WHY ALEXANDER OVECHKIN STOLE MY HEART

(Read this post and try not loving AO. I DARE YOU.)

Guys, I think I might love Alex more than Derek right now, and that’s even after Derek’s two-goal, three-point night. Yeah.

(But wasn’t that a great game???? I was very impressed with that. It seemed like it was the only game thus far, or at least in a long time, that the Sabres have put in a solid effort for the whole game. And it was good to see Roy, Miller, Vanek, Pominville, and Stafford step up and fill up the score sheet. Alright, my heart is too full of rainbows and butterflies to talk hockey, so we’ll talk Alex instead.}

BUT DON’T YOU DARE JUDGE ME. DON’T YOU DARE. I have a legitimate reason to be in love with AO.

FROSTEE!!!!! PLEASE KNOW THAT AS SOON AS MY MOTHER TOLD ME THIS STORY, YOU WERE THE FIRST PERSON I THOUGHT OF (hence, the note I left on your wall). Just please don’t die on me… I need someone to search Ovie with me when the Caps are in Buffalo….

STORY TIME!!!!!!!!

Okay, so my mom and I were walking out of work last night (yes, I work with my mother), and she goes, “Okay, listen to this!“

So I listened. And this is what I learned:

Our supervisor, Betty, is like, in her mid 70’s. She’s pretty awesome, and she’s got a son in his late 40’s/early 50’s, who has real bad MS. What I didn’t know is that her son is a hockey fanatic.

I guess he used to play hockey when he was younger, and was friends with Danny Gare and some of the other Sabres from that era. But since his MS has gotten so bad, and considering his age, he and his friends have stopped playing hockey, but have taken up competition through a fantasy league.

Now, Betty’s son bleeds blue and gold, more so than I do, which is a lot. But his favorite player is Alexander Ovechkin. Not surprisingly; I mean, he has amazing skill, and I honestly think he’s the best player in the league (Crosby, who? Malkin, who?). Anyways, he has Ovie on his fantasy team.

A while back, he writes a letter to AO, just briefly explaining his situation, where he’s come from and what he’s become, and told Alex that he loves his game, blah, blah, blah, and basically just says something along the lines of “if you wouldn’t mind, I’d love it if you could send me an autographed picture of yourself.”

So a good amount of time goes by, and Betty and her son never heard a thing. Until the other day.

The phone rings, and it’s the Sabres calling for him.

(At this point in the story, I’m like, “Please don’t tell me that he met AO! OMGAH He didn’t meet Ovie while the Caps were here did he? AHHHHH!)

Whoever it was said, “Mr. Lawson, the Washington Capitals were in town recently, and I have instructions from Mr. Ovechkin to deliver a package to you.”

(Please excuse me while I AHAHAHALSGKJALWKNG;AKYGOIH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Phew! I’m good, I swear.)

“He is very adamant that this gets to you as quickly as possibly, and made sure to tell us that he will be checking back with us to be sure that it got to you.”

So obviously, Betty and her son jump in the car and drive down to HSBC Arena immediately, and sure enough, there was a package waiting.

Betty’s son opens it up and finds a handwritten letter from Alex himself. The letter goes on to say how his story is very touching, and Alex appreciates the support, blah, blah, blah.

The best part, though? This is how the letter reads: “I don’t have any pictures of myself to send to you, so I hope this will be alright.”

What was “this” you might ask?

An autographed, game-used All*Star jersey.

ALKDSGJLAHGD;LAHFSL;GJALFH I KNOW, RIGHT??

So this is why I love Alexander Ovechkin, because he would give up something so valuable, something so memorable to himself, and something so rare collector-wise, to a person he’s never met, just because of a touching letter. Not only is this story heartwarming to me because it’s a hockey player doing something nice for a fan, but because Alex’s gift made the world for Betty’s son. Ovie isn’t just a good hockey player, he’s a damn good human being, and his act of kindness, which wasn’t really too much for him to do, makes me feel better about humanity in general. So next time I hear someone trashing AO for whatever reason, I’m going to think of this story and know how wrong that person is.

Do you think Sidney or Evgeni would do this for a random stranger, who isn’t even someone from their hometown, the town they play in, or a town they have a personal connection to? I don’t think so.

ETA: After getting numerous e-mails and comments saying I’m a bitch or Crosby-hater, etc, for that last statement, I feel it’s necessary to reiterate something I myself commented on this post. When I wrote that, I wasn’t so much doubting that Crosby or Malkin, or anyone else for that matter, don’t do amazing things for perfect strangers. I know they do, and I’ve heard countless stories of it. A good portion of those stories and experiences, though, are due to extenuating circumstances, such as work done by the Make A Wish Foundation. Now, I’m not saying that those groups and organizations aren’t amazing, because they are, and I applaud the guys for working with such foundations. My point was that Alex has no connection whatsoever to Buffalo. He’s not from Buffalo, and my supervisor’s son isn’t from Russia, and doesn’t live in the Washington area, nor did he meet AO through a charitable organization. He approached Ovie and asked for an autographed 8×10 picture. Alex went above and beyond what was necessary and made this guy’s life. It’s no secret amongst my friends and I that I don’t care much for Crosby and Malkin, but hey, even if my worst enemy were to do something like this, I’d love him too. I’m not trying to step on any toes or ruffle any feathers, so I could really do without the criticism and the judgement. All I wanted to do was share a heartwarming story..

Seriously, though? I respect Malkin and Crosby for their skills and what they do for the game, and also what they do in the community. Is it wrong that I happen to like Ovechkin more? No. This is America, and it’s a free country. I admit some of my statements come off as whatever they may, and I can live with that, but I’ve come out and explained what I meant. That being said, you can stop with all of the proof that Crosby and Malkin are just as good, if not better, than Ovechkin. They’re nice stories to hear, yes, but I could stand to hear these stories without the putting down of Alex, and the exalting of Sid and Evgeni. And that might make me sound like a bitch, but so be it. I like to hear stories about any person, not just Ovie, doing great things for other people, and one good dead by the president does not make a good dead done by a regular person any less special. Get what I mean?

FORBIDDEN FRUIT

Okay, so there’s no new Sabres news to go around, and I’ve got no stories that I can think of that are worth sharing–

(Except that Drew Stafford and I are now friends on Facebook. My friend Brittany is home for the week from Fredonia, and encouraged me to friend her new friend, so I did. I’m waiting on replies from Gerbe Derby, Funker, and Marky Mark.)

–so I’ve decided to comment on my (now, not-so-) secret loves from around the league. It also doesn’t hurt that it occupies my sick-self for the morning. These aren’t just spur-of-the-moment, I need something to post about things I pulled out of the air. I’ve actually liked these guys for a while, but never really felt like fessing up to it… Most of them can fall in to that category, at least… And the choosing of these boyfriends is purely shallow in method; no consideration of actual skill has entered my mind. Well, anyways, here goes:

Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks
I had a hard time choosing between Ryan Getzlaf and Brendan Morrison. What made me choose, though? Well, Ryan kinda reminds me of a teacher of mine from high school. I loved this teacher; he was awesome, and one of the only history teachers who actually made me like learning about it. But, he’s not so asthetically pleasing, so I’m going to go with Brendan Morrison.

Atlanta Thrashers
(Off-topic comment, first: I cannot stand Garnet Exelby, but if you liked Anchorman, watch this.)
I really don’t want to like a guy that I can’t like anyone that shares a locker room with Chris Thorburn. I can’t stand him. He’s a jerk, and a dirty player. But, to hold to my little plan here, I’ll go with Zach Bogosian. He’s 18. That’s disgusting.

Boston Bruins
I have to give credit where credit is due, so I have to say that Matt Hunwick, with his sun-bleached, curly locks, definitely gave me a run for my money, but my “loyalties” lie with Andrew Ferrence. He’s so nice to look at, and it doesn’t hurt that he and Goose both played for the Portland Winter Hawks.

Calgary Flames
Cory Sarich, hands down. I was sweating him since Day One of his Sabres career. I’ve told you once, and I’ll tell you again, I fall hard for my Sabes. And that love never leaves me. Rhett Warrener can be thrown in there, too, I suppose.

Carolina Hurricanes
I don’t know if I want to pick one, or at least fess up to it… But whatever. Umm, Eric Staal. Has there ever been an easier decision? Although, Cam Ward is a cutie… And when Mike Ryan is up from Albany, he’s definitely a winner.

Chicago Blackhawks
I’ve got to go with MJ on this one. It’s a no-brainer with Jonathan Toews. I was, for an instant, considering making it official with Brian Campbell, but I think I have to let my favorite hockey-playing redhead go…

Colorado Avalanche
Is it a rule of thumb that hot guys have hot friends? Because in Ryan Miller’s case, it holds true. I like the fact that he brought my attention to John-Michael Liles. So, Ryan, thanks. A lot.

Columbus Blue Jackets
Helloooo Christian Backman. Mike Peca’s still really handsome, but he was a love of my old friend Shauna back in, like, kindergarten. He’s just been hanging around my life for too long. I need to move on.

Dallas Stars
So a while back, I would’ve said Mike Modano. Then it would’ve been Brad Richards. But now? Loui Eriksson.

Detroit Red Wings
Seriously, I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately… I’ve always been partial to guys with dark hair, dark eyes, yada, yada, yada… But what’s with this influx of blondes? Nothing against blondes, but what gives? Here’s the next one: Darren Helm.

Edmonton Oilers
(Can I just say that whoever the Oilers hired to design their website is the winner? They make it so much easier to compare the guys on the team… All the other teams should employ this genius as well.) I’m still going to have to go with one of my original Western Conference Loves… Ethan Moreau. Although, Kyle Brodziak and Ales Hemsky are runners-up.

Florida Panthers
So I’m obviously not going to say Stephen Weiss or Gregory Campbell. And I’d love to say Stefan Meyer, but he’s technically on the Amerks’ roster. So that leaves me with a decision to make. But it’s a pretty easy one to make when I’m presented with one David Booth.

Los Angeles Kings
So, there weren’t a whole lot of decent options out in LA, as far as I’m concerned, so I went with my default choice: Marc-Andre Cliche. I like that his last name is Cliche. idk….

Minnesota Wild
I typically tend to stray away from guys who are younger than me (but you wouldn’t know it from some of my choices already…), just because I think it’s weird, but I’ll make an exception for Colton Gillies, even though I don’t like his name.

Montreal Canadiens
Now, I hate the Canadiens as much as the next Buffalo girl, but man, oh man, do I love Canadians. But that actually has nothing to do with my guy from Montreal, because he’s actually from Smithtown, NY. Seeing that he’s from Long Island, he probably wasn’t a Sabres fan growing up, though, but I’ll let Christopher Higgins slide.

Nashville Predators
I can immediately cross off Scott Nichol, just because he’s dirty, nasty, and gave Tim Connolly his initial concussion way back when. BUT, I can’t hold that against his teammate, Shea Weber. He doesn’t look too great in his headshot, either, but believe, me, he’s very attractive.

(Wow, I didn’t realize how long this endeavor would take me… Good thing TNT has a good line-up of daytime TV…)

New Jersey Devils
I fell in love with Dainius Zubrus the moment I saw his face. And, again, I don’t let go easily.

New York Islanders
Ummm, Rick DiPietro. Duh…

New York Rangers
Do I even have to contemplate which Ranger is the best looking when the gorgeoud Marcus Naslund is on the roster??? Didn’t think so…

Ottawa Senators
I actually think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit… But if a decision must be made, a decision must be made. If one of my earlier posts wasn’t evidence enough, let me remind you: Antoine Vermette.

Philadelphia Flyers
Martin Biron, no explanation necessary.

Phoenix Coyotes
Again with this blonde thing.. Well, I guess next time I go out to Arizona to visit Michelle, I’ll have to go to a Coyotes game just to see Todd Fedoruk.

Pittsburgh Penguins
So, as tempted as I am to say Sidney Crosby, I have to say Jordin Staal. Their parents are spectacular…

San Jose Sharks
If I would’ve made this decision years ago, I would’ve said Joe Thornton for Boston. But, since he’s playing for the Sharks now, and I’m kinda over him, I’m going with Torrey Mitchell.

St. Louis Blues
I love Jay McKee, as you’re all well aware. Again, no explanation necessary.

Tampa Bay Lightning
So he’s got a big nose? Vincent Lecavalier is gorgeous, generous, and classy. Those always win.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Do I have to? Oh, alright… I have to make another age-exception with this choice, seeing that he’s one day short of a year younger than my cousin Todd, who is a month and a half older than me. Don’t judge Luke Schenn by his headshot, though. He’s really adorable.

Vancouver Canucks
If there were any team to be loaded with good-looking guys (other than the Sabres), I’m glad it’s Vancouver. My favorite west coast and Canadian team… Well, we all know how I feel about Taylor “Bedroom Eyes” Pyatt and Steve “Big Bear” Bernier, but I most definitely have to go with the beautiful Ryan Kessler.

Washington Capitals
I absolutely love his hair…. He’s the Christian Siriano of the NHL… Jose Theodore, no doubt.

Well, there it is. I’m done. And I’m going to take a nap because I feel like poop. I think my head is going to explode if I sneeze one more time, or my trachea is going to shatter if I cough again. Yikes… I need to get it together before the game tomorrow night…

Wow. Just, wow.

I’m not going to say “I told you so,” but, wait, yes I am–I told you so. I just knew that the Sabres would waltz back into HSBC Arena and not take the Sens seriously enough. Okay, maybe they did take them seriously, and yes, I realize their travel schedule was nuts (I figured it out that they probably didn’t get in to Buffalo until 6am-ish Monday morning. No thank you.), but excuses are excuses. And I don’t want to hear them.

And yes, I know we had to lose in regulation sometime, BUT DID IT HAVE TO BE YESTERDAY, LIKE THAT, TO OTTAWA??!!?? You killing me, Sabres. Plain killing me.

I’m not even going to comment on anything about the game except this:

MAX GOT HOSED. What the hell was that? Sure, maybe his shot was a bit late, but in his defense, the initial whistle sounded a he began to wind-up for the slap shot, and it was short and faint. As he connected with the puck, the second, more obvious whistle went. Even if he had taken a late shot, that doesn’t warrant THREE Senators jumping him. FROM BEHIND. Kudos to Mair, Kotalik, and Weber for jumping in there immediately. Mair’s reaction reminded me of those nature shows were the lions are feeding on carcasses. Obvs Adam was the lion and the Senator smothering Max was the carcass.

I don’t even know if I can come up with three Sabres stars… Let’s see…

First Star : Maxim Afinogenov

He had two assists on the night, and he actually was all over the ice trying to make things happen, so, Max, I’m throwing you a bone for Kim’s sake.

Second Star : Clarke MacArthur

Breaking the goose egg is huge in my book. I never like to see my boys go scoreless.

Third Star : Teppo Numminen

I was toying with giving you the second star, Tepps, but you stole Derek’s goal, so I can’t bring myself to do it. But you did get a goal, so there ya go.

And Kim and I were discussing who would get the pigeon last night… I voted for Miller. He didn’t do anything right because he didn’t play, but, by default, he didn’t do anything wrong, either. See where I’m going with this??? Do you understand my logic? Ahhhh it works sometimes!

That being said, do you realize how many of our players were negative last night??? Yuck. (And I just realized that I’m rambling on about the game even though I said I wasn’t going to. Oh well.) Not one guy in blue and gold was in the black, and only six broke even (Kotalik, Numminen, Ellis, Paetsch, Afinogenov, Peters). Nine players were -1, and three were -2. (Derek, I’m extremely disappointed in you.)

And despite how terrible and excruciating that game was to watch, I’m not sure if I’ve ever laughed more at a game. Kim ended up coming over to my house, and we ordered food from Mike’s Subs, and I had already stocked up on Dr. Pepper for myself, Sunkist for her, and chips and Bison French Onion dip. I’m telling you, unless I’m watching by myself, I get the good stuff. But anyways, combine the caffeine and sugar from Sunkist with Kim’s pent-up energy (she has pretty much been a hermit as of late, due to an obscenely large microbiology test looming over her Wednesday)… And I can’t even tell you what was said or done, but I could not stop laughing. At one point, and I believe this was after Pominville missed the wide-open net, she did something, and I was doubled-over in tears. It was fantastic.

The only thing that makes last night salvageable is a picture I found. The other day, in my search for Nathan Paetsch pictures, I actually found quite the variety of guys (that’s how I found that ridiculous picture of Reggie). I was showing her this picture I found of Paul, and a picture of hockey players lined up in their jocks popped up. So that prompted us to recall this post of MJ’s, in which we’re treated to a shirtless Antoine Vermette. I then decided it would be fab-u-lous to see the Sabres like that. Any of them. I’d even see Teppo or Pigeon like that.

But then we recalled our days of Rochester Americans-stalking… Ever since the first game we went to down the 90, we’ve been sitting right behind their bench. I mean, it’s $25, why the hell not? Back to the story… Something happened while we were standing there for the anthem, and Kim and I were laughing about something, so I turned around to say something to her and caught Stefan Meyer staring at me. I was done for when he got that frightened “Omigosh she just saw me” look on his face and do the not-so-subtle-quick-look-away move. Anyways, we had gone to some go kart race thing that the Amerks had last year. We noticed that Stefan had some ink on his arm, and that made me wonder about the Sabres. Do they have ink? But back to Stefan… I was aimlessly looking through the most prominent of Sabres albums on Webshots (dmb2218’s albums) and found this beautiful picture:

He’s mine. My Florida Panthers prospect.

Wait. What?? Did I just say that? Did I just admit that I’m in love with a… with a Panther? Even after my ginormous rant yesterday? Well, friends, yes I did. But in my defense he was an Amerk. He played with Sparky, and with Mark, and with the rest of them… But at the end of the day, he also has played with Gregory Campbell. Alas, Stefan is my guilty pleasure of the AHL. But come on… Just look at him!! Oh, and Kim would enjoy this one:

Drew Larman is a bad-ass mofo.

Drew is Kim’s AHL guilty pleasure, as he too is a Panthers prospect. He, however, has a redeeming factor because he’s from Buffalo. Or at least that’s where he was born… I don’t know.

But see what happens to me when the Sabres are off?? I go on tangents and I stray away. Now I have to go stick my head in the oven or something because I feel guilty. I told you. I have reverse commitment issues. In my relationship with the Sabres, my stance is that they can do whatever, even whoever, they want, as long as they come back to me at the end of the day. And by that I mean as long as they’re Sabres, I’ll love them unconditionally. That is, unless they’re really ridiculous. I used to dislike Petey, but he’s won me back. But I can’t be unfaithful to the Sabres, which is why I feel tremendously guilty. Does that make sense? I doubt it. Whatever though. I’m still going to like him, I just could never be with him because he’s not a Sabre. I’m cheating on the Sabres. And it is oh-so-thrilling, just because they lost last night. =]

And as far as the World Juniors go, I’m a little bit disappointed in the ticket prices. They’re high to begin with, and you know that it’ll sell out immediately, and as soon as they’re up on eBay and StubHub, they’ll be jacked up like crazy. Kim and I decided that we’d just go to the bars downtown and see all the cute youngins, but then I remembered that it’s an under-20 tournament, and they can’t get in the bars… Well, there is a TGIFriday’s on Chippewa…. They serve alcohol…

Oh, and I’m sure you’ve already heard, but some genius (literally, a genius) who I believe is Chris Butler, put a little kid’s pair of hockey skates in the little one’s locker stall up in Portland.

And I’m sorry that you read this. I’m not even sure what I just wrote because I’m freezing, half asleep, there’s something in my eye, and I’m watching Kathy Lee and Hoda talk to three attractive men and another who looks like a bum about sex. I have no attention span this morning…

I FEEL GUILTY WHEN I FALL FOR NON-SABRES…

…because, like I’ve said, I don’t get over people too quickly. And I feel this odd Buffalo-allegiance to the Sabres. You know, the one where I live and die by how they’re doing in the season, and when they’re not playing, I’m thinking about them anyways. Call me crazy, but I call it die-hard, devoted love. So I feel guilty when I fall for a guy who has never had the pleasure of donning a Sabres jersey. And because of that, I don’t often admit that I love guys from other teams. I can now, though, admit that I love Ryan Getzlaf, thanks to Anne over at Sabretooth’s House, because of this:

(You have to admit that it’s pretty sick when a kid from Regina, Saskatchewan wears a Sabres jersey. THOSE CITIES ARE OVER 1,600 MILES APART, but Ryan hearts the Sabres. No wonder he hangs out in Buffalo over the summer with Ryan Miller. RANDOM.)

THAT BEING SAID, a few seasons ago, when the dear Alex Ovechkin came on the scene, I was done for. And it’s not that he’s super good-looking or anything, but for the fact that I can speak, like, five word in Russian, and the fact that he’s got the heaviest accent I’ve ever heard, and he bumbles through the English language, barely better than Jaro Spacek, and he’s got his own fashion line. DOES THIS GUY GET ANY BETTER? He’s a freaking hockey celebrity, and he loves fashion, in a completely non-Sean-Avery way. LOVE. And let’s not forget that commercial he did with the vending machine, which somehow ended up on my cell phone…

Oh, wait. He does get better. He’s a FREAKING ROCK STAR. Ovie and the Caps are now my second favorite… no, third favorite band in the NHL. (First is the band that Derek Roy and Ryan had down in Rochester (yeah, I know, AHL, but it’s a technicality, people), and second is Invisible Children. What kind of Drew Stafford fan would I be if I didn’t love his band?)

AND CAN I PLEASE SAY THAT JOSE THEODORE LOOKS FANTASTIC WITH EYELINER ON???

And you all are by no means to allow me to go back to my punk rock/skater/surfer/local band groupie days, okay??? Because those were ridiculous days. And I’m not bitter at all that a certain band I went to ELEMENTARY SCHOOL with got huge after I liked them from the beginning and now they’re pricks. But anyways, Jose Theodore looks FANTASTIC. I said it. He looks like a cross of my acquaintance (he’s been demoted from friend) Keith and Chris Daughtry…

And Ovie didn’t look too shabby himself, as a punker:

He said he likes to shake his booty. =]

He also said that he won’t shake his booty for a goal celebration. BOOOOO.

Here’s the reason behind this whole post: Behind the Scenes with Alex Ovechkin. And be sure to watch the Rock the Red music video, too.

WHY CAN’T THE SABRES DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT???!

Oh, speaking of the Sabres, the TBN had this to report:

Centers Paul Gaustad (thumb), Tim Connolly (back) and Jochen Hecht (finger) continued making progress Sunday. Gaustad and Connolly had progressed so much that Ruff refused to rule out either player for tonight’s game.

Please excuse me for a minute while I AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Okay. Carrying on:

However, there seems a better chance both would remain on the sidelines because there is no reason to hurry them back. It’s early in the season, and the Sabres are winning without them. Ruff would need to take someone out of the lineup, which is difficult to justify when a team is undefeated in regulation.

“We’ve got decisions,” Ruff said. “We want to make sure they’re ready. The effort that the guys have put into the game, it’s tough to take guys out right now.”

As much as I want these guys back on the ice with the team, Lindy’s right…

Whatever, though. WORLD JUNIORS ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY!!!! Read this if you haven’t already. Ryan over at the Goose’s Roost nailed it right on the head.

And while it seems like we may just steamroll over the Sens tonight, you can never underestimate a bad, bad team. Look at how we did a few years back, before the lockout. We sucked. We were at the bottom of the league, and it seemed we couldn’t beat anyone. But we could be the top teams in the leage. I’m just hoping (and that’s more or less reassuring myself) that the Sabres are as humble as they are, and will actually show up for tonight’s game, because if they don’t, the Sens are desperate for a win, and they’ll get it if we’re not ready.

That being said, GO SABRES!!