Athlete Bios
Hockey
Ovechkin carries firepower for Russia
Last Updated: Monday, February 8, 2010 | 1:35 PM ET
New York Times for CBC Sports
The Washington's Capitals Alex Ovechkin has vowed to play for his country at the 2014 Olympics in Russia, regardless of what the NHL says. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) He is the most charismatic star the National Hockey League has seen in a generation, a patriotic Russian who has taken Washington by storm, a floppy-haired forward with a gap-tooth smile who scores abundantly, body checks recklessly and celebrates goals with a sense of jubilation that most North American players are reluctant to display.
At 24, Alex Ovechkin already has a full career’s worth of laurels: two Hart Trophies as the NHL’s most valuable player; two Ross Trophies as the league’s leading scorer; a Calder Trophy in 2006 as the top rookie; a gold medal from the 2008 IIHF World Championship and a gold from the 2003 world junior championship.
And he has made the Capitals the hot ticket in Washington, prompting sellout after sellout from fans who were indifferent to hockey for more than a quarter-century. For that, and for the chance Ovechkin gives his team to win a Stanley Cup title, the owner of the Capitals, Ted Leonsis, signed him to a $124 million US contract extension that will keep him in Washington through 2021.
But Ovechkin is more than a player who scored 219 goals in his first 324 regular-season games; he is a figure who bridges those two contentious entities, the NHL and the Russian KHL. While shining as a bright star for commissioner Gary Bettman’s league, he is also an outspoken advocate for NHL participation in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Bettman has declined to commit the league to taking part in those Games, a reluctance traceable at least in part to the NHL-KHL feud over player signings.
At the start of this season, Ovechkin expressed his feelings in no uncertain terms. “Nobody can say to me, ‘You can’t play for your country in the Olympic Games,’” he said. “If somebody says to me, ‘You can’t play,’ see ya.” Anyone who saw the way Ovechkin celebrated when Russia beat Canada in the world championship final in Quebec City in May 2008 will not be surprised at his depth of feeling on the subject.
Ovechkin has also displayed a deep connection to his homeland. During an interview with a Russian sports newspaper last August, he spoke of being in a small store in Siberia where the proprietor recognized him but would not believe who he was until he showed her his smile and the space between his front teeth.
“Can you imagine that?” he said. “It was in the middle of nowhere. Washington is on the other side of the globe, Moscow is really far away. And people knew me there. I’ve played a lot for my country and I know what patriotism is.
“I just felt what Russia is about, how dear and big it is and how we — hockey players and the national team — are loved here. When you think of people like those, you want to win the Olympics twice as much.”
He will have that chance in February.
