Ever since Brandon Duhaime got on all fours and barked like a dog (), there's been some magic in the air. Alex Ovechkin made history by becoming the only player in NHL history to score 900 goals. Meanwhile, Duhaime began chasing a franchise record of his own. After going goalless in the first 14 games of the season, Duhaime has scored in three consecutive games - a career high.
Friday, two players from the KHL team Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, Roman Gorbunov and Vladimir Galkin, did their best "Doggie" impersonation inside their locker room. Galkin, the goaltender, put his goalie stick inside the jersey collar of Gorbunov, the team's leading goal-scorer, and walked him around the room like a dog. Of course, there's barking. Their teammates were amused. On the team's Telegram account, Avtomobilist wrote, "Washington vs. Avtomobilist's pregame ritual 😁," per a Google translation.
Alex Ovechkin is one of the biggest stars in NHL history. But that status has never changed who he is: a pretty normal dude. Ovechkin wears Nike shirts off the ice and pairs his Subway and Flamin' Hot Cheetos with a six pack of beer on the team plane. He loves carbs and drinks soda on the bench during games. He's also a little less refined in other ways.