Alexander Ovechkin - the latest news
(Александр Овечкин - последние известия)
Ru: Александр Овечкин, Sv: Aleksandr Ovetjkin, CS: Alexandr Ovečkin, FI: Aleksandr Ovetškin, FR: Aleksandr Ovetchkine, DE: Alexander Owetschkin
A commercial was filmed outside the Capital One bank at Columbia Pike and Monroe Street. Film crew members outside the Broiler on Columbia Pike (courtesy Johnny K.)
Ovechkin and crew atop a government building above the Judiciary Square Metro station. Yes, the top one is a picture of a picture taken through binocular lens.
Admit it, did Caps choose Eugene Kuznetsov because of your advice? Not at all. I never give any advice to general manager. He knows what to do. I was not even familiar with Kuznetsov before the draft.
Why Capitals are not afraid to choose a Russian player? Is it because of you? Like our players are drawn to Ovechkin? What am I, a guarantee of success? :) It's just simply because Washington likes Europeans. Look who was chosen, Nicklas Backstrom, Semyon Varlamov, Marcus Johansson, Alexander Semin and do not forget about me... It is the policy of the club. That's why we have a more European style of play.
You are winning the shootout contest at the All-Star for five years in a row. Can you win more or you exhausted your fantasy after all? I officially declare via Sovietsky Sport that I am not going to do a shootout contest anymore. More precisely, no shootout contest at the All-Star event. I have won three times and that's enough. I don't like the monotony. Now I'd rather be in accuracy shootout.
The hockey expert Sergey Gimaev thinks that Alexander Ovechkin has too much of increased muscle mass and it affects his scoring effectiveness. I don't agree with Mr. Gimaev. I have the same playing weight as last year. It is around 225-227 pounds (102–103kg) [According to Caps media your official weight at the beginning of the season was 234 pounds! -- tj]. Everything is normal, the dynamics of my game have not changed.
Evgeni Malkin's Dad said in an interview to Sovietsky Sport that the NHLers no longer respect each other. That's why there's an incredible number of "unnecessary" injuries this season. They could skate around Crosby or not hit Malkin so hard around the boards... What do you mean by "respect"? Everyone plays as they can. And this league is famous for it's physical style of hockey. Let's recall how Malkin was injured. He fell awkwardly when he collided with Myers. I don't believe that Buffalo's defenseman was intensionally targeting Malkin's his knees. it was an accident...
According to National Heart, Lung and Blood web site Ovechkin (6'2", 234) had Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30.0 when he reported to the training camp this season. If he is 227 now, his BMI is 29.1.
BMI Categories:
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
This is obviously a bit different for athletes, especially if they don't have any fat, but nevertheless... :-)
Highly trained athletes and bodybuilders have a high BMI because of increased musculature but generally low levels of body fatness. Bone minerals, body water and other fat-free mass also determine weight levels.
Feb. 21, 2011: Caps beat Pens 1:0 in their last game vs each other this season... It is becoming a habit, you kind of expect Caps to beat Pens, don't you?
Ovi's goal (h/t to Emily)
Marcus Johansson should be #1 Caps center for now and Neuvy should be a #1 goalie. With arrival of Kuznetsov Backstrom might drop to a third line center, can it happen?
washcaps: Matt 'Da Man' Bradley, Neuvirth, Ovechkin, Knuble talk after the win in Pittsburgh
It's a Hockey Day in America and Todd Bertuzzi was just interviewed on NBC after scoring a game winner for the Red Wings in his 1000th career game. He thanks his parents, rightfully so, but it is all was made possible by Andrei Nikolishin, who saved Steve Moore's life and yes, Bertuzzi's career, almost seven years ago.
Dmitri Yushkevich told us how he unknowingly went against an enforcer and the fight ended in two seconds. Have you ever made a mistake like that? When we left for the NHL, we didn't know anyone. Who's the enforcer? Who's the scorer? If you'd run into a tough guy, it was only a half of a bad luck. If a tough guy was sinistral, you couldn't do anything against such guy. And you were serviced in full from them.
You too? God had mercy. But I was involved in the fights.
What was the one you remember the most? Oh, man, I'll tell you. It was 1994 in my first NHL season. It was an exhibition game, we dropped the gloves, started grappling, had a couple of punches and fell on ice. When we fell, I was on top. I got to the bench and everybody congratulated me, "Well done, good start!" And the oldest player on the team Brad McCrimmon, nicknamed the Beast, slapped me on the shoulder and said, "When you fall, try to elbow him in the eye, so that he won't return to the ice."
Another memorable one was my debut for Hartford, we played with the Buffalo. The background to this was that it was the same game that ended last season. After that game Hartford was celebrating with the river of alcohol. Everyone got drunk so much that after that coach Paul Holmgren was forcibly treated for alcoholism for a month.
The start is mesmerizing. So we are in Buffalo and Holmgren is on the bench. Someone from Buffalo skates by and says, "Hey, alcoholic...". And Holmgren was himself a fighter of the highest category. He hears this, gives the command "Fass"[Russian/German command for attack for a dog -- tj], and something beyond starts. The first line change and we have five on five fight. The second change, the same thing. The game was finishing with seven players on one side and seven on another. All others got game misconducts before the end of the game. The penalty boxes were crowded. I've never seen anything like that again.
Did the former fighter use his hands in a locker room? He could hit you in the head. After the defeats Holmgren was raging, the trash bins, sticks were flying throughout the locker room.
Ron Wilson in Washington did not keep you too bored either. Yeah, he was eccentric sometimes. Once he declared during the training, "Russia did not support the American attack on Iraq, so Nikolishin and Gonchar will skate two more loops!" Another time we played against New Jersey some funny stuff happened. In our zone someone knocked out my stick. I skated to the bench, and the puck bounced to me. Without any thinking I grabbed it and threw it towards New Jersey goals. Got two penalty minutes and New Jersey scored. But Caps still won 3:1. The next day Wilson has put the team in the center of the ice and gave everyone the puck in hand, "Let's find out who will throw the puck further..."
Chris Simon made a huge impression on us after just two hours of conversation. And you played with him for years... Six years on the same line! We were traded by Washington to Chicago together. I was struck by how different Simon was in life and on the ice. Calm, balanced, thoughtful and once on the ice, furious and unpredictable. You could expect any kind of mean play from him.
For example? Although it is believed that you must win at any cost, I hate dirty hockey, boarding, the hooks, sucker punches, diving... it is disgusting! We had a fighter Kevin Kaminski. He did notches with a knife on his helmet, so that another tough guy would smash his hands to the bone. In my opinion it was vile too.
What do you think about Nazarov's revelations that in the NHL almost everyone uses anabolics? It is a complete nonsense. We were always repeatedly tested. In U.S. steroids are mostly used in American football. And in the NHL it was somewhat relevant in the first half of the 90's. The tighter control was introduced by the NHL from the day when the NHL players started to participate in the Olympics. The hockey players were tested by NHLPA and the League.
Do you have anything left in America? I have friends. And this is most important thing.
When you sleep, do you see your Washington house in a dream? I am pleased when I recall it, but it's all behind. The last time I was in Washington a year ago, and specifically went to look from afar at my house. We planted nearly a hundred trees in the garden. It was interesting, have they taken roots?
What did you see? They were awesome! Eight yards tall!
What about your correspondence with Bill Clinton? Oh come on, it was just one letter. Got to find it, it's somewhere in the house. Sergei Gonchar had a friend, Ron Partimor, who worked in security service. Thanks to him we often visited the White House. We could go where wanted, Oval Office or to the roof. Prior to 9/11 it was possible. It was before Christmas, my and Gonchar's parents went to the White House tour. All of a sudden they meet Clinton in a T-shirt who comes to them and shakes hands with everyone. My father in law was already in the state of prostration when Clinton asked him something.
Did he answer? He didn't know a word in English and stood silent. Clinton waited, waited and walked away. I had some dolls (matryoshkas) at home, so I handed them over to Clinton via Ron. "Here," I said, "give it to the president, and please say thank you for a walk in the White House." Soon I received a letter from Clinton with gratitude, and with his autograph...
Someone who was at a reception in the Kremlin, was struck down by unusual and unbelievable toilets. What surprised you in the White House? Incredible simplicity. I can not imagine in my wildest dream that I can easily wander into the Kremlin, walk past the office of the president. And the White House I even looked into the kitchen: Yeah, that here? Then the room where they make fresh flower bouquets. I stood up at small stand where the president holds a press conference. I even felt weird of such freedom. Then it struck to me: in America anything is possible.
If your father, a miner, lived through the rubble in the mines, your grandfather survived two plane crashes? Are you talking about Fred? Oh, it's a terrific story. My ancestors are from Ukraine and after the revolution the brother of my grandfather went to serve in the Polish army. From there he ended up in the Canadian army. During the war his plane went down twice and from both crashes he was the only survivor. Then he settled in Edmonton. I have a ton of relatives there. In 1978 Fred got visa and flew for the first time to Russia. I still have that polaroid photo from that time, Fred and me, as a kid. But after he left the connection was broken again. When I arrived in America, first thing I did, went through the phone book. Found nine people with the Nikolishin name. I called all of them and they all were my relatives!
And what about Fred? He was still alive! He knocked 95. I visited him in Edmonton, we talked very warmly. A year later he died. Fred bequeathed to his children to visit his homeland. The younger of his two sons came to Moscow four years ago when there was the world hockey championship. He lived with us a whole month. We went to watch hockey, to the Victory parade on May 9th and Canadian Nikolishin was ecstatic.
Andrei Nikolishin's father in the Stalin's era was arrested and sentenced to labor camps. He was deported from Ukraine to Vorkuta, above Arctic circle, where he worked at the mine and for 25 years had no right to leave Vorkuta. He never told about this to his son when Andrei was young, because he was afraid it could harm his future career.
washcaps: Ovechkin, Johansson and Bradley talk about the game
Ovi: I think we played a good game, but we lost it...
Johansson: We lost, but this game was better than the last game...
Bradley: Overall it was the decent game...
Yeah, after Bradley scored, Caps had a few very good stretches, but Phoenix matched all their efforts.
I do believe that switching to a new system will benefit Caps in playoffs, but it could happen that they might not make it. Hard to believe, but it happened in playoffs when they were eliminated by Habs. Remember what Boudreau said almost jokingly back than? "We can be out of playoffs next Wednesday..." and they were...
Just in, breaking news from our field reporter Emily:
Ovi:
Some say it's a bad omen, you can't shave before important games. A good excuse for a hockey player with a sensitive skin. But now I have Gillette Fusion Proglide Power Razor, blah, blah... :-) So now I have Gillette and no "примет" (pree-met) (no omens)
Sportbox.ru and Gillette, the world leader in shaving and grooming for men, invite you to participate in the new project:
Starting on February 14th to February 24th you can submit a question to Washington Capitals and team Russia's forward Alexander Ovechkin.
Alexander the Great will answer to the most interesting questions during this period and at the end of will answer the rest of the question over video conference.
Starts @01:10.
Don't know who asked the question, but in the question he said, "Alex said today that he feels fresher, lighter (though he has the same weight), than in February of last year."
ARLINGTON, Va. -- There's a reason Alex Ovechkin says he feels fresher and lighter heading into the stretch run of this season compared to last season. It might be due to a conscious decision he made in the fall.
Ovechkin wouldn't come out and say it directly, but he hinted after Monday's practice that he made sure to keep some energy in his tank for the post All-Star break drive to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That's not to say he wasn't playing hard and trying to be his best in the first 50 games of the season, but Ovechkin is consciously aware of what's important for him and the Capitals now that he's deep into his sixth NHL season.
It's no longer about personal statistics and individual awards.
"Of course I want to be on top, and of course I want to do my best, but the most important thing is to be in the playoffs and do what Chicago did when they won the Stanley Cup," Ovechkin told NHL.com.
Ovechkin said his weight hasn't changed, but he feels lighter and thinks it's translating into better shifts and more scoring chances. He doesn't believe it has anything to do with the new trainer he used this past summer.
"My conditioning is good getting closer to the playoffs and that's the most important thing," Ovechkin said. "That's where I want to be right now, in this kind of situation, what I'm feeling right now, how I feel right now."
Mike Green didn't return after being hit to the side of his head with the blood pouring all over to the ice, Mike Knuble's face looked like the one of the UFC fighters, Steckel dropped the gloves with Tim Wallace and Ovechkin was kneed in the waning minutes of the game by, who else, Matt Cooke.
Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals rough it up with Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Verizon Center on February 6, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images via Yahoo). Caps won 3:0.
Sounds like a war report? In reality the game had less excitement than the game last Friday, vs. Tampa Bay, but it meant a lot to Capitals. Long gone the domination of Pens over Caps, now it is totally opposite, and it doesn't matter if the game means anything or not, one thing is for sure, the loss stings either team for a long time.
washcaps: POST VIDEO: Ovi on Cooke; Green on Ear; Neuvy on "Shaky"; Laich on Pens
Ovi on used to be buddies with Cooke: "This is how he plays, it's his game. You don't have friends on the ice." Laich sez Caps played 1-2-2, Neuvy reminds me Visigoth's kid from Capital One commercial. :-)
Coach Bruce Boudreau didn't mince words when asked about the hit in his postgame press conference.
"It was Matt Cooke. Need we say more? It's not like it's his first rodeo," Boudreau said. "He's done it to everybody and then he goes to the ref and says: 'What did I do?' He knows damn well what he did. There's no doubt in my mind that he's good at it and he knows how to do it. He knows how to pick this stuff. We as a league we still buy into this that oh it was an accidental thing."
Nate Ewell, the current vice president of communications for the Washington Capitals, has accepted an offer to become the new director of communications for College Hockey, Inc.
“We are extremely pleased to have Nate Ewell join the staff of College Hockey, Inc.,” said executive director Paul Kelly in a statement. “He is highly respected within the hockey world, both at the professional and college levels. His energy, experience and creativity will certainly help to further our ability to promote and market college hockey, and attract the top players from the U.S. and Canada to enroll at one of our many great schools and become part of the outstanding hockey programs that make up NCAA Division I men’s hockey.”
A 1996 graduate of Princeton, where he was the sports editor of the campus newspaper, Ewell went on to become the assistant sports information director at Michigan State and served as the principal media contact for the men’s hockey program while at MSU.
washcaps: WATCH: Saturday Practice: Ovi, Knuble, Bruce , Beagle on Pittsburgh and more
Jay Beagle: "[Matt] Cooke already guaranteed their [Penguins] win."
Today Dan Bylsma revealed that Malkin has a torn MCL and torn ACL in the right knee, he’ll need surgery and he’ll miss the rest of the season. Can he come back late in playoffs? It's doubtful.
Let's see now. I've said many times that Pens won the Cup because Malkin, not Crosby, was the playoff's MVP. I can guarantee that Crosby and Pens will never get a chance at the Cup while Malkin is gone, just like Crosby could never win Olympic gold if half of his team was from KHL. Life isn't fair. It isn't unfair. It just is.
Caps got so lucky signing Matt Hendricks, he is the best role player for Caps at the level he plays now.
Watch this, Caps couldn't solve Roloson probably ever, and all you needed was to fall on him to knock him off his game. Could this work for Halak or any hot goalie? Probably not for Halak, but for goalies like Roloson or Ed Belfour it would. I'd even include Braden Holtby in this list. Why? He is that type, Evgeny Kuznetsov said that when he scored against him in the training camp, Braden hit him with the stick. Kuznetsov said that he was not surprised because most of the goalies were crazy.
So here's the only weapon that Caps have in their possession right now against hot goalies, it is Matt Hendricks. :-)
If he reached the age of 30 and hadn't made it in the NHL, he was going to play in Europe. Many other players do it. In the right country, the pay and lifestyle are better than what they are in the American Hockey League. He had a family and kids to worry about.
He was 29. Originally drafted in the fifth round in 2000, he stayed in school and played four seasons at St. Cloud State in his native Minnesota. He made stops in the AHL in Milwaukee, Lowell, Rochester, Hershey, Providence and Lake Erie. There also was a stint in the ECHL with Florida during the NHL work stoppage in 2004-05.
All of that can get to be too much for a hockey player, even if he's chasing the dream.
"I had to start looking towards financial support, things of that nature," Hendricks said. "But I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by great players, coaches and teachers who believed in me and kept pushing me, and I'm happy I stayed the course."
As fate would have it, 29 proved to be the magic number. This season he has been a regular with Washington, which is attempting to transition from an offensive-first mentality to more of a two-way game.
Hendricks is hoping that his career in the NHL lasts longer than that.
"It's a credit to him," Hannan said. "He's battled, he's worked hard his whole career. It's good when you see guys like that get a chance and he's really taken it upon himself. … He does what it takes. He's constantly talking about the little things you have to do to win games. You always hear about it, he's one of those guys who does it every game."
Hockey Fights gives slight edge to Downie, I'd say it's a draw. I was surprised though how well Downie did, I thought Matt would destroy him this time.
Matt Hendricks' classic from HBO 24/7:
It comes down to I want a job, I want a career.
I had a good year last year, but I spent most of it in the minors.
I had to figure out a way to make the opening night rosters. A good friend of mine said, "you gotta fight. If you don’t, someone else will." I kind of stick by that motto now.
Look at Matt @00:32, his smile can tell what a nice guy he is.
Matt Hendricks: "Where are the cigars? Who's got the bubbly?"
At the other end of the ice, Caps winger Matt Hendricks took it upon himself to get under the skin of Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson, who had blanked the Caps in each of his two previous starts against Washington. Less than a minute after Hendricks took a run at Roloson, the Caps solved the veteran goalie and stopped his personal shutout streak against Washington at 135 minutes and 42 seconds.
“Part of my game is obviously going to the net hard,” says Hendricks. “But we’ve got good coaches around here and good scouting reports. They’ve watched him his last few games and he does retaliate. If you get in his crease and if you make contact with him, he’s not a happy camper. I wasn’t trying to end up on top of him; I was trying to make him a little upset.
“It is what it is. I think I got in his head a bit and I think it helped our team.”
As expected, Hendricks was made to answer for his actions. He fought Tampa Bay’s Steve Downie just seconds after exiting the box for his goaltender interference minor.
“It’s all part of the game,” muses Hendricks. “It’s the code, right? Isn’t that what they call it? It’s part of the game and I thought we needed a little boost of energy to get the guys going, try to get in his head a little bit. He had shut us out the last two times and we tried to get him to lose a little bit of focus.”
How could they give a first goal to Backstrom? Did he blow on a puck or something? I looked in slow mo and Ovi made the puck going to the right corner, from initial Nicky's shot it was going to the left corner. (Update: On ESPN video it seems like Backstrom added another shot at the last moment that sent the puck to the right)
When Ovi gets going, Backie joins the rush, not the other way, at least recently.
OK, let's talk about Ovechkin skipping optional morning skates. Are they optional or not? Or maybe they are just called optional to catch Ovechklin skipping them?
It goes in comments section on virtually every post on Capitals Insider:
The BIG GUY didn't see it necessary to skate this morning with the rest of the team
Why make excuses for him. dude is making $123 million.
Ovie never goes to these practices. Guess he is one step above the rest of the team. It's incredible to me that GMGM and BB continue to let the captain of the team take this cavalier attitude.
On and on and on...
It reminds me one of my favorite movies "Office Space" (after Slapshot, of course :) where Joanna was required to wear at minimum 15 pieces of flair.
Stan:What do you think of a person who only does the bare minimum? Joanna:Huh. What do I think? Let me tell you what I think, Stan. If you want me to wear thirty-seven pieces of flair like your pretty boy Brian over there, then why don't you just make the minimum thirty-seven pieces of flair?
Exactly, why don't you make a MANDATORY morning skate?
For those who want Ovi to be on every OPTIONAL morning skate, go ahead and start signing a petition about making the morning skate a mandatory one, send it to GM George McPhee, owner Ted Leonsis and Coach Bruce Boudreau.
Otherwise shut it.
Vintage Ovechkin's goal on this PP
Washington Capitals center Matt Hendricks fights with Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Steve Downie during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Tampa, Fla., Friday, Feb. 4, 2011. Caps won 5:2. Photo AP via Yahoo Sports.
Ladies and Gentlemen, a round of applause to Matt Hendricks.
I truly believe Matt was the guy who knock Dwayne Roloson off his game tonight.
But... "Where are cigars? Where's the bubbly?" :-)
See you Sunday! That would a truly MUST-WIN game :-)
washcaps: Ovechkin, Perreault, Hendricks on the shootout loss
The loss to Habs was so frustrating that I didn't what to post anything yesterday. But I guess if you run blog about Ovechkin, you have to post this (TSN feed):
PK Subban Meets Alexander Ovechkin (February 1, 2011)
Same TSN feed, better quality
According to this tweet by ZOCIALtv it was "5th most tweeted VIDEO in Sports".
PK Subban: "It was as the best hit of the year. He got me good."
How you can't love this kid? Yes, he punched Ovi, but after the face wash, you have to send a message, right?
"He's like the shark in Jaws, circling in the water waiting for blood. They should play that music from the movie – da-duh, da-duh, da-duh - when he's out on a shift. He doesn't just go after loose pucks, he hunts them down."
~John Davidson, President of Hockey Operations for the St. Louis Blues.
Blog o Alexovi, psaný anglicky, je vážně kvalitní a aktuální
Just wanted to thank you for posting my book on your blog, which I consulted a fair bit while researching and writing the book. In particular, the comprehensive list of links on alexovetjkin.blogspot.com is the best library on Ovechkin material available anywhere.
Regards,
Geoffrey Lansdell
"The fan blog Alex Ovetjkin does a fine job of tracking all things OV on a daily basis..."
Stu Hackel, Slap Shot The New York Times hockey blog
"Your work on the Ovechkin and Semin interviews was wonderful, and both are just great reads. Thanks for the time and effort..."
Greg Wyshynski Editor - Puck Daddy, Yahoo! Sports Blogs The Bill Murray Award -- For Outstanding Work From a Bilingual
Nominees: On Frozen Blog, The Alex Ovetjkin Blog
Winner: The Alex Ovetjkin Blog has seriously upped its game over the last twelve months and they continue to be the offseason's premier blog for info on our Russian players. OFB has the connections, but The AO Blog has the heart. Tic Tac Toe Hockey
"If you don’t read “Alex Ovetjkin,” you’re missing out on information on the Caps’ star forward that you probably won’t find in other places." The Peerless Prognosticator
"Alex Ovetjkin: This is a very cool blog, all Alex Ovechkin. If you are a Caps fan it is a good read. If you are a Alex Ovechkin fan, it is a must read. This is one of the best sources to track Ovechkin! Link partner of DCPSR! Rank: * * * * * DC Pro Sports Report
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