How GR8 It Is

By Launy "The" Schwartz

Ten years. That’s how long it’s been since Wayne Gretzky skated effortlessly through opposing players in the NHL. The fans, League, and media have waited a long time for someone great to do the same. And they finally got someone great – who just rips the seams apart.

Enter (or, “Blaze in”) Alexander Ovechkin.

I asked Alex where this unbridled enthusiasm for hockey comes from. “From Russia,” he replied. If his English were better, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he followed up with some James Bond swagger and added, “With Love.”

Alex was born in the enthusiastic Moscow on September 17, 1985. Your humble writer shares the same birthday, just not the same knack for finding the net. Good thing my destiny was to be a goalie. (Unless I was to face Ovechkin.)

According to his official Web site “Ovie” knew his destiny by age two. While at a store with his parents (because two-year-olds never really shop alone), he refused to leave until they bought him the stick and helmet he had held with a death grip. Not far from the type of grasp he holds over the game itself.

While Baby Ovie scored his first equipment, number 99 was amassing hundreds of points. Gretzky had a certain grace to his game. He was a quiet superstar. He spoke when spoken to. He put up the points year over year. “The Great One” set the example and wrote the book on what every young player should be taught. Be quiet and dignified on and off the ice. Do your job when it is your turn. Lace em’ up and make the right plays. Contribute to your team, and in the process rarely ask the trainer for some Tide to clean dirt off the sweater. (Or at least wait ‘til the endorsement deal with the detergent company before doing that.)

Perhaps number eight didn’t have his Russian-English dictionary on hand to translate that book.

When Ovie takes to the ice, it’s like the bull that destroyed the china shop is taking tips for its next path of destruction. Alex the GR8 bowls over his opponents on his way to the net. When he gets an assist, scores a goal, or even when another teammate pops one in, Ovechkin shakes the boards to wake up the hockey world in case it didn’t take notice. He may be soft spoken off the ice, but on that frozen surface his body language is louder than a Motorhead concert.

Here’s the problem. Maybe the NHL isn’t ready for a superstar like Ovie. Players like Jean Beliveau, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and even my all time favourite, Steve Yzerman, were stoic in their greatness. They were quiet, and dominated the game with an obvious yet reserved passion. This is certainly not the case with the man from Moscow. With his desire to crowd surf after anything worth celebrating, to his missing tooth grin, the Great 8 image isn’t what anybody would expect from a former Dynamo Moscow standout.

No one who follows the ballet on ice can deny the inhuman skill level Ovie brings to the game. But there are those who deny the new example Ovie sets, writing a new history (and future) for hockey players. To some old school fans and broadcasters, he just doesn’t fit the traditional mould a player of his talents is supposed to exhibit. They tend to gravitate towards Sidney Crosby who is similar to Gretzky in his demeanor. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but Ovechkin is the icy fresh breath of air the NHL has needed for a long time.

The fact that he doesn’t do interviews with a fake tooth isn’t a sign of disrespect. Any player who puts in the dentures doesn’t fool a soul. It’s a sign of an authentic man, with a genuine smile that glares through the stink that is a hockey dressing room. When he leaps in to the boards or kisses the sky after a goal, it isn’t disrespect for the opposition. It’s a celebration for his fans and teammates enjoying the thrill of the moment.

The League has marketed Sid “The Kid” Crosby as the heir apparent to Wayne Gretzky, and I can’t argue that. Crosby seems to be everything the NHL has looked for over the past ten years. When not chirping, he’s soft spoken. He plays the finesse game. He has all his own teeth. With all due respect to “The Great One”, if the number 99 wasn’t retired throughout the League, Crosby may as well have been tattooed with the number on the back of his sweater (and endorsement deals too).

Alexander Ovechkin, with that toothless grin, a boyish enthusiasm, and the ability to thrill anyone watching the game, reminds me of a player yet to be mentioned, Maurice “The Rocket” Richard. This may not be what the NHL wants in a superstar, but both players deliver(ed) a package that UPS couldn’t handle. A great mix of love and respect for the game – so intense – that the barn itself could barely stay intact.

Maybe to strengthen the sport and keep it in tact, the NHL and old school hockey minds should embrace something new. It is time.

And as Alex told me, “It’s always Ovie Time.”

The Schwartz looks at his watch knowing how GR8 it is to hear that…