Boudreau: The Canucks had just beat us and yet people are 100 deep around our bus chanting 'Ovie! Ovie! Ovie!'

By TERRY JONES, QMI Agency, Dec. 20, 2009:

EDMONTON -- Bruce Boudreau said it's like traveling with John, Paul, George and Ringo.

"I've seen a lot of documentaries on the Beatles -- and it looked a lot like this," the Washington Capitals head coach said yesterday, describing what it was like in Vancouver the night before the game.

"The Canucks had just beat us and yet people are 100 deep around our bus chanting 'Ovie! Ovie! Ovie!' We couldn't get up the road.

"I know it was like this with Wayne Gretzky ... I'm guessing this was very Gretzky-like."

Boudreau was asked if he ever thought he'd see this kind of reaction to a Russian hockey player in Canada.

"No," he replied.

And he says he's not quite sure if he wants to see it again.

"I love coming home to Canada but being in Vancouver for three days was a little much," he said of Ovie-mania.

With the Caps arriving in Edmonton in the wee hours of the morning and Ovechkin having no appearances scheduled outside the arena, it was predictably less Beatles-like.


It was all Ovechkin all the time.

Every interview was about Ovechkin. And what people said about him had more impact than what he was saying about himself.

Like Oilers coach Pat Quinn, who gave Ovechkin one of the greatest compliments yet.

"We don't see enough of him out here," Quinn said. "He's a wonderful talent and a real gift to our NHL game.

"He's taken on the responsibility of being the best he can be, and when you have that sort of an attitude -- when your best player displays an attitude of that nature -- boy, you're lucky to have him.

"Sometimes, your best players aren't there like that. It would be nice to see him more often."

Ovechkin says he likes compliments like that because they're real, not because he's a famous face.

"For me, it's not the most important thing to be a face or something," he said. "For me, I want to play hockey. I want to be one of the best players in the NHL -- in the world."

So Edmonton loves Ovechkin. And what does he think of the city?

"Snow. Cold. Seems like Russia. Just like home, yeah. It's OK, I like home."

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