MONTREAL – It wasn’t quite the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard donning a Superman outfit replete with a cape to win last year’s NBA slam-dunk contest, but Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s reigning crowd-pleaser defended his title in last night’s All-Star breakaway competition while wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses.
“I think the fans have to see how we are and who we are,” Ovechkin, the Caps’ winger, said after scoring on a rebound against a Junior B goaltender in the freestyle competition. “They want to see our skills.”
Ovechkin, who began his move from the blue line using a pair of sticks before discarding one, received help with his props from fellow Russian and rival Evgeni Malkin, with whom he’s been buddy-buddy this weekend.
“This was all for fun,” said Ovechkin, who stuck a miniature Canadian flag in his chapeau, and was declared the winner by getting 42.8-percent of the fans’ text vote. “I think the fans love it.”
If the fans were impressed, so too was Alex Kovalev . . . up to a point.
“It was a fashion shoot and a fashion statement, and that was pretty good,” the Montreal winger said. “But two sticks . . . I think he cheated.”
In other events in the skills competition witnessed by a crowd that gave Tampa Bay center Vincent Lecavalier a roaring standing ovation: Boston’s Zdeno Chara set a record while winning the hardest-shot competition with a blast recorded at 105.4 mph; Edmonton’s Andre Cogliano won the fastest skater competition; and Shane Doan won the shootout contest in which Henrik Lundqvist did not get hurt.
The Rookies beat the Sophomores 9-5 in the Young Guns game during which Marc Staal threw the night’s only check, rubbing out Dallas’ James Neal before going to the net to score.
