WASHINGTON -- The Washington Capitals may want to consider investing in some mail-order Russian brides next postseason if they want to get past the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In an interview on "Russia Today," Caps star Alexander Ovechkin said he likes to heat up rather than warm up before a match -- and again afterward. We know what he does during the periods, but now Alexander the Great has us guessing about what he does in between them.
Boxers, movies like "Rocky" and "Raging Bull" taught us, avoid sex when training for a fight because, as the great fictional trainer Mickey Goldmill famously said, "Women weaken legs." Many other sports seem to find male athletes avoiding sex before events for the same reason. Well, Ovie said it helps him.
"Russia Today" interviewer Sophie Shevardnadze brought it up under the same impression we had, asking, "Is it true that you can't have sex before the match?" Ovechkin shook her off, saying, "Sex really helps, actually." Appropriate, maybe, for an athlete who also said of his diet, "I eat anything I want."
He is the two-time defending NHL MVP and he doesn't miss games, so we're not going to second-guess him. (But we are knocking on wood.)
The problem, though, is that Ovechkin misses Russian women when he's in the States. American girls can be pretty, he said, but Ovechkin, who confessed he doesn't have a face for photos and advertisements, prefers Russian "beauties."
So, Ted Leonsis, if you really want to lift the Stanley Cup, next season consider turning Rock the Red into Moscow on the Potomac.
