AskMen with Ovechkin: PREPARING FOR A BREAKAWAY

 By Johnny Testa, AskMen.com, Jan. 22, 2009 "Breakaway Tips From Alexander Ovechkin":

Alexander Ovechkin is one of the best players in the NHL. If winning the Calder Trophy as the top rookie in the league in the 2005-06 season wasn’t proof enough of his immense talent, just ask him to show you his record-setting awards collection from the 2007-08 NHL campaign. It includes the Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophy for most goals scored, the Art Ross trophy for most total points, the Hart trophy for the player most valuable to his team, and the Lester B. Pearson award. This last one is probably the most prestigious award in the NHL, as it is awarded to its recipient by his peers.

In just three full seasons with the Washington Capitals, Alexander Ovechkin has scored 163 goals in 245 games, making him the most prolific scoring threat in the league. It was, therefore, a no-brainer for the NHL to call on Ovechkin to participate in the Breakaway Challenge during the Superskills portion of this weekend's All-Star game.

With Ovechkin preparing to defend his Breakaway Challenge title, AM took the opportunity to ask him for some tips on how to successfully score on a breakaway.

A defenseman comes up behind you and trips you up and the referee awards you a penalty shot. What’s the first thing that goes through your head?
I have to score. That is the one thing I think of the most.

How do you decide what move you are going to choose for the penalty shot?
That depends on the goalie playing and how the goalie was playing during the game. Based on that, I pick my shot and try to make some moves on the goalie to get him to move and open up.

What move works best?
I’ll try to shoot high glove most of the time. Otherwise, I will make some moves and finish off with a shot from my back hand.

What do you think about someone taking a slap shot on a penalty shot?
I don’t think that’s a bad idea. If someone has a really hard shot, then it would probably work for them.

Is there anything that you can do on a breakaway to intimidate the goalie and try to get him off his focus?
No, goalies in the NHL today are prepared for this -- they do not get scared very easily. They aren’t afraid of very much during a game and they probably would not get intimidated from anything I try to do on a breakaway.

Is there a goalie in the NHL that you hate to go up against?
Probably Roberto Luongo from the Vancouver Canucks. He’s a really good goalie and a big guy, which makes him especially hard to score on.

Which goalie out there do you feel the most confident about scoring on?
I don’t know; it’s hard to say. There are a lot of goalies out there that I have scored on a lot. I can’t really think of a single name that I have scored on often, but I’m sure there are a few.

Since you're one of the more popular players in the NHL, do you feel like you have to play harder to please your fans?
I play hard every game, for my team and my fans.

If you could put together your own NHL All-Star lineup, who would you choose?
In goal would be Martin Brodeur from the New Jersey Devils. My defensemen would be Andrei Markov from the Montreal Canadiens and Zdeno Chara from the Boston Bruins. And my forwards would be my teammate Niklas Backstrom from the Washington Capitals and Sidney Crosby from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

What trick do you have up your sleeve for this weekend's Breakaway Challenge?
I’m going to try my old trick from last year again, where I bounce the puck in the air, do a spin-o-rama and then hit the puck mid-air. And I definitely have something new that I am going to try.

Do you think you can share your new trick with me?
No I can’t tell you. I’m going to save it for the Breakaway Challenge, everyone will see it then!

The 2009 Honda/NHL SuperSkill, including the Scotiabank NHL Fan Fav Breakaway Challenge will air Saturday, Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. ET on VERSUS in the U.S. and on CBC and RDS in Canada. Fans at home and in the arena will choose the winner of one of the competitions via text messaging powered by NHL partner Telescope, Inc. Voting will begin as soon as the last Breakaway Challenge competitor completes his routine, and fans will be able to cast one text message vote per mobile phone.


Update:

Johnny Testa has sent me an email with a bit more detail about the interview with Alex:

It was done over the phone this past Saturday, pretty nice guy; I only wish I had more time to talk to him.

Johnny had an interview with Ryan Getzlaf that will be published this Saturday at AskMen.com