What Ovechkin's dog name means
Ovechkin puts his dog Hera into the car and says, "Papa, drive home then..."
You can see that it's a puppy, not a 2 years old German Shepherd (Deutscher Schäferhund) like Life.ru reported. We are asking our readers to guess how old the puppy is. I am pretty sure there are experts between you on German Shepherds.
"This is a pedigree German shepherd," rejoiced Dad. "We called her Ghera."
Somebody asked if there's a meaning to the name of Ovi's dog.
And here's the answer:
In Russian the name is spelled "Гера" and is pronounced as Ghera. But if you look at Russian Wikipedia, you can find that this is the name of the goddess from Greek Mythology.
Hera (pronounced /ˈhɪərə/; Greek Ήρα, Hēra, equivalently Ήρη, Hērē, in Ionic and Homer) was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology.
According to Russian Wikipedia Hera guards mothers during the labor, English version doesn't say anything about it. We need a Greek Mythology expert here. :-)
Anyway Hera is now guarding Ovi and his family at their dacha. A bit more about their oveja called Byasha (or Baa-sha in English) and other pets who live there.
Tatiana Ovechkina:
She [Baasha] ate all gooseberries. And she doesn't pick the berries that crumble to the ground. She neatly lifts a twig and selects the most ripe gooseberries. She also gobbled up all redcurrants too...
Besides Baasha the dacha outside Moscow is home to half a dozen cats and a couple of lost mutt dogs. Alex picked up the last tomcat at a gas station where he was filling up his luxury sports beemer.
Source: eg.ru/daily/sports/18896/
Update:
Thanks to our reader 'BeeN' who pointed to the article in the Russian magazine 'Ogonyuk'. Turned out Ovi already had a German shepherd called Ghera.
Ovechkin with his Mom and dog Ghera at the dacha, year 2004, before his first season with Capitals.
Dog:
Sasha shakes the neck of his beloved German Shepherd Ghera. He grew up with this dog. When the dog was sick he gave her a medicine and shots prescribed by a veterinarian. Ghera is a member of their family.
Alexander, don't you want to take Ghera with you to America?
Alexander laughs, raises Ghera's head to his face and plays with her.
"Of course, I want to take her with me, but she is old, she is 10 years old, for her it would be hard to take a flight. And too much paperwork, I'll let her stay at home. I'm not going forever, I'll come back."
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14 comments:
Hera is the goddess of marriage, the Queen of the Gods and of Heaven. She aided Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece.
I hope Ovie and his family are turning to Greek gods and goddesses in his quest for the Silver Chalice aka the Stanley Cup, and not helping him find a wife to have his children LOL!
2004 г.
http://www.ogoniok.com/common/archive/2004/4857/30-60-61/30-60-1b.jpg
"Саша треплет за шею свою любимую овчарку Геру. С этой собакой он рос. Когда болела, пичкал ее лекарствами и делал уколы, прописанные ветеринаром. И Гера в семье Овечкиных - полноправный член семьи.
- Александр, а Геру с собой в Америку не хочешь взять?
Александр смеется, поднимает морду Геры к своему лицу и играет с ней.
- Конечно, хочется взять ее с собой, но она уже старенькая - ей 10 лет, перелет для нее будет тяжел. Да и документов слишком много надо будет собирать. Пусть уж на родине остается. Я же не на всю жизнь в Америку уезжаю. Вернусь я все равно в Россию."
http://www.ogoniok.com/archive/2004/4857/30-60-61/
PS G(h)era is also a diminutive forms for names G(h)erman, Georgii, Genrietta
Ghera is also short name from Gherasim in Russia.
Oh my gosh, as if I couldn't adore Ovie more! He rescued a kitty from a gas station and has brought home other unwanted fuzzy babies. That man is so easy to love.
Thanks for digging up more information about all the Ovechkin menagerie, TJ!
I guess this new dog is named after a much-loved original.
So heart-warming.
@beeN: Say what?
I just started teaching myself Russian so be kind and translate.
@the previous Anonymous: to what do you refer as a much-loved original? Did Ovie have a dog by this name before this one? And when did he rescue a kitty and other fuzzy babies? I agree with you, Ovie as an animal lover is another reason to adore him more than we already do.
@Anonymous again: I posted before I saw the story and photo about the older Ghera in Ovie's family. Sorry about that.
It sounds like Ovi was probably the kid who always wanted to bring home stray animals to be pets.
Or is it just my imagination?
Anonymous no.2 - those were my first thoughts exactly: as if any more reasons were needed to make you love this guy. Geezy peezy.
German Shepherds are wonderful dogs, Top Drawer choice, though obviously he knows that. She looks 5-6 months old and appears to have some American breed in her (sloping back, narrower hips). I wonder if we'll hear stories come out about Ghera herding Baasha - and maybe all those cats!
@Diane,
If we look like stray animals maybe he'll take us home.
He has one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen in any person, famous or not. I can't find any reason not to <3 him. Seriously.
I wonder when Ovie had time to get the dog when he was in Germany. His parents supposedly stayed in Russia during the WC, so who helped him select her and take care of her while he played hockey? Perhaps his Dad traveled to Germany to help him? I wonder also who takes care of all the animals when Ovie's parents travel to DC to visit him during the NHL season.
German Shepherds hold special almost semi-mythical and legendary status in Russia.
The Germans brought them in numbers during the war and naturally lots of them were left in the country after the war was over. They were hugely popular dogs back then.
There was even a hugely popular tv series (dubbed in Russian – Четыре танкиста и собака) which featured a German Shepherd (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120948/). When Alex was a kid he probably saw it on tv.
They probably have gotten first Ghera when Alex was 10-12 years and obviously growing up he developed a bond with the dog like most kids in this situation will do.
They probably arranged to get a new Ghera some time ago as with all the elite breeds.
I’m not sure if it was pointed out before but there’s some amusing word play here too.
The name of the German Shepherd in Russian is немецкая овчарка (nemetskaya ovcharka -sheepdog) with the word German usually dropped because the war still stays in Russian psyche even now after 65 years it’s over. So the name овчарка (ovcharka - sheepdog) in Russian has the same root as the word овца/овечка (ovtsa/ovechka – sheep/young sheep) and the family name Овечкин (Ovechkin).
So the dog овчарка (ovcharka – German Shepherd - sheepdog) is “shepherding” the” Ovechkin’s herd” :-) Well more like taking care of the family!
That's really interesting VKey!
Thanks for sharing.
@VKey: Thanks from me too for sharing that interesting information about German shepherds.
Isn't it time we get to see some more photos of Ovie with his new doggie? He's sure to be smiling, and I desperately need another Ovie fix very soon! RMNB helped me out big time with some leftover pics from the WC, but I want MORE Ovie! I can't get enough of his smiling face.
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