Ovechkin Reminds Me Of Pavel Bure

Tonight we were lucky to have some sweet seats to watch the Canucks play the Washington Capitals. The Capitals are a miserable team, and the only real attraction was young Russian phenom Alexander Ovechkin. As it turns out, neither Ovechkin nor the game disappointed.

Ovechkin seems to me like a bigger, more aggressive version of Pavel Bure. I had the privelege of watching Bure a lot during his career in Vancouver, and he was always entertaining.

Ovechkin was a threat to score every time he touched the puck. His first three steps are explosive, and he looked like the fastest player on the ice. My wife is a skating coach, and she remarked that, like Bure, he’s a little faster than everybody else because he skates slightly out of control. And just like Bure, he wants the puck every moment he’s on the ice. His teammates did their best to accomodate him.

During the game, Ovechkin got a goal and an assist. He was only denied a breakaway chance at a second goal by a fantastic diving poke check by rookie Luc Bourdon. In the eventual shootout, Ovechkin beat Luongo but was foiled by the post.

All in all, Ovechkin was a joy to watch. Washington goalie Olaf Kolzig also deserves plenty of credit, as he made 42 saves in the losing cause. Given Ovechkin, overtime and the shootout, it was full value for money.

You may recall that Ovechkin scored last season’s goal of the year.