麻豆视频

By Bruce Penton

Fans at the Bell Centre in Montreal sing 鈥楧ay O鈥� when they get excited about their Habs, but in Washington, and all around the National Hockey League for that matter, a drawn-out version of 鈥淎AAAAA OOOOOO" should be part of the night鈥檚 entertainment in tribute to the greatest sniper of our time, the Great 8, Alex Ovechkin.

The Capitals captain, whose personal career highlight came last June when Washington won its first Stanley Cup, is a goal-scorer鈥檚 goal scorer and it seems he鈥檚 getting better with age.

There鈥檚 no argument about this, however: Ovechkin is the best Russian-born player to ever play in the NHL. Pavel Datsyuk, Evgeni Malkin, Igor Larionov and Sergei Fedorov had or are having terrific careers, but it鈥檚 hard to argue with more than 650 goals, and counting. Just 33 years old, Ovechkin doesn鈥檛 seem to be slowing down. His fans bring out their calculators, punch in a few numbers and voila! 鈥� five more 50-goal seasons or seven 35-goal campaigns and even the 894-goal total of the greatest of all time, Wayne Gretzky, would be eclipsed by Ovechkin on the NHL鈥檚 career goal-scoring list.

If he continued on his late-February pace toward a 58- or 60-goal season, Ovechkin would record the second most prolific scoring season of his career, trailing only the 65 goals he tallied in his third season in the league. But he has been a model of consistency, with seven 50-plus-goal seasons and a career low of 32 goals in 2012-13. Most NHLers would give up their red Ferrari or annual trip to Kauai in exchange for a single 32-goal season.

NHL goalies know where Ovechkin will be and what he will attempt to do while the Capitals are on the power play, but are virtually powerless to stop him. He sets up near the left face-off circle, waits while his mates pass it around enough to get the goaltender leaning a particular way and then quickly drift the puck over to Ovechkin, who鈥檚 already winding up while the puck is en route. Then, in a blur, he fires the puck in excess of 100 MPH and, more often than not, beats the overmatched netminder, setting off yet another celebration.

The future Hall of Famer is not just about goal-scoring, however. He plays with an obvious joy on the ice and despite a rugged style of play, he鈥檚 durable. Only once in his career has he missed more than 10 games in a season.

In Washington these days, the go-to phrase is not Russian collusion, but, thanks to Ovechkin, it鈥檚 Russian celebration.

鈥⒙� Dwight Perryof the Seattle Times: 鈥淭he Mariners, whose home becomes 鈥橳-Mobile Park鈥� this season, say they鈥檒l keep only the 鈥橲鈥� from the big Safeco Field letters that were removed from the ballpark last week. Fed-up fans, noting the team鈥檚 18-year playoff drought, immediately put in first dibs on the 鈥楲鈥�.鈥�

鈥⒙� Comedy writer Tim Hunter, on Colorado State selling wine and beer at home basketball games: 鈥淚f you鈥檝e seen them play, you鈥檒l understand why.鈥�

鈥⒙� Hockey Night in Canada curmudgeon Brian Burke, on the scoring woes of Jets鈥� Patrik Laine: 鈥淭his is not a slump now. This is a horrible Grand Canyon of failure.鈥�

鈥⒙� Norman Chad of the Washington Post, on Twitter: 鈥淚f Robert Kraft鈥�s misdemeanor charge of soliciting a prostitute ultimately goes to replay review, he will be exonerated.鈥�

鈥⒙� Perrry again: 鈥淟ook who鈥檚 back, back, back in the booth. Former ESPN icon Chris Berman will be among the rotating stable of announcers calling call Red Sox games on WEEI Radio this year. Mookie 鈥楪entlemen, Place Your鈥� Betts and Mitch 鈥楾his Land Is鈥� Moreland refused comment.鈥�

鈥⒙� Comedy writer Jim Barach: 鈥淶ion Williamson of Duke hurt his knee when his Nike shoe fell apart in a game. Somewhere in China there is a six-year-old who is in a whole lot of trouble.鈥�

鈥⒙� RJ Currie of : 鈥淎 final score from the Canadian women鈥檚 curling championship: PEI 13; New Brunswick 12. Put it this way: they exceeded the Patriots-Rams Super Bowl total by three field goals.鈥�

鈥⒙� Currie again: 鈥淎n ESPN pundit suggested the Westminster Dog Show was biased because for the 47th time out of 115 events, a terrier won. Why not say it鈥檚 fixed 鈥� or in dog terms: call a spay a spay?鈥�

鈥⒙� Another one from Currie: 鈥淭he Hartford Yard Goats baseball team no longer serves peanuts or Cracker Jack due to nut allergies. A few years ago Mariners also solved a nut problem: they cut Milton Bradley.鈥�

鈥⒙� Headline at : 鈥淒iamondbacks settle long-standing civil suit with offspring of bird hit by Randy Johnson鈥檚 fastball.鈥�

Dwight Perryagain: 20/20 hindsight: Marshawn Lynch should have run. Robert Kraft should have passed.鈥濃��Care to comment? Email [email protected]