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Washington Capitals' rookie Alex Ovechkin is nearing a record season for first-year NHL players, nearing the leaders in goals, assists and total points. Date published: 4/10/2006
By JOSEPH WHITE
AP SPORTS WRITER WASHINGTON--A few feet behind the Washington Capitals' bench, the NHL's hotshot rookie reaches into the stick rack and pulls out a present from the NHL's other hotshot rookie. "To Sergei, all the best," reads the inscription on the blade. "Sidney Crosby, 87." "It's for my friend," Alex Ovechkin says, cradling the shaft before placing it carefully back into the rack. That makes two sticks Crosby has signed for Ovechkin this season. The first one was for Ovechkin himself, to go along with the ones he's collected from Mario Lemieux, Patrice Bergeron and others. They'll go nicely with Ovechkin's stash of hockey cards, about 1,000 or so he accumulated while growing up in Russia. Yes, Ovechkin is a collector, but lately he has done more giving than receiving. Dozens of fans waited for him outside the team hotel when the Capitals traveled to New York to face the Rangers last month, and he obliged with autographs. Similar scenes have been repeated in the hockey-mad cities up north, especially in Canada. On a recent road trip, Ovechkin was cheered in Montreal and Ottawa, where the fans usually boo anyone not wearing a home uniform. In Ottawa, a fan held a sign that read: "Best team: Senators. Best player: Ovechkin." Move over, Crosby. The Pittsburgh Penguins' rookie might have come into the league with more fanfare, but Alexander the Great is not only closing in on the Calder Trophy, given to the league's top rookie, but he's having a season of historic proportions. The 20-year-old left wing created another buzz this week as he closed in on 50 goals and 100 points, a feat accomplished by only one other rookie--Teemu Selanne, who had a phenomenal 76 goals and 132 points for Winnipeg in 1992-93. "He's exceeded my expectations in his maturity and his hockey sense and grasp of our strategy," said owner Ted Leonsis, whose Capitals drafted Ovechkin No. 1 overall months before the lockout began in 2004. "He has not exceeded my expectations with his athleticism and skills. We're blessed to have been bad and win the lottery in the year we could pick Alexander Ovechkin." Ovechkin already has dibs on the most unbelievable goal of the year, the one in which he flicked his stick while rolling on the ice during a January game against the Phoenix Coyotes coached by Wayne Gretzky.
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