from Mike Wise of the Washington Post,
In the middle of August, as his offseason was winding down, Alex Ovechkin received a phone call. Told he needed to pick up a first-time visitor to Russia, he promptly drove to Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow and came upon a one-time Ontario hayseed whose only concept of that part of eastern Europe was “Rocky IV.”
“Ovi!” Adam Oates called.
“What’s up, Coach?”
Over the next 24 hours or so, the three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner and coach of the Washington Capitals spent time on the ice, in front of Oates’s computer watching an Ovechkin highlight video of last season and finally at a chic Moscow restaurant watching a World Cup qualifier with Ovi’s boys.
“He came to me,” Ovechkin said on the first day of training camp, sounding genuinely moved that Oates crossed two continents to visit him at home. “He work out with me. He show me some things. He showed me highlights and talk to me.”
Asked what Oates communicated that day, Ovechkin replied, “He told me I had good season, but I could be better.”
That’s about right, Oates confirmed.
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