Ovechkin secures MVP trophy
LAS VEGAS — Alex Ovechkin is again Alex The Great, but he'd rather be known as Alex the Champ.
The fun of repeating as league MVP and snagging the NHL Players' Association award for most outstanding player isn't enough to satisfy the itch.
"Well, uh, thanks to everybody, but first I want to say congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins for winning the Stanley Cup," Ovechkin told an audience after winning the Lester B. Pearson Award, his first jackpot at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas Thursday night.
The sentiment was the same he expressed last year, after taking home the Hart Award following a first-round loss in the playoffs.
This year, voters overwhelmingly picked Ovechkin over Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin and Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk, awarding him 115 of 131 first-place votes to make him the first back-to-back Hart winner since Buffalo goalie Dominik Hasek in 1997 and '98.
But Malkin and Datsyuk have titles, while Ovechkin does not.
"It's always fun when you win something," the 23-year-old winger said.
Ovechkin was the league's biggest star in its attempt to glitz up its annual awards, emerging as the NHL's headliner in its first year moving the show from Toronto to Las Vegas.
But celebrity appearances and an extra-long red carpet weren't required on this night — Ovechkin stood out above the rest during a year he led the league with 56 goals and was second with 110 points.
"It's important for me. What I'm doing on the ice, it's working and I don't want to stop," Ovechkin said. "Right now, I just want a vacation," said Ovechkin, who won $10,000 for the award.
Malkin took home $6,000 for second place and Datsyuk $4,000 for third.
Malkin settled for being a finalist after winning the regular season and playoff scoring titles. Votes were cast before the Penguins' run to the Stanley Cup championship.
