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We love Alex Ovechkin. We also hate Alex Ovechkin. #Enigma

Today on players we love and love to hate: The great 8 himself.

YAAAAAA VERY NICE )))))
YAAAAAA VERY NICE )))))
Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sport
Player we love: Alex Ovechkin

What's not to love about this big, skilled, goofy-as-hell Russian?

Alex Ovechkin has been compared to Sidney Crosby for his entire NHL career, which sucks. Crosby is good. But Ovechkin has basically had to drag the dead weight of the rest of the Capitals' team around with him for the last few years - through coaching changes and coaching styles, trying to make him play more defense when his skill is clearly in the dynamite offense area of the game. He scored 51 goals last year. 51!!! That's the total goal output of Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic from last year put together, PLUS TWO.

He's so good. So, so good. And his personality is hilarious. What other hockey player would:

1. attempt to kill his teammate via some sort of golf cart like contraption

2. Make commercials like THIS

(it's so painful.)

3. Celebrate like this in GOLF

Basically: Ovechkin is hilarious and awesome at hockey and if you disagree, just...watch him score some goals here and re-evaluate your life.

Also, this is from Jess, from the first Capitals Convention, a story which George McPhee told, apparently:

"Apparently GMGM (McPhee) invited Ovi over for a dinner party one of his first years and Ovi got sucked into playing floor hockey goalie with a bunch of kids in the basement before dinner. When GMGM called everyone to dinner Ovi sat there half dressed in goalie gear and figeting unitl GMGM gave up and excused him so he could run back down stairs and keep playing. He also thanked his maid in his Calder acceptance speech."

What a freakin' delight of a human being. Another story, about his first practice with Dynamo Moscow as a kid:

"He was trying to show off and snipe and he kept hitting the veteran goalie right in the face mask. So the goalie pulled him aside and was like "Sasha, if you hit me in the face one more time, I will smash my stick over your head" and Ovi was super apologetic then accidentally hit him in the face again on his next shot. Apparently he had ketchup in his skates for the next few weeks."

Amazing. Also, FIFTY GOALS! Fifty goals. What a guy.

We also need to mention his twitter account:

Player we love to hate: Alex Ovechkin

Seriously, what a dink. He has 422 NHL goals, and 14 of them are against the Bruins. 34 points in 33 games against Boston. And...okay, he wasn't very effective in the 2012 playoffs, the only time the Bruins faced the Capitals while Ovechkin's been on the team.But really, why does a crappy team like the Capitals get to have Ovechkin? Where's our flashy Russian who can score FIFTY GODDAMN GOALS? This isn't fair. I want one and therefore I will hate Ovechkin for not being on my team. The end.

Also - NO ONE MAKES JAGR BLEED HIS OWN BLOOD