Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby are locked in a humid embrace, which seems, at first glance, unlikely. Ovechkin grew up in postwar Russia. In the dismal courtyard of his building on Baskov Lane, a hangout for local thugs and drunks, he and his childhood friends pursued their favorite pastime: chasing rats with hockey sticks. His father, a wounded veteran, beat him with a belt. Ovechkin’s way up, his dream, was to volunteer for the K.G.B.
Crosby encountered few rats on his lawn in Nova Scotia. Soft, surly, and otherwise uninterested in anything unrelated to hockey. His father, a real-estate tycoon of the outer boroughs, shipped him off to hockey school when he was thirteen. He did not set out to serve his country; he set out to rule the NHL.
Traveling much different paths, they found themselves aligned at the All-Star game this past weekend. But the story goes much deeper…
The Pensblog has reported that hackers who recently attempted to break into the Penguins’ e-mail trove and statistical databases were likely agents of the Russian Federation. We shall see if that suspicion holds up. But what’s undisputed is that the gathering of kompromat—compromising material—is a familiar tactic in Ovechkin’s arsenal. For years, Ovechkin and the Russian intelligence services have been gathering information on opponents, just waiting for the right opportunity to gain an advantage on their greatest Canadian adversary.
Even if the Ovechkin and the Russian government is not responsible for the hack on the Penguins, Ovechkin’s newly found affinity for Crosby is clear. Some part of it may be a matter of kindred temperament.
The fellow-feeling between the two is complex, but it is not hard to see who is attempting to get the better of whom. Ovechkin sees strength and leadership in Crosby and hopes to emulate him. He sees in Crosby a grand opportunity. He perceives Crosby’s openness as weakness and ignorance, a confused mind. He has every hope of exploiting him.
Many would point to Evgeni Malkin, Crosby’s teammate, as the most likely to assist in any potential security breach. However, Malkin is reportedly seeking refuge with the Penguins, far away from the grasps of the Russian Federation. His allegiance to the Penguins has angered leaders in his home country.
From an unnamed Russian source close to TPB:
“An enormous, unforeseen calamity has taken place. The Motherland, our country, a great power, given to us by nature, with its glorious ancestors, is perishing, breaking apart, falling into darkness. And this collapse is taking place with our silent acquiescence and tolerance. Brothers, we are late in waking to this, late in observing the misery when our home is already aflame in every corner. We must extinguish this blaze not with water but with our tears and blood.”
It is safe to say that, on a strictly intellectual level, Crosby understands little of this. In recent days, he has made it plain that he is ignorant of the basics of contemporary Russian and geostrategic reality. In the past, he has declared the ASG “obsolete” and has suggested that he might do away with going all together. Then this weekend, he is there, with Ovechkin chumming it up.
Crosby is muddled in the essentials. He has admitted that he doesn’t read much. It shows. On Sunday, in an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Crosby said that Putin would never send forces into Ukraine. When Stephanopoulos reminded Crosby that “they’re already there,” Crosby simply forged ahead.
When pressed on the relationship with Ovechkin, Crosby remarked, “We were just chatting. We’re both enjoying the opportunity to be here. As you get older you realize the opportunities for this become less and less and you really try to soak it all in, interact with as many guys as you can.”
Hmm.
Ovechkin, however, was more boastful of the newly forged relationship…
Asked Ovechkin if he's buddies with Crosby now. He cracked: "Yeah, best friends. How I always said." #NHLAllStar
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) January 30, 2017
Hmm.
Only time will tell how this affects the Penguins. They will not see the Capitals again until, presumably, the postseason.
Hmm.
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