Alexander Ovechkin

www.layoutpimper.comMy full name is Alexander Mikhailovich Ovechkin. I am the son of Tatiana and Mikhail. I was born on September 17, 1985 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR (now Moscow, Russia). My mother, Tatiana, won two Olympic gold medals while competing for the Soviet basketball team in the 1976 Summer Olympics at Montreal and in 1980 at Moscow. I wear the number 8 in honor of her because that is the number she wore. The first signs of my future came when I was a child. At the age of two, in a Soviet toy store, I grabbed a toy stick and helmet and refused to let go. I began playing hockey at the age of seven. Soon after I began, however, I had to postpone my hockey career because my parents were unable to take me to the rink and well the rest is just history in the making. Now for my hockey carrer. I'm a product of Dynamo Moscow's hockey school, I made my debut on the Super League club two seasons ago. During the summer of 2002, I earned ice time on Dynamo's second and third lines, establishing myself in the Super League (Russia 1). While I started the 2002-03 season off strong, my performance tailed off towards the end due to fatigue. I spent several games on the bench or in a more limited role, returning to my early-season form and finished the season strong. I started the 2003-04 season on Dynamo's top line, playing a key role in Dynamo's early success. I also earned the distinction of being the youngest player on Russia's senior national team, when Viktor Tikhonov invited me to join the squad prior to the Ceska Poistovna EuroTour tournament. I made my national team debut in style, skating the entire tournament on Russia's top line with former NHLer and one of Russia's top sniper, Maxim Sushinsky. I continued to skate on Russia's top line throughout the EuroTour and was also on Russia's 2004 World Championships squad, though in a more limited fourth line role. I missed the 2003 NHL Entry Draft eligibility date by just a day.