from Eric McErlain (a blast from the past name) at Medium,

On an unseasonably warm night last January, Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals winger, prolific scorer, hockey Rorschach test, Canadian media whipping boy, the most dangerous Russian living in America since Philip and Elizabeth Jennings and the only love our nation’s capital and Moscow have in common, joyously answered questions during an on-ice post-game interview.

Earlier that evening, he scored the 500th and 501st goals of his spectacular career against the Senators, becoming the 43rd player in the history of the league, but only the first Russian-born NHLer to reach that milestone.

Watching him answer with his trademark gap-toothed smile brought me back to his rookie season when I spoke with him a few days before his first NHL game. On an AOL Sports podcast, Ovechkin struggled mightily with his English as he answered my question about which NHL defenseman he thought would present the greatest challenge (Montreal’s Andrei Markov). He soldiered on through the interview, answering as best he could and embracing the challenge with the same bulldog attitude that’s become one of the trademarks of his game.

The young and promising Ovechkin of that interview has given way to a gregarious, albeit battle-scarred Ovi, his trophy case filled to the point of near bursting, a tangible manifestation of his glory to date.

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