OPINION

By Kara Yorio

updated 5:38 a.m. ET Sept. 29, 2006

Kara Yorio

Alex Ovechkin suddenly was nervous. In his first informal scrimmage with his Capitals teammates in 2005, the 19-year-old rookie was on the ice, the place he felt most comfortable in his new American world, but still he hesitated.

“I wasn’t shy,” Ovechkin says.

Nobody who has met last season’s Calder Trophy winner would call him shy. Dynamic comes up often. Fun-loving is repeated. Unique is mentioned, for sure. But definitely not shy.

Ovechkin had arrived in Washington with his characteristic smile and an open mind; he wanted to embrace every aspect of the NHL, from success on the ice to the camaraderie off of it. But now, with the puck on his stick, he was looking at goalie Olaf Kolzig, and he was worried.

“What if my shot went into his helmet, you know?” he says.

Kolzig soon allayed his fears.

“He told me, ‘Don't worry about it,’ and to shoot as I can,” Ovechkin says.

It was an early step toward Ovechkin’s getting comfortable in his new surroundings and with his new teammates.

“When you come to a new team, new world, new people, you feel a little bit uncomfortable,” Ovechkin says. “But my teammates, they are tremendous guys. Our leader Olie Kolzig is a funny man. ... I feel guys trust me and like me, and I feel like (I’m) at home.”

That’s not easy for a kid who had spent his whole life in Russia with his family and now finds himself in America, trying to fulfill his hockey dream and find a surrogate family.

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If his teammates had any reservations about welcoming the rookie sensation with open arms, his play — and then his personality — took care of that.

“He's a fun-loving, happy, easily excitable guy,” says former teammate and Caps captain Jeff Halpern, who now plays for the Stars. “He wanted to be included.”

Halpern says Ovechkin showed respect for what his teammates brought to the ice and what they had done before he arrived as the franchise player. And once Kolzig helped him cut loose at that first skate, Ovechkin showed his teammates exactly what he could do.

“Olie Kolzig said after the first informal scrimmage, ‘He’s the best talent I ever faced,’” Capitals general manager George McPhee says.

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In 14 NHL seasons, Kolzig has played against Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Peter Forsberg, Sergei Fedorov, Eric Lindros, Joe Sakic and some guy named Gretzky (although not in his MVP years). All have carried the label of best in the league.

It seems as though that torch gets passed every year or two, with injuries, coaching styles and new talent factoring in. But take note: With all due respect to Forsberg, Jagr and Sidney Crosby, Ovechkin will be the best player in the NHL this season and, barring injury, he will hold that title for years to come.

“If he’s not going around a guy or making moves past guys, he’s going through them,” Halpern says. “It’s something I've never seen in the NHL.”

The physical part of Ovechkin’s game is what shocked most people. Skill guy. European. Future superstar. These descriptions come with built-in stereotypes, and none of them involves going into the corners or dropping an opponent with a big open-ice hit. But Ovechkin does all that and more. He doesn’t whine for calls. He’s solid on skates. He’s not intimidated and usually returns punishment with more force than he received it. That kind of attitude has earned the respect of veteran players around the league. Ovechkin is not a prima donna. He is a hard worker who can flat-out play, and he is fun to watch for others in his profession.

For Kolzig, much of the entertainment comes before an Ovechkin goal or assist. Kolzig will watch in awe as a 6-6, 220-pound defenseman steps up to lay out Ovechkin as the Caps left winger carries the puck up the ice. Ovechkin not only doesn’t get knocked off the puck, much less down, but he puts an even bigger hit on the defenseman, then continues on his way.

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