Alexander The Great in the house
Alexander Ovechkin is in town tonight and the Washington Capitals star is the hottest thing going in the NHL right now. He's got it all: A $124-million contract extension, 52 goals, a hat trick Monday against the Bruins. Asked after today's pregame skate how he and his team could keep that momentum going, Ovechkin cracked up the media in his broken English when he said, "It would be fun if we scored 10 goals again."
Asked how the Sabres would defend Ovechkin, coach Lindy Ruff couldn't resist cracking off a couple one-liners and getting another shot in at the whiners in Philadelphia griping about Derek Roy's goal last night.
"We're going to put three guys on [Ovechkin]," Ruff said. "Then we're going to watch [Alexander] Semin and then we're going to watch [Mike] Green on defense. So obviously we're going to have too many men on the ice again."
Ovechkin has gotten the exulted boobird treatment here in the past, the kind reserved for stars like Jaromir Jagr and not the jilted anger directed at Danny Briere. (UPDATE: See comments below. I braincramped and forgot about the Briere incident too).
Asked what his message would be in response to the boos tonight, he looked up at his questioner, smiled and said:
"I love it. Thanks, fans."
Here's everybody's favorite Ovechkin goal, scored last year in Phoenix.
---Mike Harrington
