Official 2008/2009 Canucks Thread

[MG1]

Originally Posted by Noir

God I can't believe how much I miss this kind of hockey.

Me too. Can't wait for tonight's game. Aside from that horrible game in Washington, the team is showing up with some fire.

[stuff99]

crap we lost pettinger for nothing

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by shawn79

ugh... i got tix to phx game whats there to watch
jokenin
turris
bodeker
doan

?

Which day is your Phoenix game?
I'm going to the Nov 6 Phoenix game.

[stuff99]

"The Taylor Pyatt Report That Tends to Focus on the Negatives: Well, let's see, he has no goals and one assist in six games; he leads the team in minor penalties, with five for 10 PIM; and of all the Canucks with 10 shots or more (there are nine of them) only Pyatt and Sami Salo have yet to score. Nice eyes though."

From Tony G today in the Province haha

[Renthal]

we lost cooke for nothing

[stuff99]

why does tampa need so many forwards lol

they dont even have ice time for stamkos!

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by hotjoint

If the Canucks were interested, I'd take Gaborik over Sundin. younger, more potential and cheaper. Let see what happens.

Isn't Gaborik hurt right now?

[winson604]

^^
yes he hasn't played the last couple games with a lower body injury

[Renthal]

yes he is injured right now
montreal is showing interest in him
and they wont trade to a division rival

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by Renthal

yes he is injured right now
montreal is showing interest in him
and they wont trade to a division rival

I thought Montreal was at or pretty close to the cap limit?

http://www.nhlnumbers.com/overview.p...TL&season=0809

According to this, they have $235,000 cap space this season.

[stuff99]

Nice Ovechkin story from ESPN:
REGIME CHANGE
What Beltway incompetence? With Commander-in-Chief Alex Ovechkin in charge, the Capitals are ready to put the hockey world on notice: the puck drops here
by Eric Adelson
The Mag: NHL Preview Photo Shoot

[Ed's note: Want to see video from the Washington Capitals fantasy camp? Go here.]

Standing at the podium, he smiles while waving at the masses gathered on the century-old steps beneath him.

"Thank you," he yells to the mob. "Thank you for your support." He looks across Pennsylvania Avenue to those chanting his name and notices that passengers on a sightseeing bus are craning for a glimpse. He's surrounded by Washington dignitaries—current mayor Adrian Fenty and former mayor Marion Barry among them—and framed from behind by a government building and men in dark sunglasses. Finally the cheers die down, and the new leader speaks:

"Today I am president, so there is no speed limit!"

The crowd roars with laughter as Alex Ovechkin grins. No, this isn't a frigid January Inauguration Day on the Capitol steps, just a key-to-the-city event on a steamy June afternoon at the Wilson Building a few blocks away. No, Ovechkin isn't a politician or an elected official or even an American citizen. He's just a 23-year-old hockey player from Moscow.

Not that he doesn't have political cred.

In the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt, Ovechkin is a maverick brought to DC to reform and rebuild. À la LBJ and Reagan, he has a glint in his eye and an ability to make friends and disarm enemies. And like Washington and Lincoln, his presence brings calm reassurance. Ovechkin has been in town less than four seasons, yet he has the entire Beltway buzzing. Obama and McCain can only hope to change Washington the way Ovechkin has. His 65 goals last season helped transform the Capitals from backbenchers to playoff-caliber power players. And good luck to the next POTUS in his search to find a cabinet as talented as No. 8's supporting cast.

Like the timetable facing any new administration, the first 100 days of the NHL season will test Ovechkin's regime. Momentum from last season's furious final run means nothing. Pittsburgh has a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in its rearview mirror; Detroit returns everyone and adds prolific scorer Marian Hossa; division rival Tampa Bay has Barry Melrose's mullet behind the bench. And, let's face it, the Caps are young and still not known for their defense department. But even as Americans decide whom to elect president, this red-white-and-blue-draped Russian will begin delivering on his own campaign promises—and on memorable presidential oratory from past and present.

Solutions are sometimes inspired by the darkest times: the Civil War, the Great Depression, the NHL lockout. The Caps finished with twice as many losses as wins in 2003-04, cutting ties with Jaromir Jagr, the biggest free agent bust in franchise history. "I had to face facts," says owner Ted Leonsis. "The only way to get really, really good was to get really, really bad."

Ovechkin, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 draft, became Leonsis' last, best hope. "Every great team has a major player," the owner says. "If it's the wrong guy, bang, you're dead." But Leonsis already had a feeling about Ovechkin. When the team sent him his first contract, he refused to sign it and mail it back. He wanted to ink the deal in the presence of GM George McPhee so he could shake his hand and thank him. Less than three years later, the Caps won the Southeast. What did Ovechkin do to reform Washington? Scoring 163 goals in three seasons helped. So did his infectious spirit, which energized the franchise.

Phil Mucci
How does a Russian become President?

Ovechkin will answer the phone at 3 a.m.—it's called accountability. "He's the first guy at the computer after the game, wanting to see his shifts," says coach Bruce Boudreau. "He wants to think about the game. If he doesn't understand something, he makes sure he gets it right."

Ovechkin has so much energy he's practically radioactive. On the ice, he moves from zone to zone so quickly that linemates struggle to keep up. In the locker room, he darts around like a horsefly. After the Caps won the Southeast last season, Ovechkin pulled a freshly printed championship T-shirt over his dress shirt and announced he was going out on the town. D-man Mike Green shot him a no-way-I'm-going-out-like-that look but joined the party after forwards Alexander Semin and Sergei Fedorov copied Ovie. "He's full of life," says Caps captain Chris Clark. "Gets everybody going, jumping around. We ask how he does it, and he says, 'I don't know what I do, I just do!'" In Ovechkin, the Caps have a leader who is ready to roll up his sleeves, a star who is still a working stiff.

Every leader needs a populist strain—a little something to remind followers that he's not that different from the common man. Witness Ovie's goal celebrations. He checks himself into the glass and bounces around like a bumper bowler who has just rolled a four-carom strike. "Half the time he ends up knocking somebody over," says forward Brooks Laich. "Sometimes you get scared." Ovechkin could carry himself like some hockier-than-thou arugula-eater, but when he was asked for an autograph by a fan named Phil, he signed it "To Fill." Sure he loves Dolce & Gabbana, but, says Laich, "he has this pair of sweatpants-jeans combination, and you'd swear some bum in an alley sewed 'em together. His hair is a mirror of his personality. He even lost a tooth, and he doesn't care about that. He doesn't care that he's not the most marketable player. He sells the game with how he plays it." True that. His goals make him a YouTube staple (an homage set to Aerosmith's "Dream On" is a classic), but his zest for life makes him a perfect fit for Wonkette. And how can you not love a guy who gives out all but two cell-phone digits during a contest, offering a date to the first woman who calls the right number?

Ovechkin's transformation of Washington has been remarkable because DC puckheads are not accustomed to voting with their wallets. "Let's be honest," says Caps legend Peter Bondra. "Washington is not Hockeytown." No wonder: When it first joined the league in 1974-75, it finished 8—67—5 with a 1—39 road record. Rod Langway, one of only four Caps Hall of Famers, arrived in 1982 from Montreal, where, he says, "18,000 people knew my entire life." In DC, he adds, "it took two years for people to know me."

Now, a Russian has turned the Verizon Center into a hockey mecca. During the playoffs, media from as far away as Edmonton and Europe were regulars at morning skates. Ovechkin has even reached across the sports aisle to appeal to the bases of other teams. "Alex has the confidence of the fans and the city," says Hoyas hoops coach John Thompson III. "He has enthusiasm and cares about what he's doing. He's gonna make us win games." Note the use of the word us. The Caps have Capitalized on Ovechkin's dedication to a Washington rarity: trust.

Every leader needs a climactic story point that illustrates his character. For John McCain, it's his time in a POW camp; for Barack Obama, it's his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. For Ovechkin, it's a game in Pittsburgh last season when he took a skate to the leg and left the Igloo with a six-inch gash. None of the Caps would have blamed him for returning to DC to heal, but Ovechkin traveled with the team to Ottawa and played two nights later, scoring four goals and an assist in an 8-6 win. "Every time he moved, the stitches opened," says Boudreau. "And he played through it." Fans may remember the ass-over-teakettle goal he netted in a 6-1 win over Phoenix in 2006, but Caps officials cherish that cold night in Ottawa when their leader proved he could be counted on when needed most.

Time and again, Ovechkin has proved he is at his best during a crisis. On Thanksgiving Day last season, the Caps fired coach Glen Hanlon and promoted Boudreau. The ex-Slap Shot extra told the team he considered them playoff- worthy, and Ovie backed him up. That support inspired young players like Green (18 goals, tops among D's) to take chances and move the puck. The league's fourth-overall pick, Nicklas Backstrom, finally started playing like one (ending his rookie year with 69 points), and Laich turned hot and finished with 21 goals. "It was good for us to hold tight and keep with the game plan," says Clark.

CHANGE IS COMING IN WASHINGTON THIS FALL.

The team finished the regular season with seven straight wins (and seven straight sellouts)—a.k.a. The Surge—to complete a worst-to-first run. The Caps then pushed the Flyers to seven games before bowing out in the first round of the playoffs. "We finally got some fans into the building," says Laich. "The Verizon Center was the loudest arena I've ever played in." How loud? Fedorov broke his stick in Game 1's 5-4 win, but didn't even hear it snap. "Where else would the No. 1 superpower be a Russian and embraced?" says Leonsis. "It's a new world! New rules!"

No, he's not American. But in a way, that makes Ovechkin's leadership qualities unique. His mother, Tatiana, also wore No. 8 and won Olympic gold as a point guard for the Soviet Union in 1976 and 1980. She raised her youngest to be aware of everyone on the ice. The concept was reinforced by coaches from the Soviet hockey program, who taught players to think of themselves as part of a five-man unit. "It's a lot of passing, skating, creating space," says former Red Wings great Igor Larionov. "There's no way one guy is going to carry the team. You have to have a core of players."

Ovechkin brought that style to America, taking command of the game when necessary but cheering just as loudly for a teammate's blocked shot as for a goal. Before a shootout in Pittsburgh in January, Ovechkin gave teammate Quintin Laing a high-five for critical late-game blocks, then picked up the puck and scored. Ovechkin also calls Caps brass repeatedly during the summer to make sure contract negotiations with teammates and free agents move quickly. And for good measure, he has decorated his BMW M6 with a Caps flag. Ovechkin may have a Soviet background, but he's developed an appealing American backstory.

Not many Washington outsiders have turned victory into influence as quickly and completely as Ovechkin. After he collected his four trophies for the 2007-08 season—Hart (the team's first league MVP), Lester B. Pearson (the players' MVP), Maurice Richard (most goals) and Art Ross (most points)—Ovechkin told Leonsis he would trade all four for one Cup. That's managing up. And for the first time this American century, a DC Cup run sounds feasible.

"We think we can be good," says Laich. "We aren't afraid of anybody. We're very curious to see how good we can be." Ovechkin already knows: "Washington can do the same as Pittsburgh, except we'll win the Cup." Even Detroit coach Mike Babcock is convinced, telling Leonsis, "No one wants to play you guys." You know change has come when enemies are believers.

We even have a sneak preview of how Ovie might celebrate. Back in June, he took his league hardware along with the accolades and went directly from the awards stage in Toronto to the nearest McDonald's drive-through, where he ordered $60 worth of Big Macs for his entourage.

It doesn't get any more American than that.

[AzNightmare]

I would want Gaborik over Sundin. Because I know Sundin's not coming here. And after all this, I don't even wnat him here. We don't need any players with no passion for the game here.

Feels like Vancouver hasn't seen any explosive scorer since the Bure days. I think Gaborik would fit in with the new speedy Canucks team.

Gaborik's a bit pricey for a guy with a history of injuries...
He will easily get more points than per game though. Which is a big task considering he was from a trapping Wild team. Gaborik may consider Canucks only because of Demitra, but like everyone said, no way Wild will trade to division rival. They would be asking for both Sedins for Gaborik, or Luongo, or something like that. No deal will happen.

[Noir]

Originally Posted by stuff99

Nice Ovechkin story from ESPN:
REGIME CHANGE
What Beltway incompetence? With Commander-in-Chief Alex Ovechkin in charge, the Capitals are ready to put the hockey world on notice: the puck drops here
by Eric Adelson
The Mag: NHL Preview Photo Shoot

[Ed's note: Want to see video from the Washington Capitals fantasy camp? Go here.]

Standing at the podium, he smiles while waving at the masses gathered on the century-old steps beneath him.

"Thank you," he yells to the mob. "Thank you for your support." He looks across Pennsylvania Avenue to those chanting his name and notices that passengers on a sightseeing bus are craning for a glimpse. He's surrounded by Washington dignitaries—current mayor Adrian Fenty and former mayor Marion Barry among them—and framed from behind by a government building and men in dark sunglasses. Finally the cheers die down, and the new leader speaks:

"Today I am president, so there is no speed limit!"

The crowd roars with laughter as Alex Ovechkin grins. No, this isn't a frigid January Inauguration Day on the Capitol steps, just a key-to-the-city event on a steamy June afternoon at the Wilson Building a few blocks away. No, Ovechkin isn't a politician or an elected official or even an American citizen. He's just a 23-year-old hockey player from Moscow.

Not that he doesn't have political cred.

In the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt, Ovechkin is a maverick brought to DC to reform and rebuild. À la LBJ and Reagan, he has a glint in his eye and an ability to make friends and disarm enemies. And like Washington and Lincoln, his presence brings calm reassurance. Ovechkin has been in town less than four seasons, yet he has the entire Beltway buzzing. Obama and McCain can only hope to change Washington the way Ovechkin has. His 65 goals last season helped transform the Capitals from backbenchers to playoff-caliber power players. And good luck to the next POTUS in his search to find a cabinet as talented as No. 8's supporting cast.

Like the timetable facing any new administration, the first 100 days of the NHL season will test Ovechkin's regime. Momentum from last season's furious final run means nothing. Pittsburgh has a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in its rearview mirror; Detroit returns everyone and adds prolific scorer Marian Hossa; division rival Tampa Bay has Barry Melrose's mullet behind the bench. And, let's face it, the Caps are young and still not known for their defense department. But even as Americans decide whom to elect president, this red-white-and-blue-draped Russian will begin delivering on his own campaign promises—and on memorable presidential oratory from past and present.

Solutions are sometimes inspired by the darkest times: the Civil War, the Great Depression, the NHL lockout. The Caps finished with twice as many losses as wins in 2003-04, cutting ties with Jaromir Jagr, the biggest free agent bust in franchise history. "I had to face facts," says owner Ted Leonsis. "The only way to get really, really good was to get really, really bad."

Ovechkin, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 draft, became Leonsis' last, best hope. "Every great team has a major player," the owner says. "If it's the wrong guy, bang, you're dead." But Leonsis already had a feeling about Ovechkin. When the team sent him his first contract, he refused to sign it and mail it back. He wanted to ink the deal in the presence of GM George McPhee so he could shake his hand and thank him. Less than three years later, the Caps won the Southeast. What did Ovechkin do to reform Washington? Scoring 163 goals in three seasons helped. So did his infectious spirit, which energized the franchise.

Phil Mucci
How does a Russian become President?

Ovechkin will answer the phone at 3 a.m.—it's called accountability. "He's the first guy at the computer after the game, wanting to see his shifts," says coach Bruce Boudreau. "He wants to think about the game. If he doesn't understand something, he makes sure he gets it right."

Ovechkin has so much energy he's practically radioactive. On the ice, he moves from zone to zone so quickly that linemates struggle to keep up. In the locker room, he darts around like a horsefly. After the Caps won the Southeast last season, Ovechkin pulled a freshly printed championship T-shirt over his dress shirt and announced he was going out on the town. D-man Mike Green shot him a no-way-I'm-going-out-like-that look but joined the party after forwards Alexander Semin and Sergei Fedorov copied Ovie. "He's full of life," says Caps captain Chris Clark. "Gets everybody going, jumping around. We ask how he does it, and he says, 'I don't know what I do, I just do!'" In Ovechkin, the Caps have a leader who is ready to roll up his sleeves, a star who is still a working stiff.

Every leader needs a populist strain—a little something to remind followers that he's not that different from the common man. Witness Ovie's goal celebrations. He checks himself into the glass and bounces around like a bumper bowler who has just rolled a four-carom strike. "Half the time he ends up knocking somebody over," says forward Brooks Laich. "Sometimes you get scared." Ovechkin could carry himself like some hockier-than-thou arugula-eater, but when he was asked for an autograph by a fan named Phil, he signed it "To Fill." Sure he loves Dolce & Gabbana, but, says Laich, "he has this pair of sweatpants-jeans combination, and you'd swear some bum in an alley sewed 'em together. His hair is a mirror of his personality. He even lost a tooth, and he doesn't care about that. He doesn't care that he's not the most marketable player. He sells the game with how he plays it." True that. His goals make him a YouTube staple (an homage set to Aerosmith's "Dream On" is a classic), but his zest for life makes him a perfect fit for Wonkette. And how can you not love a guy who gives out all but two cell-phone digits during a contest, offering a date to the first woman who calls the right number?

Ovechkin's transformation of Washington has been remarkable because DC puckheads are not accustomed to voting with their wallets. "Let's be honest," says Caps legend Peter Bondra. "Washington is not Hockeytown." No wonder: When it first joined the league in 1974-75, it finished 8—67—5 with a 1—39 road record. Rod Langway, one of only four Caps Hall of Famers, arrived in 1982 from Montreal, where, he says, "18,000 people knew my entire life." In DC, he adds, "it took two years for people to know me."

Now, a Russian has turned the Verizon Center into a hockey mecca. During the playoffs, media from as far away as Edmonton and Europe were regulars at morning skates. Ovechkin has even reached across the sports aisle to appeal to the bases of other teams. "Alex has the confidence of the fans and the city," says Hoyas hoops coach John Thompson III. "He has enthusiasm and cares about what he's doing. He's gonna make us win games." Note the use of the word us. The Caps have Capitalized on Ovechkin's dedication to a Washington rarity: trust.

Every leader needs a climactic story point that illustrates his character. For John McCain, it's his time in a POW camp; for Barack Obama, it's his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. For Ovechkin, it's a game in Pittsburgh last season when he took a skate to the leg and left the Igloo with a six-inch gash. None of the Caps would have blamed him for returning to DC to heal, but Ovechkin traveled with the team to Ottawa and played two nights later, scoring four goals and an assist in an 8-6 win. "Every time he moved, the stitches opened," says Boudreau. "And he played through it." Fans may remember the ass-over-teakettle goal he netted in a 6-1 win over Phoenix in 2006, but Caps officials cherish that cold night in Ottawa when their leader proved he could be counted on when needed most.

Time and again, Ovechkin has proved he is at his best during a crisis. On Thanksgiving Day last season, the Caps fired coach Glen Hanlon and promoted Boudreau. The ex-Slap Shot extra told the team he considered them playoff- worthy, and Ovie backed him up. That support inspired young players like Green (18 goals, tops among D's) to take chances and move the puck. The league's fourth-overall pick, Nicklas Backstrom, finally started playing like one (ending his rookie year with 69 points), and Laich turned hot and finished with 21 goals. "It was good for us to hold tight and keep with the game plan," says Clark.

CHANGE IS COMING IN WASHINGTON THIS FALL.

The team finished the regular season with seven straight wins (and seven straight sellouts)—a.k.a. The Surge—to complete a worst-to-first run. The Caps then pushed the Flyers to seven games before bowing out in the first round of the playoffs. "We finally got some fans into the building," says Laich. "The Verizon Center was the loudest arena I've ever played in." How loud? Fedorov broke his stick in Game 1's 5-4 win, but didn't even hear it snap. "Where else would the No. 1 superpower be a Russian and embraced?" says Leonsis. "It's a new world! New rules!"

No, he's not American. But in a way, that makes Ovechkin's leadership qualities unique. His mother, Tatiana, also wore No. 8 and won Olympic gold as a point guard for the Soviet Union in 1976 and 1980. She raised her youngest to be aware of everyone on the ice. The concept was reinforced by coaches from the Soviet hockey program, who taught players to think of themselves as part of a five-man unit. "It's a lot of passing, skating, creating space," says former Red Wings great Igor Larionov. "There's no way one guy is going to carry the team. You have to have a core of players."

Ovechkin brought that style to America, taking command of the game when necessary but cheering just as loudly for a teammate's blocked shot as for a goal. Before a shootout in Pittsburgh in January, Ovechkin gave teammate Quintin Laing a high-five for critical late-game blocks, then picked up the puck and scored. Ovechkin also calls Caps brass repeatedly during the summer to make sure contract negotiations with teammates and free agents move quickly. And for good measure, he has decorated his BMW M6 with a Caps flag. Ovechkin may have a Soviet background, but he's developed an appealing American backstory.

Not many Washington outsiders have turned victory into influence as quickly and completely as Ovechkin. After he collected his four trophies for the 2007-08 season—Hart (the team's first league MVP), Lester B. Pearson (the players' MVP), Maurice Richard (most goals) and Art Ross (most points)—Ovechkin told Leonsis he would trade all four for one Cup. That's managing up. And for the first time this American century, a DC Cup run sounds feasible.

"We think we can be good," says Laich. "We aren't afraid of anybody. We're very curious to see how good we can be." Ovechkin already knows: "Washington can do the same as Pittsburgh, except we'll win the Cup." Even Detroit coach Mike Babcock is convinced, telling Leonsis, "No one wants to play you guys." You know change has come when enemies are believers.

We even have a sneak preview of how Ovie might celebrate. Back in June, he took his league hardware along with the accolades and went directly from the awards stage in Toronto to the nearest McDonald's drive-through, where he ordered $60 worth of Big Macs for his entourage.

It doesn't get any more American than that.

It's funny that 2 years ago I got bashed hard for liking Ovie over Crosby during the great Ovie vs. Crosby era. Now all those people are like "Sidney who?"

[mickz]

BCLC Vancouver Canucks Autograph Signing!
Metrotown Mall, Atrium Court

* Friday, October 24th, 2008

Scratch & Win and JACK FM presents a Vancouver Canucks autograph signing @ Atrium Court inside Metrotown Mall on Friday, October 24th at 3:30 p.m.

Come down to see Taylor Pyatt and Alex Edler, who will be signing autographs for 1 hour between 3:30 and 4:30 pm. Plus, enter your $3 Canucks Scratch & Win ticket into a draw for your chance to win a Canucks prize pack!

I was listening to Jack this morning and they announced this. Pyatt and Edler aren't my favorite players so I won't bother going. Not to mention Metrotown will be PACKED at that time.

[b0unce. [?]]

i think just like forsberg, gabby will be able to get a ton of points when he does play.

[68style]

Originally Posted by mickz

I was listening to Jack this morning and they announced this. Pyatt and Edler aren't my favorite players so I won't bother going. Not to mention Metrotown will be PACKED at that time.

I remember when I went to the Bieksa signing last year at the Canucks Store in GM Place that people in the lineup were complaining they went to the Pyatt signing a few weeks beforehand and he never showed up and they got some no name to show up in his place.

I can't imagine anyone will be super kind to him these days LOL... although it will be 95% screaming little girls. Pedobear would do well to visit this event.

[hi5-ive]

called up wellwood and krog.

[AzNightmare]

At this point, I think the only autographs anyone really cares about is Burrows right now.

[carisear]

man gaborik is to be feared everytime he has the puck -- i would *LOVE* him on our team. AND it's rumoured he's interested in playing with his old buddy pavol ... we'd be Minny v2.0 :P

[MG1]

Originally Posted by AzNightmare

At this point, I think the only autographs anyone really cares about is Burrows right now.

Good thing my daughter got one last year and a few pics with him giving her a hand shake and a weird kind of shoulder hug? Got Henrik Sedin's, and of all people, AV. LOL.

Hopefully Pyatt doesn't show up and someone unannounced shows up in his place.

[punkwax]

Originally Posted by the_rickster

if all you needed was ONE great skill to make it into the nhl, there'd be a ton of 35 year old beer leaguers playing on the back end and making $800,000+ a year.


for one day, i would love to see people like you strap on the gear and have a skate with even the WORST nhler just to see how incredibly talented they are.

People like me aren't vying for a spot on an NHL team.

Great argument though!

[HonestTea]

Originally Posted by stuff99

Nice Ovechkin story from ESPN:
REGIME CHANGE
What Beltway incompetence? With Commander-in-Chief Alex Ovechkin in charge, the Capitals are ready to put the hockey world on notice: the puck drops here
by Eric Adelson
The Mag: NHL Preview Photo Shoot

[Ed's note: Want to see video from the Washington Capitals fantasy camp? Go here.]

Standing at the podium, he smiles while waving at the masses gathered on the century-old steps beneath him.

"Thank you," he yells to the mob. "Thank you for your support." He looks across Pennsylvania Avenue to those chanting his name and notices that passengers on a sightseeing bus are craning for a glimpse. He's surrounded by Washington dignitaries—current mayor Adrian Fenty and former mayor Marion Barry among them—and framed from behind by a government building and men in dark sunglasses. Finally the cheers die down, and the new leader speaks:

"Today I am president, so there is no speed limit!"

The crowd roars with laughter as Alex Ovechkin grins. No, this isn't a frigid January Inauguration Day on the Capitol steps, just a key-to-the-city event on a steamy June afternoon at the Wilson Building a few blocks away. No, Ovechkin isn't a politician or an elected official or even an American citizen. He's just a 23-year-old hockey player from Moscow.

Not that he doesn't have political cred.

In the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt, Ovechkin is a maverick brought to DC to reform and rebuild. À la LBJ and Reagan, he has a glint in his eye and an ability to make friends and disarm enemies. And like Washington and Lincoln, his presence brings calm reassurance. Ovechkin has been in town less than four seasons, yet he has the entire Beltway buzzing. Obama and McCain can only hope to change Washington the way Ovechkin has. His 65 goals last season helped transform the Capitals from backbenchers to playoff-caliber power players. And good luck to the next POTUS in his search to find a cabinet as talented as No. 8's supporting cast.

Like the timetable facing any new administration, the first 100 days of the NHL season will test Ovechkin's regime. Momentum from last season's furious final run means nothing. Pittsburgh has a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in its rearview mirror; Detroit returns everyone and adds prolific scorer Marian Hossa; division rival Tampa Bay has Barry Melrose's mullet behind the bench. And, let's face it, the Caps are young and still not known for their defense department. But even as Americans decide whom to elect president, this red-white-and-blue-draped Russian will begin delivering on his own campaign promises—and on memorable presidential oratory from past and present.

Solutions are sometimes inspired by the darkest times: the Civil War, the Great Depression, the NHL lockout. The Caps finished with twice as many losses as wins in 2003-04, cutting ties with Jaromir Jagr, the biggest free agent bust in franchise history. "I had to face facts," says owner Ted Leonsis. "The only way to get really, really good was to get really, really bad."

Ovechkin, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 draft, became Leonsis' last, best hope. "Every great team has a major player," the owner says. "If it's the wrong guy, bang, you're dead." But Leonsis already had a feeling about Ovechkin. When the team sent him his first contract, he refused to sign it and mail it back. He wanted to ink the deal in the presence of GM George McPhee so he could shake his hand and thank him. Less than three years later, the Caps won the Southeast. What did Ovechkin do to reform Washington? Scoring 163 goals in three seasons helped. So did his infectious spirit, which energized the franchise.

Phil Mucci
How does a Russian become President?

Ovechkin will answer the phone at 3 a.m.—it's called accountability. "He's the first guy at the computer after the game, wanting to see his shifts," says coach Bruce Boudreau. "He wants to think about the game. If he doesn't understand something, he makes sure he gets it right."

Ovechkin has so much energy he's practically radioactive. On the ice, he moves from zone to zone so quickly that linemates struggle to keep up. In the locker room, he darts around like a horsefly. After the Caps won the Southeast last season, Ovechkin pulled a freshly printed championship T-shirt over his dress shirt and announced he was going out on the town. D-man Mike Green shot him a no-way-I'm-going-out-like-that look but joined the party after forwards Alexander Semin and Sergei Fedorov copied Ovie. "He's full of life," says Caps captain Chris Clark. "Gets everybody going, jumping around. We ask how he does it, and he says, 'I don't know what I do, I just do!'" In Ovechkin, the Caps have a leader who is ready to roll up his sleeves, a star who is still a working stiff.

Every leader needs a populist strain—a little something to remind followers that he's not that different from the common man. Witness Ovie's goal celebrations. He checks himself into the glass and bounces around like a bumper bowler who has just rolled a four-carom strike. "Half the time he ends up knocking somebody over," says forward Brooks Laich. "Sometimes you get scared." Ovechkin could carry himself like some hockier-than-thou arugula-eater, but when he was asked for an autograph by a fan named Phil, he signed it "To Fill." Sure he loves Dolce & Gabbana, but, says Laich, "he has this pair of sweatpants-jeans combination, and you'd swear some bum in an alley sewed 'em together. His hair is a mirror of his personality. He even lost a tooth, and he doesn't care about that. He doesn't care that he's not the most marketable player. He sells the game with how he plays it." True that. His goals make him a YouTube staple (an homage set to Aerosmith's "Dream On" is a classic), but his zest for life makes him a perfect fit for Wonkette. And how can you not love a guy who gives out all but two cell-phone digits during a contest, offering a date to the first woman who calls the right number?

Ovechkin's transformation of Washington has been remarkable because DC puckheads are not accustomed to voting with their wallets. "Let's be honest," says Caps legend Peter Bondra. "Washington is not Hockeytown." No wonder: When it first joined the league in 1974-75, it finished 8—67—5 with a 1—39 road record. Rod Langway, one of only four Caps Hall of Famers, arrived in 1982 from Montreal, where, he says, "18,000 people knew my entire life." In DC, he adds, "it took two years for people to know me."

Now, a Russian has turned the Verizon Center into a hockey mecca. During the playoffs, media from as far away as Edmonton and Europe were regulars at morning skates. Ovechkin has even reached across the sports aisle to appeal to the bases of other teams. "Alex has the confidence of the fans and the city," says Hoyas hoops coach John Thompson III. "He has enthusiasm and cares about what he's doing. He's gonna make us win games." Note the use of the word us. The Caps have Capitalized on Ovechkin's dedication to a Washington rarity: trust.

Every leader needs a climactic story point that illustrates his character. For John McCain, it's his time in a POW camp; for Barack Obama, it's his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. For Ovechkin, it's a game in Pittsburgh last season when he took a skate to the leg and left the Igloo with a six-inch gash. None of the Caps would have blamed him for returning to DC to heal, but Ovechkin traveled with the team to Ottawa and played two nights later, scoring four goals and an assist in an 8-6 win. "Every time he moved, the stitches opened," says Boudreau. "And he played through it." Fans may remember the ass-over-teakettle goal he netted in a 6-1 win over Phoenix in 2006, but Caps officials cherish that cold night in Ottawa when their leader proved he could be counted on when needed most.

Time and again, Ovechkin has proved he is at his best during a crisis. On Thanksgiving Day last season, the Caps fired coach Glen Hanlon and promoted Boudreau. The ex-Slap Shot extra told the team he considered them playoff- worthy, and Ovie backed him up. That support inspired young players like Green (18 goals, tops among D's) to take chances and move the puck. The league's fourth-overall pick, Nicklas Backstrom, finally started playing like one (ending his rookie year with 69 points), and Laich turned hot and finished with 21 goals. "It was good for us to hold tight and keep with the game plan," says Clark.

CHANGE IS COMING IN WASHINGTON THIS FALL.

The team finished the regular season with seven straight wins (and seven straight sellouts)—a.k.a. The Surge—to complete a worst-to-first run. The Caps then pushed the Flyers to seven games before bowing out in the first round of the playoffs. "We finally got some fans into the building," says Laich. "The Verizon Center was the loudest arena I've ever played in." How loud? Fedorov broke his stick in Game 1's 5-4 win, but didn't even hear it snap. "Where else would the No. 1 superpower be a Russian and embraced?" says Leonsis. "It's a new world! New rules!"

No, he's not American. But in a way, that makes Ovechkin's leadership qualities unique. His mother, Tatiana, also wore No. 8 and won Olympic gold as a point guard for the Soviet Union in 1976 and 1980. She raised her youngest to be aware of everyone on the ice. The concept was reinforced by coaches from the Soviet hockey program, who taught players to think of themselves as part of a five-man unit. "It's a lot of passing, skating, creating space," says former Red Wings great Igor Larionov. "There's no way one guy is going to carry the team. You have to have a core of players."

Ovechkin brought that style to America, taking command of the game when necessary but cheering just as loudly for a teammate's blocked shot as for a goal. Before a shootout in Pittsburgh in January, Ovechkin gave teammate Quintin Laing a high-five for critical late-game blocks, then picked up the puck and scored. Ovechkin also calls Caps brass repeatedly during the summer to make sure contract negotiations with teammates and free agents move quickly. And for good measure, he has decorated his BMW M6 with a Caps flag. Ovechkin may have a Soviet background, but he's developed an appealing American backstory.

Not many Washington outsiders have turned victory into influence as quickly and completely as Ovechkin. After he collected his four trophies for the 2007-08 season—Hart (the team's first league MVP), Lester B. Pearson (the players' MVP), Maurice Richard (most goals) and Art Ross (most points)—Ovechkin told Leonsis he would trade all four for one Cup. That's managing up. And for the first time this American century, a DC Cup run sounds feasible.

"We think we can be good," says Laich. "We aren't afraid of anybody. We're very curious to see how good we can be." Ovechkin already knows: "Washington can do the same as Pittsburgh, except we'll win the Cup." Even Detroit coach Mike Babcock is convinced, telling Leonsis, "No one wants to play you guys." You know change has come when enemies are believers.

We even have a sneak preview of how Ovie might celebrate. Back in June, he took his league hardware along with the accolades and went directly from the awards stage in Toronto to the nearest McDonald's drive-through, where he ordered $60 worth of Big Macs for his entourage.

It doesn't get any more American than that.

OVECHKIN

FOR THE WIN!

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by murd0c

pyatt and a 1st rd pick I have been saying

There is no chance Minnesota is interested in Pyatt plus a first round for Gaborik. You'd be looking at a blue chip prospect (Hodgson or Grabner) plus Kesler and a first rounder probably. No one is going to want Pyatt.

The rumor in Montreal is Chris Higgins, Jaroslav Halak and a first rounder. Of course, that trade doesn't really make sense since the Wild have a good young backup in Josh Harding already.

That and Montreal can't handle Gaborik's salary without trading some of their salary.

[the_rickster]

Originally Posted by Nodnarb

People like me aren't vying for a spot on an NHL team.

and thus have no idea what it takes to get there.

which leads me to my next statement: if you have no idea what it takes, are you truly qualified to comment on someone's ability to achieve something you could only dream of?

[AzNightmare]

Originally Posted by 89blkcivic

Good thing my daughter got one last year and a few pics with him giving her a hand shake and a weird kind of shoulder hug? Got Henrik Sedin's, and of all people, AV. LOL.

Hopefully Pyatt doesn't show up and someone unannounced shows up in his place.

LOL, well I wouldn't be going so it doesn't matter for me. But in that case, I would love to see Pyatt there just to hear about the reaction of angry fans mixed with teenage girls.

Originally Posted by Nodnarb

People like me aren't vying for a spot on an NHL team.

Great argument though!

I understand that you can make valid, smart, opinions without the neccessity of even knowing how to skate, let alone play the game. But if you really think it only takes one skill like a hard 100mph slapshot to make it in NHL, your opinion is invalid and stupid.

Originally Posted by Ronin

There is no chance Minnesota is interested in Pyatt plus a first round for Gaborik. You'd be looking at a blue chip prospect (Hodgson or Grabner) plus Kesler and a first rounder probably. No one is going to want Pyatt.

The rumor in Montreal is Chris Higgins, Jaroslav Halak and a first rounder. Of course, that trade doesn't really make sense since the Wild have a good young backup in Josh Harding already.

That and Montreal can't handle Gaborik's salary without trading some of their salary.

This is getting me excited, but realistically, what is the chances of Gaborik getting traded to Vancouver without costing the Canucks an arm and leg (and the head)? Despite having money, Canucks don't really have anyone to trade for him, and since they are divisional rival, we gotta think about it like opposite of "home discount." What's the term? "divisional rip-off?"