Alexander Ovechkin has it all. Overflowing trophy case? Among a veritable slew of other awards, look to his back-to-back Hart Trophies, deeming him the National Hockey League’s best player. Playoff experience? If you count losing a Hollywood-scripted seven-game series last year against a Pittsburgh Penguins squad led by his two rival superstars, then, yes. A cast of uber-talented young teammates? Let’s put it this way: Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, and Alexander Semin—the team’s three best players not named Ovechkin—are all under the age of 25. Money? Try $124 million for thirteen years, the biggest contract in NHL history. Freakish talent? You would be hard-pressed to find an analyst who can describe him without mentioning the names Gretzky or Lemieux. Video game covers? Check. Music video cameos? Check. Supermodel girlfriends? Naturally.
At some point, a man who has everything should start giving back. For Ovechkin, that time is now. Washington has the second longest championship drought among cities with four professional sports teams, having suffered since 1992, when the Redskins won Super Bowl XXVI. That makes D.C. sports fans only three-months less miserable than the citizens of Minneapolis, whose Twins won the World Series in 1991. Considering the state of D.C.’s other professional teams, Ovechkin’s Capitals surely represent the city’s only hope to end a streak marked by broken remotes and missed opportunities. And the fans know it.
A fan base desperate for a new rafter in the banners has found a messiah in Ovechkin. They flock to games, overflowing Metro platforms, clad in red shirts with his number—eight—inscribed on the backs. The team enjoys one of the league’s greatest home-ice advantages, with that nervous throng from the Metro station springing to life in a chorus of raucous celebration every time the Russian left-winger scores a spectacular goal. He has been criticized for his propensity for excessive celebration, but the boy-like exuberance that defines his game endears him to the spectators, who appreciate an athlete who responds to their cheers and takes part in their revelry.
Washington is no longer a football city. Despite a respectable 2-2 record, the Redskins have regressed since a year ago. Their two wins have come in nail-biters against winless Tampa Bay and St. Louis, while one of their losses was to Detroit, a team that had lost its previous nineteen games. Meanwhile, the Wizards have done little to improve a roster that finished with the second worst record in the NBA last season, and the Nationals just finished another season with fewer wins than any other team in baseball.
This places the collective dreams of a city’s starved sports fans squarely on the shoulders of one team: the Capitals. And that team places its faith in, above all, the greatness and dominance of a single player: Ovechkin. He has gotten off to a blazing start this season, netting five goals in his first three games, but what really matters is whether he’ll be able to lead his team one game further than he did last year, delivering D.C.’s sports fans the championship they so desire.
Let Walker know he’s your only hope at wloetscher@georgetownvoice.com.
