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Washington Capitals: Alex Ovechkin’s ESPY win a big deal

By Ron Juckett

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 18: Actor Kate Beckinsale accepts the Best Male Athlete award on behalf of NHL player Alexander Ovechkin onstage at The 2018 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater on July 18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 18: Actor Kate Beckinsale accepts the Best Male Athlete award on behalf of NHL player Alexander Ovechkin onstage at The 2018 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater on July 18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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The Washington Capitals forward, Alex Ovechkin, won the ESPY for Male Athlete of the year. The honor is a huge boos not only for him, but the entire NHL.

Washington Capitals megastar Alex Ovechkin added another award to his overstuffed mantel Wednesday night, the ESPY Male Athlete of the Year.

Yes, sports award shows are an oxymoron. It is the one profession where winning earns rewards for all to see on a nightly business. If you are good at a sport-playing job, you win trophies to begin with. Handing out an award for already winning a trophy is redundant.

But, in this case, we will make an exception.

Ovechkin was one of two nominees to win an overall championship in the last year. Jose Altuve led the Houston Astros to their first World Series win is the other.

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Fellow nominee Tom Brady’s New England Patriots lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. (An event anyone from Philly and their grandchildren will never let the rest of us mortals forget.) And James Harden’s Houston Rockets failed to make it out of the Western Conference.

How Steph Curry, LeBron James or Cristiano Ronaldo were not nominated for a global award is better left for other websites. They were eligible.

Although for you Ovechkin’s heroics are well known and worthy of honor, he is the first hockey player ever to win that ESPY. Not Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman or any other Hockey Hall of Fame player who owned the sport since the show started in 1993.

For the sport and the National Hockey League, this is a huge shot in the arm.

Ovechkin’s infectious enthusiasm crosses all the boundaries. The sheer joy of him parading around the Stanley Cup in Washington and Moscow transcends sports. How could anyone, outside Pittsburgh, see those images and not smile? Okay, even Sidney Crosby cracked a grin.

All the nominees play with a fire and passion beyond normal. Brady nearly won his sixth Super Bowl. Altuve refuses to take no for an answer. Harden is the quietest NBA superstar since Tim Duncan. All three have legitimate cases.

Yet, the honor goes to Ovechkin.

Those hours on the ice at practice or the endless bad press after a season flopped made him a better player. For Ovechkin, it is a good ego boost. He has found it difficult to celebrate anything recently.

Wait, he has not stopped celebrating his championship. Being a force on the ice, all those hard moments which teach character, patience and understanding. Those traits won him a Cup.

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For ESPN to recognize Alex Ovechkin is huge. Casual sports fans will consider him elite. As for the Washington Capitals and NHL, you cannot buy that publicity. Build on it.

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