23 years ago, Washington Capitals general manager David Poile drafted Slovakian winger Peter Bondra 156th overall in the 1990 NHL Draft. We remember what happened next: Bondra jumped into the Capitals line-up the next season, quickly becoming the franchise’s most prolific goal-scorer and holder of every major Caps record (until that Alex Ovechkin guy showed up). Bondra led the Caps to their only Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 1997-98.
Photo credit: @mkirilenko
Thanks to Maria Kirilenko, we have moar child photos of Alex Ovechkin. To the left, Baby Sasha, wearing suspenders, enthusiastically high-fives a person just out of frame, probably Baby Alex Semin. To the right, baby Masha smiles pensively. This is because her pants have been pulled up chest-high and she is having circulatory problems.
On Sunday, the Russian television channel NTV published an in-depth feature on Alex Ovechkin, which included interviews from Tatiana Ovechkin (his mom), Mikail Ovechkin (his dad), Maria Kirilenko (his super-hot, super-talented girlfriend), and the man himself. While we haven’t had time to translate the Russian yet, you need to see this video featuring new footage of young Ovi. And warning: it’s dangerously adorable, so don’t operate any heavy machinery while viewing.
Photo via hockeyplayersaskids.tumblr.com
When you were little, someone must have asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up. Some of us wanted to be lawyers. Others, the president. When I was six, I told my parents I was going to be an astronaut. That did not work out, so yay for hockey blogging.
When Capitals defenseman John Carlson was asked what he wanted to be while he was a youngster, he nailed it. He wanted to be a hockey player– a famous one at that.
Bingo.
