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TORONTO — Alexander Ovechkin adjusted the red tie above the red vest of his tuxedo, looked around in the cramped media room at several of his similarly clad fellow hockey players and said, "I think I'm the happiest 22-year-old guy on the planet right now."
And why not?
He was the big winner at the NHL awards last night, taking home the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player, then double-dipping on the union side, winning the Lester B. Pearson Award, which is the National Hockey League Players' Association's version of the MVP award. They go into his trophy case beside the Art Ross Trophy, which he had already won as the NHL's top scorer in 2007-08 with 112 points, and the Maurice Richard Trophy for scoring the most goals, 65.
As if that were not enough, a day earlier Ovechkin was in front of the news media to hawk his new line of clothing, Street Wear. Not bad for a kid from Moscow who came to the United States and turned the team in the nation's capital, the Washington Capitals, into a contender in his third season.
"No, when I was a kid, I had no style," Ovechkin said when asked about his haberdashery expertise. "I had only one socks and one pants. That was it."
Since his line of clothing is aimed at men 16 to 21, we'll leave the style question alone. In any event, that was the only hint of modesty from Ovechkin.
"Everything I got, I make myself by working hard," he said. "I'm happy right now what I'm doing and I'm happy life goes on."
On paper, the words sound boastful. But not in person, as Ovechkin comes across as an irrepressible kid, one whose passion for hockey fairly explodes from him, as any hockey fan knows, personified when he throws himself into the glass after every goal.
"He was the best player this year in the league," said Ovechkin's coach, Bruce Boudreau, who was voted the coach of the year. "Next year, maybe Sidney Crosby is the best player, maybe Alex Kovalev.
"But this year, Alexander was the best player and he deserves everything he gets."
No one was surprised Ovechkin took home the big trophies last night, given his monster season. Indeed, the NHL was even caught prematurely peddling Ovechkin MVP T-shirts on its website last week.
"I think it was a mistake, but it was a pretty funny situation," Ovechkin said.
So, did you buy any before the league yanked them off the site?
"Yeah, I bought hundreds," he said with a laugh.
Ovechkin is among the vanguard of young stars the NHL hopes will revive its fortunes with the U.S. sporting public, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin being the others. Crosby and Malkin had more team success, as they took the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup final, but Ovechkin thinks he and the Capitals, who lost in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, can do just as well next season.
"Next year, I think we will be much better and I can't wait to see it start," he said. "We love what we're doing. We never give up, we believe in each other, we believe in the coach, we believe in everybody.
"When this situation happens, it's good, because only when you believe do you win the Stanley Cup."
Boudreau isn't sure the Capitals are ready to be declared Cup contenders, but he is sure fans have not seen the best of Ovechkin yet.
"He can get a lot better," Boudreau said. "He hasn't reached his peak.
"When Rocket Richard, or Gordie Howe or Bobby Orr were 21, you asked, 'How can they get better,' and they all did. Alex is no different."
Where he can get better, Boudreau said, is on the defensive side of the puck, although the coach allowed Ovechkin is not too shabby there. He also needs to learn how to take bodychecks to lessen the chance of injury.
Ovechkin agrees — "Nobody's perfect" — but wonders just how far his coach wants to take this defensive stuff. "If I play more defensively, Bruce will kill me because my [job] is to score goals," he said.
Before he has to go back to work on his game, though, Ovechkin has a little relaxation in mind with teammate Alexander Semin and six other buddies. "Turkey and maybe somewhere else, an island," he said.
Someone remembered this would be Ovechkin's second visit to Turkey. Why?
"Lots of girls," he said, drawing puzzled looks from media types who never equated Turkey with, say, Brazil or the beaches of Southern France. Where will you find these girls? Istanbul?
Ovechkin laughed.
"It's a secret," he said.
