Am I becoming a fan of hockey? Maybe of DC having ONE winning team?

The Great Ones Get It
By Michael Wilbon

Ted Leonsis recalls the return trip from the NHL awards ceremony last June.

Alex Ovechkin had won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league MVP, the Lester B. Pearson Award as the most outstanding player chosen by the NHL Players Association, the Art Ross Trophy as the league's top point scorer and the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league's top goal scorer. There was so much hardware, it nearly didn't fit on the plane.

As thrilled as Leonsis was that one of his team's players had been so decorated, Leonsis said to Ovechkin: "Do you want to be like Charles Barkley, a great player and a big personality who makes a lot of money and is loved by everybody? Or do you want to be like Michael Jordan and win championships?" Asked after Monday night's Game 2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins if he recalled Ovechkin's response, Leonsis said, "Alex knows that a place in history only comes with winning the Stanley Cup."

Ovechkin's real and more meaningful response to that question has come in recent playoff games, particularly Monday night's three-goal outburst that led the Washington Capitals to a 2-0 series lead over Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby scored all three of the Penguins' goals, but there was a bodaciousness about Ovechkin's performance that right now separates him from every player in the game, including the gifted Crosby.

You can't expect Ovechkin to explain it in his still developing English, but there's something universally understandable about "give me the puck and get the hell out of my way." Or as Leonsis said late Monday night: "Sid is the best white wine the restaurant has to offer. Alex is a Denver Slammer, a shot of tequila in a glass of champagne. You whack the glass so that the fizz is coming up and you just shoot it."

Crosby is a wonderfully skilled player, technically superior.

Ovechkin is a beast. He explodes, like a tornado. Ovechkin is scary. His shot is scary. There's an aggression about him, a barely controlled fury that Crosby, great as he is, doesn't have. Nobody else has it. Watching Ovechkin on Monday night reminded me of watching Bobby Hull play for the Chicago Blackhawks when I was a kid.

He's the fastest, toughest guy with the biggest shot, the fewest teeth.

Every great player wants to win. Ovechkin wants to beat you down.

Continues............