Gustav Nyquist (14) of the Detroit Red Wings is pursued by Andrew Cogliano of the Anaheim Ducks for the puck in the second period in Game Five of the Western Conference Quarter-finals during the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Play-offs at Honda Center in Anaheim, California, yesterday. The Ducks defeated the Red Wings 3-2 in overtime.
NEW YORK: Alex Ovechkin almost has it all but not quite. A multi-millionaire with a mountain of individual awards, his feats on the ice leave no doubt about his greatness as a hockey player.
The rewards and plaudits for his achievements have been flowing for years and the Russian already has the keys to the United States capital, Washington DC, an honour he received in 2008 when he won the first of his two National Hockey League MVP awards.
He is a five-time NHL All-Star and three-time winner of the NHL’s goalscoring title, including this season, and sporting success just seems to follow him everywhere.
His mother won two Olympic gold medals in basketball for the Soviet Union and he is engaged to marry professional tennis player, Maria Kirilenko, who won a bronze medal in doubles at the London Olympics last year.
But for all his personal achievements, there are two glaring omissions from Ovechkin’s CV. Unlike his mother and his fiancee, the 27-year-old has never won an Olympic gold medal, nor the Stanley Cup, hockey’s holy grail.
For now, the Olympics will have to wait, at least until next year when Sochi hosts the Winter Games. The NHL is still negotiating with the IOC about whether it will let its players compete. Ovechkin insists he is going anyway. Winning the Stanley Cup is a more pressing matter.
Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals are through to the play-offs for the sixth season in a row but the road ahead is littered with bumps. After winning their first two games in the Eastern Conference quarter-final with the New York Rangers, the series is suddenly tied at 2-2. AFP
