The return of Ovechkin (update)

Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals smiles as he skates off the ice after a 4-3 win over the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Capitals Insider:

It's been a couple of weeks since we've seen this: Alex Ovechkin practicing on the top line. Coach Bruce Boudreau, meantime, has shuffled his forward combos this morning at Prudential Center.

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Clark
Laich-Morrison-Semin
Fleischmann-Perreault-Bradley
Laing-Steckel-Fehr

Coach Bruce Boudreau was coy when asked whether Alex Ovechkin would be back in the lineup tomorrow, saying: "As of today, he's in."

So it appears that as long as there aren't any setbacks, he should return from a 16-day layoff against the Rangers tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden.

Here's a video of Ovechkin from this morning's practice at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Ovechkin ready to return from Wash Post Sports on Vimeo.

Tweets:

• TarikElBashir: Alex Ovechkin is the first player on the ice at Prudential Center. He's on the top line with Nicklas Backstrom and Chris Clark.


• JapersRink: Is this the week Ovechkin returns? Is this the week Nylander is gone? Is this the week?


• washcaps: The Capitals' morning skate tomorrow at MSG will be at 10:30 am. NYR skating at practice rink, so Ovi can sit on the bench beforehand.

Update:

Ovi, BB talk to media after morning skate

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Missing Ovie

The day is coming, maybe this Tuesday Ovi will be back...


Old stuff, but worth watching it for true Ovi fans; Ovie tries to re-create THE GOAL at practice.

More from Emily:

This is not my picture but it is from that day: My brother and I went to Kettler to watch practice on Veterans Day and we got the singular treat of having Ovie shoot pucks at us for about fifteen minutes.




And apropos of nothing, his water bottle

Again, thanks to Emily!

Update:
Got email from a person who actually took those pictures:

The 2 photos you posted (Ovi and Semin at Kettler and his water bottle) are actually photos that I took. I don't mind that you use them at all (in fact, I'm quite honored!!!) but if you could please give proper credit, that would be wonderful. Thank you!

Heather Mabb

Here are Heather's photos on flickr.

Thanks to all Ovi fans and I am just one of you.

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Give trap its due respect

It was kind of laughable when I read Pierre LeBrun's blog where Pierre claims that only after Scotty Bowman told Yzerman to play defense first the Red Wings were able to succeed. Pierre forgot to mention that about the same time the famous talk happened Red Wings had installed the trap named "left wing lock". And why they did it? They lost to NJ Devils in playoffs.

Even if Ovechkin will play as a defenseman, without a some form of trap Caps are not going far in playoffs.

Here's an article by Rob Rossi, the Penguins beat writer, "Give trap its due respect":

I know what to expect from the Devils, and it doesn't bother me at all. Indeed, I'm caught up in defending the neutral-zone trap.

Call me a sucker for strategy and a fan of rigid discipline when it comes to appreciating what hockey's most hated system routines offer — the best chance for teams to win on the road.

New Jersey's trap is perfectly designed for winning on the road during the regular season — though having Martin Brodeur between the pipes is a nice part of the equation.

Watch how the Devils trap under head coach Jacques Lemaire, the godfather of its modern-day standing. His players are seemingly never out of position. They almost always know when to flip the switch from patient to aggressive. Opponents are left shaking their heads by midway through the first period — because the Devils' trap not only denies time and space to force turnovers; it also causes frustration that leads to unforced turnovers.

In its own way, the Devils' trap is a thing of beauty.

If anything, the NHL would do well to educate its fans on the history of the trap, which was a championship-system before the Devils reintroduced it to the masses in the mid 1990s.

As legendary Penguins adviser Eddie Johnston told me last year, "Those great Canadiens teams in the '70s played the trap."

Well, no negativity here. I say it gets a bad reputation. I also say that it will keep the Devils in the thick of the Atlantic Division race until the very end.

Penguins do play trap, not always, but they know how to play it. And that's why they beat Caps in the 7th game on the road.

Rossi is right, trap is perfect for the road game, but it is obviously unbelievably boring system. Here's the suggestion for Caps: play road game trapping the neutral zone and play Boudreau's run 'n' gun style at home.

Until that happened even the greatest player in the World won't be able to win playoffs singlehandedly.

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Ovechkin's and Varlamov's nicknames in cyrillic

I've got a comment from Canadian(?) Caps fan a while ago:

I was pretty disappointed when i heard ovie might not play on the 21st agianst toronto( since ill be there and im a huge fan) and i wanted to make a sign in russian...incase he does play and sees it. im learning russian at the moment and dont enough to put a joke or somethin he'll notice on a poster. TJ do you have any russian ideas that i could put on this sign? please i need your help!!

Thanks,
Matti (Mattea)

Here're Varlamov's and Ovechkin's nicknames in Russian or Cyrillic. I suggest you to write it and add something in English. This will definitely attract their attention.

Varlamov -- Варлам

Ovechkin -- Овца Ови

If you haven't heard it, Cyrillic alphabet is an alphabet derived from the Greek alphabet and used for writing Slavic languages (Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and some other Slavic languages).

Just like Gus Portokalos said, "You know, the root of the word Ovechkin is a Greek word. Ovechkin come from the Greek word "ovechka," which is mean "little lamb," so there you go."

:-)

Suggestions:

"Варлам, не пропусти!" (Varlam, don't let it in)

"Овца Ови, шайбу!" (Go, Ovi!)

Technically "шайбу" means the puck, but for Russians shouting it, it means "Let's go!"

Here's very famous and very old (1964) Russian animated film called "Шайбу!" (The composer of the music is Varlamov! LOL)






Wow, I didn't know Flyers were in Russia in 1964. :-)

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Ovi talks to media

Buying Tarik El-Bashir a good camera will go in the books as one of the greatest achievements of the Washignton Post in 21st century. Somebody on his blog was collecting money from the fans to buy a camera, once the figure reached 6 numbers we never heard about that guy again. And this is where Washington Post step up, Caps fans waited for that for so long, and it finally happened... :-)

By Tarik El-Bashir, Capitals Insider, Nov. 14, 2009:

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Ovechkin talks to media after morning skate

Ovechkin talks to media, starts at 03:05

Capitals Insider:

Alex Ovechkin won't play tonight against the Wild, but Coach Bruce Boudreau said there's a "possibility" that he'll suit up tomorrow in New Jersey.

"He feels great," Boudreau said of the two-time MVP. "I said go over and talk to [head athletic trainer Greg Smith]. That means he's getting really close."
Ovechkin's progress was apparent this morning at KCI, where he looked, to me at least, to be ready to go. He was skating and stickhandling at full speed and blasting one-timers in drills.

"I feel better every day," he said.

Pressed on where he is percentage wise, he cracked, "five percent," before turning serious. "I don't know, maybe [I'm at] 99-percent, maybe 100," he said.

Asked whether he will play tomorrow, he said, "Let's for tomorrow for what's going to happen tomorrow. Right now, the team play well. I hope they going to play the same way when I come back."

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Ovechkin wants to play tomorrow

TarikElBashir:

Alex Ovechkin said he wants to play tomorrow, but that it's up to Coach Bruce Boudreau.

Corey Masisak:

I'm getting closer, but I still need probably a couple of days," Ovechkin said.

Later in the conversation, Ovechkin was asked if he thinks he can play this weekend. He responded, "Well, I want to play tomorrow, but we will see what happens."

Bruce Boudreau din't rule out Ovechkin for this weekend, but noted that every player, injured or healthy, wants to play tomorrow.

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AskMen's top 10 Ovechkin goals

Got email from Johnny Testa, AskMen.com:

I just thought you might be interested in this article on Top 10: Ovechkin Goals.

The article is going through 10 of Ovechkin’s most memorable goals, I’m sure you can guess which one made it to 1st.

Thanks, Johnny!

The article is by Geoffrey Lansdell, a Montreal-based sportswriter and the author of the first biography on Alexander Ovechkin.

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Ovechkin on TMZ

From Nate Ewell, Nov. 11, 2009:

Tracking the media attention around Alex Ovechkin, you can fairly easily chart the times where his celebrity has hit a new level.

His Washington Post Magazine cover demonstrated that he'd hit the mainstream in DC. His ESPN the Magazine cover showed his nationwide sports celebrity.

Last night, at around the 12:00 mark [tj - To be precise it starts at 11:45 (more than half on a bar)] of TMZ's latest episode, we may have witnessed another breakthrough. The content isn't particularly noteworthy - we've all seen Alex be much more entertaining - but having a hockey player on an entertainment show is significant.






Our message to TMZ: come back again, with a better question. Ovi won't disappoint.

Well, Ovi, just use Brett Hull's one liner... :-)

Top Ten Hockey Player Pick Up Lines

10. My Zamboni or yours?
—Keith Tkachuk, Phoenix Coyotes

9. Baby, I can make you do the wave.
—Tony Amonte, Chicago Blackhawks

8. You're my only chance to score more than Gretzky.
—Chris Chelios, Chicago Blackhawks

7. I'm Stanley. Would you like to see my cup?
—Mike Richter, New York Rangers

6. Ever kiss a guy with no teeth?
—Mike Modano, Dallas Stars

5. I said, 'Would you like a puck?'
—John Vanbiesbrouck, Florida Panthers

4. My wife calls me Gordie Wowe!
—Pat LaFontaine, New York Rangers

3. Hey, you want to be my intern?
—Jeremy Roenick, Phoenix Coyotes

2. In your case, NHL stands for Non-stop Happenin' Lady.
—Billy Guerin, New Jersey Devils

1. I've got a curved stick."
—Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues

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Lysenkov: Caps demanded audio recording (Update)

Pavel Lysenkov on Yahoo Report (Nov. 11, 2009, SovSport.ru):

Suffice to say that The Washington Capitals revolted and demanded the audio recording of the conversation.

Source: http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/356005


Update: I've just got email from Nate Ewell, Sr. Director of Media Relations, Washington Capitals about the audio recordings. Here's the excerpt:

"We did ask if it was recorded, never asked for a copy of it."

On behalf of all Caps bloggers I'd like to thank Mr. Nate Ewell and Washington Capitals for keeping in touch with us. Thank You!

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