Ovechkin delights in World Cup debut
The Russians have never been known for force-feeding youngsters onto their national teams so it was not unusual when Alexander Ovechkin, the ballyhooed left winger, sat out the first two games of the World Cup. But when the top overall pick in the June draft made his debut, a lot of eyes were opened. The 18-year-old Ovechkin scored one goal and nearly had another as Russia defeated Slovakia 5-2. Ovechkin’s goal was Team Russia’s final marker, but even before that he had captured the fans’ attention at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. “We’d all like to see more of Ovechkin,” wrote columnist Damien Cox in the Toronto Star, who said the teenager overcame early jitters by the third period and turned into “one of his team’s most dangerous-looking attackers.” “I played against the best in…
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