Thirteen Questions With Alex Ovechkin

Thanks to Dmitry Chesnokov for passing along the translation of this interview Alex Ovechkin did recently with Gennady Boguslavsky, Sovsport’s Montreal based reporter:

1. If you were to have your jersey custom tailored, which designed would you pick to do it? Dolce & Gabbana of course. And if I was allowed to play in it I wouldn’t ever take it off. I’d sleep in it.
2. Maybe you will become a designer when you retire from the game? No way. I am not Maria Sharapova who comes up with designs of her handbags. I don’t have enough imagination for that.
3. When will Sidney Crosby score 50 goals in a season? May even be tomorrow! The guy is extremely talented. He could pick up a video game console, pick Pittsburgh as his team, and score 50 goals in one gaming session.
4. Is it possible to score a goal with a head in hockey? It is doable. But you shouldn’t try – because you can injure yourself very seriously, so that you won’t even realize whether it was you who scored the goal, maybe you won’t even remember your own name. You use your head to think. And also, as boxers say, you use it to eat.
5. What smells do you like, and what smells you can’t stand? I can’t stand bad breath. And I love how my girlfriend smells.
6. When you and your other guy friends go to a sauna, what does your friend Andrei Markov usually sings? Usually he sings "Pour some, we’ll talk" [Russian: "Nalivai, pogovorim"]
7. Is it true that Markov is an amazing chef? Yes, he can make an amazing burnt omelet in the morning.
8. What will happen if your tough guy Donald Brashear wakes up in a bad mood? We’ll try to "lift" it. The mood, not Brashear. You can’t lift Brash. He weighs in at a couple of hundred pounds.
9. Is it possible to play hockey on Mars? Why not? There are open air games in the NHL already. Although we might have to make a window in the schedule a little longer – it might take a while to get to Mars.
10. What would you say to President George W. Bush if you saw met him on the lawn in front of the White House? "What’s up, dude? How’s life?" And let him only pretend that he doesn’t know who I am.
11. Have you ever jumped with a parachute? No, it’s very risky. But I did do diving [high platform]. I am getting ready for the Beijing Olympics in that discipline. Maybe Markov and I could do a synchronized dive.
12. Who will be the next owner of the Washington Capitals? Roman Abramovich.
13. Who would drink more beer, you or Kovalchuk? Like someone said in one Russian movie: "Beer… would be great! No, only wine." Nevertheless, Kovy and I don’t drink beer.