No speed limit, the emblem for Ovechkin

 By Mark Herrmann, Newsday.com, Jan. 24, 2009 "Ovechkin 'raises the bar' with energy, results":

When Washington officials gave him the key to the city last June, Alexander Ovechkin immediately made this pronouncement: "There will be no speeding tickets in the city today because there is no speed limit."

That might well be the emblem for the Capitals forward's career. There's no stopping or slowing him. That he was not elected by fans to start in tonight's All-Star Game was not even a speed bump.

Apparently, having his team in first place, owning a 13-year contract worth $124 million and being last year's MVP, current top goal-scorer and arguably the greatest hockey player on Earth are some consolation.

Also, there is the fact that he gets to go to the rink every day. No small matter for a guy who likes the whole idea so much that he has been known to skate before practice with the Zamboni.

"I don't know what he was like as a teenager," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said, "but he sure loves the game now."

Ovechkin will be the one darting around the ice in Montreal tonight like a giddy teenager, and a Mack truck. He has the elan of a kid, the skills of an old pro and the mean streak of a pit bull. He has personality galore, which makes it odd that he sometimes gets overlooked because he supposedly doesn't have any.

Granted, it is not easy for a non-North American to become a sports icon over here, but give the 23-year-old from Moscow time. It took him a few years, but he has given the once-moribund Capitals his zest for life.

"He raises the bar. He wants people to play as hard as him," said Boudreau, whose team is 12 points ahead in the Southeast Division. "You go out there and you watch how hard he plays, how can you not want to play with that passion and that intensity?"

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