PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – He played against Alexander Ovechkin in one of the greatest hockey series this millennium, what Tyler Kennedy told the Fan Morning Show about the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer on Tuesday.
You have to think back to the matchups between the Pens and Caps, whether postseason or regular season, the image of Alexander Ovechkin is probably one of emotion. Excited, angry, disappointed, screaming, it’s the pictures in your mind of Ovechkin. Kennedy, however, told Adam Crowley and Dorin Dickerson he found a different side.
He met him really for the first time at the All-Star Game in Miami a few years ago, and the once opponents in marquee NHL games sat down for a beer.
“When I met him, he was like the nicest guy,” Kennedy said on 93.7 The Fan. “He remembered me. Just talked about those rivalries, he’s a very relaxed guy. He’s a lot easier going than some other guys around the league.”
It’s much different than the Russian he saw in a Caps jersey.
“Back in the day, he was a guy you wanted to kill because he was such a great player,” Kennedy told the Fan Morning Show. “You had to keep your head up. At the beginning of Ovechkin’s career, he’d catch you with your head down.”
“He played a heavy, reckless game. There was a lot of, not hatred, but pretty close.”
Kennedy said he talked his Brooks Orpik, who was a teammate of Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, and he said the one thing they have in common is how hard they compete and how badly each wants to win.
The memory of the 2009 series between the Pens and Caps is something Kennedy cherishes. Ovechkin had eight goals and six assists, Crosby had eight goals and five assists, Evgeni Malkin had 10 points, Nicklas Backstrom with eight, Kris Letang and Bill Guerin each had three goals as the Pens won it 6-2 in Game 7 in Washington DC.
“It’s one of those series, when I look back on my career, that I will never forget,” Kennedy said. “Just because of how much talent was on the ice. How it went back and forth. How guys like Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin really brought their game to the next level and put on a show for the world to watch.”
“It started with Marc-Andre Fleury making that huge stop in the first period against Ovechkin (on a breakaway).”
It’s hard to envision a relaxed Ovechkin, but it’s that intense player and those games that brought out best in those players and the league.