from Sarah Turcotte of ESPN The Magazine,

Some locals have started pointing fingers at the Russian sniper. Ovechkin was voted Worst Local Athlete this summer in a reader poll conducted by the Washingtonian. A senior editor for the magazine, Denise Wills, admits to being taken aback by the results of the poll, whose methodology was never revealed. The result seems especially odd given that Ovi was deemed the city's Local Hero in the same poll just last year -- and that he's still, you know, very, very good. Ovechkin is taking the backlash in stride. "Of course the fans want us to win the Cup. We want to win it for them and for us," he says from Russia, where he is playing his lockout hockey with Dynamo Moscow. "But we've found that it takes a mixture of things to win, and we need to find the right mixture."

The Caps hope the hiring of offensive-minded coach Adam Oates will rejuvenate Ovechkin's goal-scoring ways in his eighth NHL season, whenever it begins. But ultimately, Ovi says, "that shouldn't matter as long as we win."

So allow this to serve as a warning to the new star in town: Eye-popping highlight reels and a winning personality are great. Long playoff runs are better.

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