First, a Monarch Butterfly from Canada somehow shows up in England. Now this.
An exotic, exciting, never-before-seen-here species was sighted yesterday in B.
C.'s Lower Mainland.
It was a hockey player, but a strange one.
He possesses explosive speed, an equally dynamic shot, the ability to drive Colorado Avalanche defencemen through the glass and pucks into the net while prostrate, Ringo Starr's haircut from 1963, a double-black-diamond ski slope for a nose and a disarming smile through which he tells bad jokes in two languages.
Witnesses in Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver, were initially confounded by the subject's sudden appearance, but investigators were able to identify him as Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.
Naturalists were mystified how such a creature made it to the West Coast to play the Vancouver Canucks tonight at GM Place, but the migration was apparently caused by an imbecilic, short-sighted National Hockey League schedule that calls for players from the Eastern Conference to be spotted in each Western city only once every three years.
Ovechkin, arguably the most dynamic player to enter the NHL since Pavel Bure arrived nearly a generation ago, has been in the league for 13 months and 57 goals and makes his Vancouver debut tonight. Be thankful.
After scoring a goal, missing a penalty shot and rocking Avalanche defenceman Karlis Skrastins hard enough to shatter the glass, Ovechkin limped off the ice Wednesday night in Denver when he was drilled in the leg by teammate Shaone Morrisonn's slapshot.
Had Ovechkin been unable to play the Canucks, Vancouver fans wouldn't have seen him again until, possibly, 2010, which would be about 200 goals, a Rocket Richard Trophy, Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy from now.
But the 21-year-old winger was, typically, one of the first Capitals on the ice for Washington's practice yesterday at Burnaby 8-Rinks and will play tonight.
"We don't leave our time zone after this trip," Capitals' coach Glen Hanlon said.
"It would be hard for me as a coach and family man to want to do these extra trips [to the Western Conference], but as a hockey fan, I wish more people could see our guys.
"When you have a player that you're so proud of and think the rest of the league should see, it really is disheartening. It's like with the old Oilers -- if people only got to see Gretzky play once every two years, it would have been pretty sad.
"
Fortunately, there are rumblings within the NHL that the league will change its schedule after the season. Post-lockout, the league committed to two years of a grossly unbalanced schedule designed to save money and travel and enhance divisional rivalries.
Instead it may be stunting the NHL's growth because half the continent rarely sees some of the most compelling players and entertaining teams.
In Vancouver, fans will see tonight at at least half of what makes Ovechkin the kind of player who can single-handedly elevate the league.
"He's certainly the kind of guy a team and league wants to stand behind because he never does anything wrong," Washington general manager George McPhee said. "He's a 21-year-old kid who .
.. always does the right thing.
He respects the game, respects teammates, respects the referees.
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