The happiest face in new generation

 ROY MacGREGOR, Globe and Mail, Jan. 21, 2009 "For love of the game":

OTTAWA — In the eccentric world Alexander Ovechkin seems to dwell in, this one seems a little over the top. He is on the ice with the Zamboni, while his Washington Capitals teammates wait patiently on the bench for a fresh flooding before the morning skate.

But Ovechkin is too impatient to wait — and in this case too impatient even to dress. He wears nothing but red long johns, skates, gloves and carries a stick, and he is flying up and down the flooded parts of the ice as if playing keep away with the chugging machine.

Perhaps he is looking for a new skills competition for the NHL all-star celebration, which will begin in Montreal tomorrow. Perhaps he is just being a 23-year-old Russian kid playing a game he appears to love more than anyone else who has ever played it.

The flooding finished, he stays out as two dozen of his teammates — all in helmets and thick protective gear — fly about the rink firing pucks at crossbars. Lacking shin pads, elbow pads, any pads, Ovechkin races about with them, ducking pucks and moving through them like a motorcycle in heavy traffic.

It may be dangerous and may even be foolish — especially considering the 13-year, $124-million (U.S.) contract he carries — but this is a young man who not only goes his own way, but gets it.

"There's so much to love," head coach Bruce Boudreau says. "When you're 10 years old, all you want to do is play hockey on the ponds from morning to night because you love to play. And now you take it to the NHL and here's a guy who that looks like he wants the same thing, all the time.

"So many people change and make it into a business. But Alex, even though he knows the business part, plays the game the way it's supposed to be played — with passion, and because you love to play. And it shows."

Ovechkin, in fact, is simply the happiest face in a generational shift taking place in the game.

Boudreau says he was amazed during a game against the New Jersey Devils earlier in the season, when the Capitals tied the score with moments to go and Ovechkin was so excited.

"He just jumped right into the bench and everyone went nuts," the coach says. "I don't know if there's a team that has better celebrations than us."

"It's exciting," Green says, "because we're all having fun."