an optional practice and Alex wasn't there. It shattered the kid. And so the father [wrote], 'I'd like to come down, will he be there, he really wants an autograph, can I send you the jersey that he bought, get it signed? You're starting to get almost these religious-type things.
Do you worry about--kind of jumping ahead--the fact that it's happened so, SO suddenly. Do you worry that means that it could.... Go away that fast? Well, I think a couple of things happened. One, because it's a home-grown team. And I believe in this, that when a kid's young and he just starts and he starts to grow up, the fans almost adopt them. And so Ovechkin, and Semin, and Green, and Backstrom, [fans]feel like they're theirs, and they're gonna watch them grow up. So there's a deep fondness.
Kids will talk for years about the Ovechkin goals. It was the No. 1 [viewed] video on YouTube for a day. I mean, that's a culture phenomenon. Number one searched video on YouTube. I mean, that's amazing. And so we had 19,000 people, it'll go into lore, it'll be there were 100,000 people who attended that game.
Sergei Fedorov is interviewed by the local media, The journalist is probably thinking "I want a touque like his."
Assistant coach Jay Leach(left) and Mikhail Ovechkin(right) with the poster of the most important person in the capital of United States after Obama. Uncle Misha! Leach asked to send him the photo, but I don't know his email. Could you tell him to download it from here?
Alex Ovechkin answers to Russian hockey fans questions. That "online Q&A" has already been published. Since then Ovechkin has shaved, scored a hat-trick in Tampa and grabbed Crosby by his neck.
Alexander Semin gives an interview to Sovetsky Sport. (Will be published soon). At the end of the interview I asked for Semin's picture. He sits down in this posture, putting a helmet on his knee and resting his head on his hand. Then I said: "You look just like Ivan Vasiljevich." Do you remember that chase scene from the famous movie? [tj note: a link to YouTube video below] Semin hears it and cracks up. That how I got this shot :)
By the way, Semin said that the most inconvenient team for Washington was Philadelphia. The result of the game between Caps and Flyers has only confirmed it.
Video of Ovechkin's latest highlight-reel goal was YouTube's most-viewed clip last Friday, and a film director recently called Capitals majority owner Ted Leonsis to discuss making an IMAX movie featuring Ovechkin.
IMAX movie with Ovechkin! That would be cool. No comparison to some pathetic Vlad Topalov clip. :-)
Alexander Ovechkin is on the verge of accomplishing something in hockey that hasn't been witnessed in over a decade: winning consecutive Hart Trophies as the NHL's MVP. (Maybe that's what got under Sidney Crosby's sweater.)
Another mere Hart, however, would be selling Alexander the Great short.
It is unfortunate that a pound-for-pound award for the most-dominant athlete in all of team sports does not exist, for if it did the athlete most-deserving of the honor would be the Capitals' prodigious left wing, OV, as he's often referred to here in D.C.
The key words here are "team sports." I'm not considering Tiger Woods because, not only is golf less an athletic endeavor than a human game board, it is an individual sport, save for the occasional Cup play. For much the same reason, I'm not thinking of Michael Phelps either. He's clearly an athlete but swimming is mostly an individual sport and we really only pay attention to it every four years at the Olympics, or when Phelps sends us smoke signals.
I'm talking about football, baseball, basketball, and what Ovechkin plays right now – hockey - with few peers, Crosby included.
Nothing against Sid the Kid, but it was jingoism mostly that made him the soup du jour over Ovechkin during their debut campaigns in 2005-2006. Crosby isn't American, but North American, a Canadian. In these parts that trumps being Russian, which is what Ovechkin is.
Attached is another picture from the UWC MMA event, I thought you might be interested in. Washington Caps was tagged on Facebook in picture. I did not take picture. I think this means Vicki won't be back to states again.
Who knows, Ovie is known to stay in touch with his former girlfriends. He is a nice guy, that's the reason, I guess. I really liked Katja, still getting ton of hits on that story.
Just hard to believe how many new people read it every day. If you do google search on "Ovechkin girlfriend" my blog post comes FIRST!!! It's not me, of course, it's all about rankings, etc. People really love it. Very romantic story thanks to great Pavel Lysenkov.
I wonder where Katja is now. Hello, Katja? Send me email. :-)
The image's name is montrealtrippers.jpg, at first I read it with S after montreal and thought "Wow, Mr. Steinberg!" :-) That's because of his jokes about Club Scarlet:
* Members will all be given special club names. Something to do with the street they grew up on and their first family pet, apparently.
I think John Buccigross takes steroids. Seriously I've enjoyed reading this interview with him, but his latest article is just sick, like Ovie would say. He is getting better by leaps and bounces. As I said before I've never been his fan, but I am now.
...The old stereotype of Russian players was that they were dour, aloof, gloomy, boring and soft. One of the enduring observations from the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" was the Soviet Union players acting like voyeurs as the young Americans reveled like schoolboys after their victory. It was as if having fun while playing hockey never entered the Soviet players' minds. That's because, as we now know, they weren't really having fun. Hockey was a full-time job, and their personal lives were full of conformity, monotony, few true freedoms and no blue jeans.
Plus, Russian swimsuit models had yet to hit the mainstream.
So, knowing this broad piece of hockey history, one can understand how going from those robotic and bemused Russian players watching Team USA in 1980 to Ovechkin acting like an over-served frat boy after scoring a goal is quite a leap. And the irony or coincidence is even more rich when you consider this big, bad Soviet (well, until he was 6) is wearing red, white and blue while playing in Washington, D.C. Talk about smashing the irony curtain. Ovechkin, the Russian, now appears to be the player who cares the most about winning while having the most fun. Can you imagine Slava Fetisov doing what Ovechkin did at this year's All-Star festivities in Montreal?
Some do not like such showmanship in the NHL. Here is what Crosby said when asked about Ovechkin's showmanship: "Like it or lump it, that's what he does." Crosby told reporters after Sunday's game: "Some people like it, some people don't. Personally, I don't like it."
First of all, I have never heard the phrase "like it or lump it." My fellow "SportsCenter" anchor John Anderson has, so I'm guessing either it's a Southern Canada/Wisconsin thing or I am dumber than I thought. Second, isn't it interesting, with the "Miracle on Ice" image as a reference point, that the Russian players now are being chastised for having too much fun?
LOL.
Commenting on Ovechkin's youthful enthusiasm, the 21-year-old Crosby sounded like a 78-year-old Clint Eastwood in "Gran Torino."
"Quit shooting pucks in my yard! Tell your dad to buy a net!"
I'm all for hating your opponent. I despised my opponent. But complaining about a young athlete getting caught up in the moment was a rare swing and miss from Sid. Even Bing Crosby sang a Christmas song with David Bowie.
Maybe I'm all drunk watching "The 8 Ball" bounce around NHL rinks and seeing what his singular passion is doing to downtown Washington. Caps fans have had a lot of good and appealing players come through town, but none like Ovechkin. The Capitals are an elite team because they have more than one great NHL player, but they are pop stars because of No. 8. He's the straw that stirs this vodka and tonic. We've come a long way, baby.
The flamboyant Russian with the tinted shield, yellow skate laces and hockey heart on his sleeve plays the game with such flair, emotion, love and fearlessness, he reminds you of ... Don Cherry.
And the businesslike Canadian with the serious scowls, the "get off my lawn" sound bites and the impatience usually found in sixth-grade math teachers is playing the game with such weight and frustration, he comes off like a machine and reminds you of ... Leonid Brezhnev.
Here's some must-watch material that will debut on the NHL Network this Saturday, Feb. 28, at 4:30 p.m., conveniently a short time after our game in Boston. It's a 30-minute look at a Day in the Life of Mike Green, including some terrific behind-the-scenes footage. The clip at the 2:00 mark of this highlight is sure to get noticed:
This video shows Crosby's antics and the whole world can see again and again why he should be ashamed of himself.
I think even die-hard Pens fans are ashamed of him already. Look at the comments on YouTube, not a word in Crosby's defense:
bliss2772 iam embarassed that hes canadian lol
RJRETZ32 Crosby needs to get his act together hes starting to get a little too full of himself after getting to the finals last year, if he was such a good guy then why dont his teammates stick up for him? Everyone on that team loves Malkin and hates Sid and with good reason Malkin should be the face of the franchise not sid, sid isnt even a top 3 center in the nhl
hockeyman170 i hate crosby. hes so jealous of ovechkin
hockeycrazy1000 Crosby a little baby when someone gives you hardly a nudge when you get off the ice you dont try to them over the bench
And Crosby better watch who he's messin with cuz weve all seen ovechkin play rough and that little boy doesn't want none o' that
lavalampluva Sid the Kid can just suck it!
iluvov So I'll just say it Crosby is a little crybaby who is just plain ol' jealous of Ovechkin. I really don't get the big deal over the guy, he's ok, but sit back and watch the master!!!!
aotecknology I love how Crosby says that Ovie pushed him from behind. If that's a push than Crosby's crosscheck was attempted murder. I wish that he would shut the fuck up and just play. At the moment I'm kind of embarassed that he's Canadian.
rymo316 sidney crosby is a straight p**sy
MisterCartoon68 yoo crosby is a lil b!tch! OVIE HAS CANADIAN PARENTS! he has too.. u guys kno he plays like it.
therealOG328 i hope ovechkin beats his ass
Visfen By brushing him ever so gently? Ovie basically just skated in front of him and Sid lost his temper because he has terrible composure. We've seen this before, Atl vs Pit years ago, he needs to calm down, he has had terrible discipline all season, probably because him and Malkin have to carry the whole team as nobody is doing anything to help them out.
wonderbread1983 Sid the bitch once again proves me right man up and play like a man you little shit if ove was canadian everyone would be on his dick like they are sid the bitch
martylocal87 F**** hate how crosby is like i was skating to my bench, when ovechkin hit me, when if you watch at 7 seconds in crosby actually starts it.
Yep, like one GM said, Ovechkin is as Canadian as Gordie Howe...
Update:
Off-day: Another Crosby's whine (Feb. 23, 2009)
Thanks to Marge (see comments) for pointing it out:
Crosby had a post-practice interview today, and he used the whole interview to go after ovie, calling him dirty and a head hunter. it is quite the little fire starter. he's lost all my respect, and there wasn't much to begin with
Reporter: We’re use to seeing the edge between Malkin and Ovechkin, and you got sort of an edge between you and Ovechkin in the game against the Capitals, did that come from the last game, or did that sort of generate in the course of 3 periods yesterday?
Crosby: It’s probably been four years *scoffs* I mean we’ve always had some good battles, I don’t know if for some reason he’s starting to run around a bit more, he’s coming after me a little bit more, obviously he’s gone after Geno many cases before so that just makes things a little more intense, that’s just the way it is.
Reporter: Did you hear about what he said? That you talk too much.
Crosby: Yes *scoffs* I think I only talked to him when he ran me a couple times so that’s the only talking I did and he talked back to me, so I guess if I do he does too.
Reporter: What was that wave, what was that?
Crosby: I don’t know, I mean he taunts and does those things. I don’t think that’s the way to play, I mean all I’m all for playing hard, I think he’s a great player, he plays hard, there’s no doubt, he doesn’t need to take runs. He went at Geno’s head probably three shifts before he went after me. He’s hitting to hurt guys in the head.
Reporter: Is it nice to know those two have patched things up so you don’t have to worry about him during a game
Crosby: Well he still got ran right before that so I don’t know if things are patched up but it’s not quite as bad as it was before, so that’s good. It’s a rivalry that’s to be expected. We all realize that, we’ve been on the winning side of things in the past, this year we’ve lost to them. That’s hockey, all that stuff aside the games are good for everyone but you don’t need everyone chasing each other around out there.
Then loosely quoted. A reporter asks Crosby what it is like seeing a guy with such skill play so physical and unexpected of a player who normally has enforcers to do that stuff instead, how it is different seeing a superstar give hits too.
Crosby responds with comments about Iginla and Shane Doan how they are such good hockey players but also a physical source as well. And then goes on to say…
Crosby: but there’s a difference, those guys are hitting hard, don’t get me wrong if they see a guy with his head down they are going to finish him, that’s hockey, but they’re not taking ten strides and jumping at a guy or hitting him after the whistle. There’s a respect factor there and I think that’s important.
Reporter: Is he always going after people’s head?
Crosby: I don’t know if it’s necessarily going after people’s heads, it’s the taking ten strides and the odd times his hands are up a little bit. You know that’s a strength as well, he’s a physical presence out there and you can’t take that away from him but there’s a way to do it I think.
Loosely quoted again a reporter asks how Crosby deals with it. And Crosby says that he knows he doesn’t have the size to get into a hitting match with the person, but he is not going to shy away either. Then another reporter asks about enforcers and how they are no longer the only guys who can be physical and how guys who do love to go at it with one another have to stay within the size so to speak and how that can be a factor in a game. Then Crosby responds with….
Crosby: At the end of the day it comes down to respect and the way I learned how to play the game was heart. You’re going to have guys you hate to play against. Look at Orps on our team, I’m sure guys hate to play against him, he gives a hack and a whack here and there, those are challenges you look forward to in a game. (then he lists off player son other teams, that he enjoys playing because of the physical challenge and continues…) but those guys aren’t taking runs at anybody or going after their heads either.
Loosely quoted the reporter goes I guess what I’m getting at is people were saying Orpik don’t go after Brashear and maybe that was a point in the game where a fight needed to happen but that there is this rule, written or understood that big guys only go after big guys. Then Crosby says Brashear probably would’ve went in Orpik would’ve wanted to and how he would have had an advantage then goes on to say…
Crosby: But you’re never going to fix that stuff, guys are going to go hard at each other as long as it’s in good nature and for the pure fact of doing what it takes to win and in the right way.
ok not only does he take every oppurtunity to call Ovie dirty and a head hunter but he contradicts himself constantly. A slight bump while crossing paths to the benches hardly qualifies as coming after you Crosby so stop making it sound like Ovie was gunning for you the whole night. He also talked the whole game between benches chirping and running his mouth so don't say it was just when you and Ovie bumped. When did Ovie run Malkin yesterday, yes other games Ovie has destroyed Geno with hits but this game he didn't so stop refrencing past games and try to pass them off as yesterday's game. OMG it was so hard listening to this inetrview and then having to repeat it and copy it down word for word but the rediculousness of it was too much to bear. The slight glimmer of respect I had for him is gone now.
Saturday night's UWC 5 MMA event... I can bet Lambogreenie organized that since he is a huge fan of ultimate fighting... From DC Sports Bog, Feb. 23, 2009:
Donald Brashear and Mike Green (Nicklas Backstrom is somewhere around).
Alex Ovechkin and a friend, definitely a Russian...
Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury analyzing Ovechkin, Crosby and Malkin. Who's the dog this year? Well... Detroit... This how the conversation ended.. bwahaha But there's a truth there, Detroit is boring, look at empty seats in Joe Louis Arena. Nick Lidstrom? I don't remember who was it, but he said, "The only emotion I've ever seen in Lidstrom was when he raised his eyebrows losing in poker".
WASHINGTON (AP) -Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals put their biggest rival firmly in the rear view mirror Sunday, thumping Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 5-2 victory that included a dismissive goodbye wave from one superstar to the other.
Ovechkin scored his league-leading 43rd goal, one of five Capitals to find the net, and Washington chased goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in the second period in a blowout that should settle any doubt the tide has turned in a series that used to be one-sided in favor of the Penguins.
The game's other highlight came in the final minute of the second period, when Ovechkin gave Crosby a nudge with the shoulder as both skated the benches. Crosby retaliated by pushing Ovechkin's upper body over the boards at the Capitals' bench. Ovechkin then took his arm and gave Crosby a squeeze around the neck, and Crosby's helmet came off as linesman Greg Devorski stepped in to break up the two.
Crosby was clearly agitated and continued to be restrained by Devorski.
Now Crosby Stay away Cindy Crosby Listen what I say Bye bye, bye bye
Meanwhile, Ovechkin took his spot on the Capitals bench, smiled and gave Crosby a "Bye bye" wave with his left hand.
The sellout crowd and national television audience came to see Ovechkin, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin - three of the top scorers in the NHL - but Crosby and Malkin had to settle for one assist apiece on Gonchar's goal.
A rare thing happened today that happens very seldom in the nature... Crosby Schmosby got a primary assist today from Malkin Schmulkin who got a secondary one. Those legendary assist geniuses lead the NHL. Bravo!
As has become somewhat of an Olympic sport when the Penguins come to D.C., the Sidney Crosby mockery is in overdrive today.
Sid also had an altercation with Alexander Ovechkin near the end of the second period -- jostling the Capitals star near the benches. The small but memorable moment ended with Crosby without a helmet and Ovechkin dismissively waving a glove at him.
Twice Ovechkin and Crosby came nose-to-nose and traded shoves and verbal jabs. One time late in the second period, Ovechkin knocked Crosby's helmet off and then shooed him to the Penguins bench with a flick of wrist.
“Yeah, well he started it,” Bruce Boudreau said of Crosby. “Sidney was jawing at everybody. Every time he came off, you could see our bench talking to him and him talking to our bench. I think he got frustrated that he wasn’t getting the freedom he’s had before in previous games in this building.”
Said Crosby: "“I was skating to the bench and he pushed me from behind so I gave him a shot back. That’s hockey and he likes to run around these days. That was it.”
*Sergei Fedorov recorded his first multi-point game in eight contests with an assist and the game-winning goal against the Penguins. His goal from the high slot came after Semin made a nice play to steal the puck from Pittsburgh's Jordan Staal at the blue line.
"We forecheck together and Semin read it very well," Fedorov said. "(He) step up and cover the blue line and I knew he might pass to me so I just support him and then he give it to me. After that I don't remember much. I just swing at the puck and fire away."
*Fedorov now has four points (1G, 3A) in the past four games. "He looked good today," Boudreau said. "The more Sergei plays, the stronger he gets. We need that offensive second line center that he brings to the game. The intangibles he brings every night and when he's on top of his game like that he's a pretty good player still."
Sidney Crosby was asked by Washington Post consultant Stephen Ball whether Alex Ovechkin's celebratory antics ever cross the line.
"I don't like it personally, but that's him," Crosby said. "And like it or lump it, that's what he does. Some people like it, some people don't. Personally, I don't like it, but you know what, he's a good player."
NBC's Pierre McGuire, situated between the benches, suggested on air that some of the Capitals' "lip service" directed toward Crosby in particular was excessive, though he was unable to get more specific, presumably due to FCC regulations.
After the game, Crosby was asked about the words thrown in his direction from the Caps; "that's always the case," he said. "You know, it doesn't change from team to team."
Crosby was also asked about his second-period shoving match with Ovechkin; "I don't know, I was skating to the bench and he pushed me from behind so I just gave him a shot back," Crosby said. "That's hockey, and he likes to run around these days, so that was it."
"It was not a cheap shot," Ovechkin said. "It was a game moment. If he don't like it, it's his problem."
More Crosby? Sure, he's what he said about Ovechkin's play: "He had a couple good chances and he's out there hitting guys like he normally does," Crosby said. A reporter said it seemed like Crosby was unhappy with Ovechkin at times, and asked whether it was "just hockey."
"Yeah," Crosby said, "I guess."
Meantime, McGuire was rushing out of the building to catch a flight, but I briefly asked him about the cross-ice jabbering he had referenced. "Same as it always is," McGuire said. "It's the NHL. Guys compete and they say stuff."
So, nothing unusual?
"No," he said. "It was a little more towards Sidney than usual. It's a competition-type game. They want to get in his head. They want to play with him. But no, it's normal, it's the way it is. Guys compete and it's a very big rivalry....The intensity levels are huge, especially when you have rivalry-type situations. Pittsburgh-Washington's a huge rivalry, and you've got proud guys like Crosby and Ovechkin competing against one another. Stuff happens."
I asked McGuire how much of the stuff he hears is unfit to repeat over the air; "Most," he said. "Most of it cannot be repeated. I mean, guys compete."
Ovie's postgame...
Sid The Kid's postgame... (I almost felt sorry for him... :-)
-Uh-huh, he did it again. Alex Ovechkin scored another spectacular, how-did-he-do-that goal while sliding on the ice. Hooked and jabbed off his skates as he headed toward the net, the league's reigning MVP slid on his right side toward the crease and had the presence of mind to poke the puck under the right pad of goaltender Carey Price. With the score tied 1-1, Ovechkin stole the puck from Roman Hamrlik at the blue line and had only defenseman Kyle Chipchura to beat. Chipchura did all he could, using his stick and forearm to drag Ovechkin down from behind, but there was no denying the player who is on pace score 60-plus goals for the second consecutive season.
What followed defies description. Alex Ovechkin took the puck along the boards, flipped it off the boards to himself past a turned-around Roman Hamrlik, and then cut to the net, was taken down by Kyle Chipchura and somehow put the puck past Carey Price for his 42nd goal of the season.
It was as amazing a goal as I've ever seen. To backhand it off the boards to yourself in full stride and... I don't know if you know how hard it is to go from backwards to forwards and then beat a guy that’s skating after you. That’s a tremendous feat.
Ridiculous. The initial move to make the spin-o-rama backhanded pass off the boards to himself was impressive enough (you forgot your athletic supporter on the ice, Mr. Hamrlik), but the fact he was able to skate around Kyle Chipchura and then beat Carey Price while sliding on his butt is the icing on the cake.
Sick. No other way to state it, that goal was just absolutely sick. Highlight reel sick. Face of the franchise sick. Superstar, legend in the making, sending Carey Price to a support group of Ovie’d goalies sick.
But the highlight of the period was Ovechkin’s goal, which tied the score at 1-1 at 10:07. Roman Hamrlik thought he had the Russian superstar under control, but Ovechkin chipped the puck off the sideboards, used a spin move to elude Hamrlik and kept control of the puck even after he lost his balance while trying to avoid a check. Ovechkin was on his back when he flipped the puck past Price. "I covered the bottom of the net the way I was supposed to, but somehow he managed to lift the puck when he was on his butt", Price said.
It’s almost embarrassing how much better Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin is than everyone else. In the first period Ovechkin got control of the puck near the center line. He bounced the puck off the boards while spinning the opposite way past the helpless defender. Had the play ended with that and Ovechkin scoring it would have been the goal of the night. But no, Ovechkin ends up scoring a goal from his backside. We’d try to describe it, but honestly, words wouldn’t do it justice.
Ovechkin's goal, one of the most impressive of his distinguished four-year career, came midway through the opening period. Roman Hamrlik's defense partner, Mike Komisarek, missed him with a rinkwide pass, and then Ovechkin beat him to it as it caromed off the boards. Last year's MVP backhanded the puck to himself off the left boards - throwing in a flashy spin move to maneuver around Hamrlik - and then broke for the net. Montreal's Kyle Chipchura hauled Ovechkin down as he tried to go around him with one hand on his stick, but the Russian superstar had enough body control to keep possession of the puck and then slip it inside the near post as he slid between the hash marks on his backside.
Ovechkin scored 10:07 into the game on a play that rivals his spectacular goal at Phoenix on Jan. 16, 2006, during his rookie season. He used his backhand to bank the puck off the boards to get around defenseman Roman Hamrlik at the blue line, skated through the left circle and kept going even after he was hooked and jabbed off his skates by Kyle Chipchura. But while sliding toward the crease, Ovechkin poked the puck past the right pad of Price for his League-high 42nd goal of the season -- and another instant classic.
Alex Ovechkin's goal in the first period was another take-your-breath-away moment for the finest goal scored in the game. When you consider the spin move to beat the D at center, the backwards to forwards pivot in skating, and then to score while sliding on his side and back, it may be his greatest goal next to the goal his rookie goal in Phoenix.
The most impressive thing about the whole goal is how Ovechkin eludes the defender (Roman Hamrlik) by whacking the puck off the boards and blowing by him. Nifty.
When you see those goals you get the goose bumps. And you shout at the top of your lungs in the press box totaly forgetting about your reputability: "Whoaaaaa! Yeeaah! People! What was that? How did he do that?" It was 11th minute of the game with the score 0:1 when Ovechkin jumped out of the bench. Alexander saw that Montreal defenseman Roman Gamrlik was a little slow with handling the puck and he lashed out at him as a kite on a chicken. But he didn't "kill" the Czech with the powerful hit, instead he elegantly let the puck along the boards. In doing so Ovechkin made an elegant step, as in the waltz, turning around his own axis and left fooled Hamrlik in the cold. Even Yevgeny Plushenko would envy such a pirouette! Ovechkin's gaining his speed, pushing aside Montréal's Kyle Chipchura. The latter had nothing left but to force Alex off his feet. But the Russian does not surrender! Ovechkin is sliding on the ice on his butt, a bit on his side. He swings the stick and the puck goes in one corner, Alexander goes to another.
My thumb is up to Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, for constantly reminding us that the best goal he has ever scored might be the next one. Every time he steps on the ice, he's liable to top what we thought was the fanciest move we've seen. And Wednesday against Montreal, Ovechkin gave us another candidate for his own "best of" list. This was special because of the way he created a scoring opportunity--a blind, back-hand pass off the boards to himself--and it was special because of the way he fought off a check, fell to the ice and still managed to put the puck in the net, although he has done that before. The Ovechkin "assist" on the Ovechkin goal was the best part of this jaw-dropper. It was as if there were two Ovechkins - don't the Capitals wish!
Finally it comes in numbers about Ovechkin being the best player in the World. Some writers and commentators are still a bit shy, they'd add "arguably" in front of it. Come on, guys, stop it, tell the truth and only the truth... Drop "arguably", there's nothing left to argue about it. Maybe, just maybe change the word "World" to "entire Universe", like a did already. :-)
In the past two decades, one player has won the Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded to the NHL's MVP, in back-to-back seasons.
With seven weeks left in the regular season, Alex Ovechkin appears to be the runaway favorite to collect his second straight MVP award. The three-time All-Star leads the NHL with 42 goals and is tops in other critical categories while helping his Washington Capitals to one of the best records in the league.
"I think it is possible the way he is playing and the way our team is going. He's been very heroic," said Caps center Sergei Fedorov, the 1994 MVP. "What can I say? He scores very important goals at very important times, and he has been outstanding."
Added Ovechkin: "If I win MVP, I will enjoy it because I want to win everything, but right now I want to win a Stanley Cup. It is going to be hard, but I think it is going to be very interesting."
"It would be pretty hard to go against him, I think," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We've got a pretty good team, and we've got a lot of good guys around, but he's a dominant factor. More importantly, and I know it is only February, but if you look at what he's done in the third period and with the winning goals and in crunch time - that's when you need guys the most, and he's always there."
"He's the best player in the world," said Pierre McGuire, an analyst who covered Wednesday's game for Canadian network TSN and will call Washington's game Sunday against Pittsburgh for NBC. "Alex just obliterates whoever plays against him. He can take over a game with raw emotion. You have to go all the way back to [Maurice] 'Rocket' Richard to find a player like him."
Ovechkin's effort reminded Jay of another goal roughly 21 years ago:
Minus the slick spin of course.
Note to the handful of Capitals fans who may stray here: This is not intended as an insult to Ovechkin. It's quite the opposite actually.
That's what Greg Wyshinski and others are missing, they analyze the goal "Minus the slick spin." Without it, the goal is still "out of the world", like the commentator in a clip is saying, but that slick spin-o-rama that makes it so special.
This goal will stand time, people will remember it forever.
Dominik Hasek was the last player to win back-to-back MVP awards, claiming the Hart Trophy in 1997 and 1998 as a member of the Buffalo Sabres. He's about to have company, it seems.
Alex Ovechkin probably had already wrapped up his second straight MVP before last night's goal. But now there doesn't seem to be much of an argument over who deserves it this season.
Ovechkin is leading the league in goals with 42 -- that's eight more than Jeff Carter and Zach Parise. He's leading the league in third period goals with 20. And he's tied with Patrick Marleau for the league lead in game winners with nine.
He's also leading his peers in searches on YouTube and Google.
"It would pretty hard to go against him," Coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We have some good players surrounding him. But more importantly, if you look at what he's done in the third period and the winning goals and at crunch time. That's when you need your guys the most. And he's there all the time."
"I hope he gets two [MVP's] in a row," he added. "Then we'll work on the Conn Smythe." One day after Ovechkin's most recent YouTube moment, most of the talk at practice today was about how the goal unfolded.
"It was a pretty good goal," Boudreau said. "The falling, the deking and getting the puck in from the seat of your pants, you've seen a lot. But it was the backhand pass in the neutral zone and then staying at full speed that was quite remarkable."
Boudreau almost felt sorry for Montreal defenseman Roman Hamrlik, saying: "I don't know what he was thinking. Who expects that? Maybe he's never seen that move in the 15 years he's been in the NHL."
Ovechkin said he didn't watch the replay again until this morning.
"I fell, then when I slide over I just shoot the puck, that was probably the hardest moment for me to score," he said. "It just happened. Sometimes you have 100-percent chances to score goal and it doesn't go in. And sometimes you have 20-percent chance to score goal and it doesn't go in. You never know when the puck goes in."
Alex Ovechkin was limping around after last night's game, the result of taking a slap shot off his left foot in the third period of the Caps' 4-3 shootout win over Montreal. His foot was also seriously swollen, and he's not taking part in this morning's optional practice.
But I caught up with GM George McPhee moments ago and he said that Ovechkin will be "fine." He also said he has no doubt that Ovechkin will be ready to play tomorrow against the Avs.
"Everybody out there has some swelling right now," McPhee said.
Also, Viktor Kozlov is skating for the first time in a few days. But the session is very, very light, so it's hard to tell where he is in his recovery from a groin muscle pull.
Can score high reel goals, can block the shots, anything for the team to win...
As for me, with the letter "C" on the chest, with "A" or without any letters, I am trying to be an example for the others on the ice. And in the locker room we have other people who can make a speech.
"He's like the shark in Jaws, circling in the water waiting for blood. They should play that music from the movie – da-duh, da-duh, da-duh - when he's out on a shift. He doesn't just go after loose pucks, he hunts them down."
~John Davidson, President of Hockey Operations for the St. Louis Blues.
Blog o Alexovi, psaný anglicky, je vážně kvalitní a aktuální
Just wanted to thank you for posting my book on your blog, which I consulted a fair bit while researching and writing the book. In particular, the comprehensive list of links on alexovetjkin.blogspot.com is the best library on Ovechkin material available anywhere.
Regards,
Geoffrey Lansdell
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"Your work on the Ovechkin and Semin interviews was wonderful, and both are just great reads. Thanks for the time and effort..."
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Nominees: On Frozen Blog, The Alex Ovetjkin Blog
Winner: The Alex Ovetjkin Blog has seriously upped its game over the last twelve months and they continue to be the offseason's premier blog for info on our Russian players. OFB has the connections, but The AO Blog has the heart. Tic Tac Toe Hockey
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Believe it or not, I like Don Cherry. He is like a Bible, you can find anything appropriate for your occasion. 
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