#8 - Ovechkin

You’re So Vain - Carly Simon(Cover)

The obnoxiously loud sound, got closer and closer. “And… that’s Alex Ovechkin, of course.” Ben added, nodding towards the direction of the insufferable noise.
I turned around, only to come face-to-face with three people. Alex stood in the middle, with two blond girls on either side; shooting icy glares at me - the way only Russian women can. “Alex, no guests in the locker room during practices, you know the drill.” Rolling his eyes, Alex unwound himself from his ’guests’, moving past me towards his stall.
Pouting, the two women left, waving over their shoulders as the door swung shut behind them. “Alright Alex, I was just saying to everyone else - this is Jespin… Landry and James Dowling… our new medical interns for the year.”

Alex grunted, not bothering to look up as he went about changing out of his street clothes. “Hey Ben, can you send someone out here to help me with some wraps?” I turned towards the sound of the voice. A pretty red-head was peaking her head around the door, worry crossing her face.

“Sure, sure… hey Jespin, how about you go help Georgia and I’ll show James where the storage room is?” I nodded before following the red-head out the door.

“Thanks a lot!” She said once we were heading down the hallway. “We had a couple staff members leave so… it’s pretty busy… game days are gonna be killer.” She sighed as she pushed open another door with her back, leading me into the large examination room that Mike had taken me to earlier. “Normally this is where we do all the wraps and stuff, when guys want them, they’ll come in here… sometimes you gotta go find them though.” She laughed and shook her head, like something she said was humorous.
Shrugging my shoulders I followed her through the room and into a small hallway. There was a line of door; offices of some sort. “Intern offices.” She explained, “one of these will be yours… you’ll have to check with Ben though…”

She grabbed an arm full of red and white tape from a locker before moving back out into the examination room. “So, is it a requirement that the guys have to wear wraps?” I asked, unsure as to why they were making such a big deal out of something as trivial as that.

“No, but most people do when they feel a strain or are just coming off an injury. Start of the season most of them want to take the stress off something… getting back into the swing of things I suppose…” She trailed off as the door opened and a number of guys walked through.

They moved past us, laughing and chatting as they hopped up onto tables; waiting. I wrapped two knees while Georgia did an ankle and elbow.
She was starting another ankle when I approached her and she smiled at me over her shoulder. “Alex needs a knee wrapped, but he’s usually stubborn about it… we have no choice though, franchise player and all, the organization won’t take chances.” I nodded, sighing slightly as I grabbed an unopened wrap before heading back to the locker room.


He wasn’t hard to find. Standing in the middle of the hallway, talking five decibels louder than everyone else around him, he stood with his hands on his hips. He didn’t look like a hockey player, let alone a ’superstar’.
His muscles were deformed but small under the tight fit of his under-armor. I couldn’t help but compare him to Sidney - they were both suppose to be phenoms after all.
Alex stood a few inches higher, maybe twenty-five or thirty pounds heavier; but the differences were immense. Where Sidney was built and filled out, Alex was lean and taunt.

I slowed down my step, taking timid steps towards his back. I was nervous, but I wasn’t sure why; maybe I was scared of him being an asshole, maybe I was slightly star-struck. Either way, I moved at a snails pace until Mike noticed me. “Hey Jespin.” He said ginning at me, causing Alex to turn around for the first time.

I approached the two guys, trying to appear confident and sure. “Hey… ready for practice?”

“Who’s that?” Alex asked. He turned and directed his question at Mike, not at me; like I couldn’t answer for myself.

“One of the new medical interns… if you paid attention you’d know that.” Mike grumbled, rolling his eyes and shooting me an apologetic glance.

Alex turned back around towards me, looking me up and down, finally settling on a ’that’d do’ type of expression. “I don’t need that.” He snapped, pointing down at the wrap I held in my hands.

“Don’t be a dick Ovie, you know you have to.” Mike said giving him a shove in my direction.

Sauntering past me, he didn’t look back to see if I was following or not. He moved with poise and confidence, walking back to the locker-room like he owned the place; which in a sense he does, I suppose… that thought agitated me more than it should of.

He flopped down on the bench, nodding towards the floor. I rolled my eyes and squatted down as he extended his left leg towards me. I started to expertly pull the bandaging around his knee, trying to touch his actual skin as little as possible. “You’re a fan?” He asked smugly, leaning back and watching me work.

“Sorry?”

“You’re a fan of mine.” He repeated, this time it wasn’t a question.

“Actually no… I’m not. I just want to work for the NHL someday and I got to school in Washington so - this is the logical choice.” He tilted his head to the side, gazing at me hard.

“It’s alright… I won’t tell everyone else that I’m your favourite.” He said smugly, pulling his leg back once he saw that I was finished. “Not bad, needs work though.” He added as he studied my handiwork.
He rolled the black spandex back over the wrap before getting up. He stretched his leg out a few times and nodded to himself as he walked away from me; leaving me sitting on the floor.



“Wasn’t too hard on you, I hope?” Mike asked as he walked up beside me. “Ovie, I mean.” He explained further after I shot him a questioning glance.

“Oh, no… not too bad. He’s a little…” I tilted my head, grinning sheepishly as certain inappropriate words echoed through my mind.

“Yah.” He agreed smiling, not needing me to say anything out loud. They saw each other almost everyday; of course Mike already knew what he was like. “He’s a good guy once you get passed all the… pretence.” I nodded, trying to appear like I was giving him the benefit of the doubt; I wasn’t though, too many preconceived biases for that.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you on Tuesday… excited for your first game?” I asked, trying to hide the worry in my voice. I was still learning and after talking to Ben some more I wasn’t sure I was ready to take on such a large responsibility.

“Yah, should be a good time. Hopefully we’ll win it…” He added wistfully, and I couldn’t help but smile at the longing in his voice. “Anyway I have to jet… you need a drive somewhere? It looks like it’s gonna rain…”

I turned around and followed his gaze out the front doors of the arena. The sky was dark and overcast, covering the city in a dull, gloomy, grey. “No, that’s alright. It’s not too far, and I need to wait for Ben anyway…”
He nodded, giving me a goodbye smile before heading out the doors.

“See ya Tuesday.” I waved goodbye at his back, leaning against the front counter; waiting for Ben.


Ben gave me a schedule and some forms to give out to my professors at school; letting them know about absences and any conflicting schedules that could occur.
I clutched them against my stomach, under my shirt; trying my best to keep them dry as the rain pelted down on me. Of course I had my new uniforms with me, but I had them bundled up in front of me, trying to keep those relatively dry as well.

A car honked at me a few times from the road and I glanced over my shoulder at it. A yellow Lamborghini was rolling to a stop behind me; the rain bouncing harmlessly off it’s polished finish. The windows were tinted a midnight black; to the point where I couldn’t see who was inside.
I stopped walking and took a step towards it as the passenger side window rolled down. “Get in!” A man’s voice yelled to me from inside. I bent in low and looked in. Ovechkin… I groaned internally.

I thought about turning around and continuing on my way home; but decided against it. Muttering a few choice words about timing and people I would rather be getting a drive with, I climbed into the expensive sport car. Slamming the door shut I glanced over at the driver - who was grinning back at me. “Where do you live?” He asked, pulling the car back into drive and speeding off.

“Umm… just by the mall is fine if you don’t mind… I have some things I need to pick up.” It was a lie, but I was sure his overly large head didn’t pick up on that; the last thing I needed was for him to know where I lived.

I tried to keep my eyes on the windshield, and not on the greedy eyes that were traveling the length of my body. “So, you want me to wait for you… go back to your place after?”

He raised his eyebrows at me and my mouth fell open. No one is that full of it… it’s not possible… as I stared at him; I realized that it was possible. No, not just possible… positive.
“Umm, no. No thanks. See you Tuesday…” I sighed, reaching for the handle as we came to a stop in front of the mall.

“Alright, you can make it up to me after the game.”

I froze, turning around to stare at him. “I’m sorry, make what up to you?” I snapped; un-freakin-believable…

“That.” He said pointing at the seat behind me. “You got the leather wet. Don‘t worry though, you weren‘t the first” He smirked to himself, grinning at his sexual innuendo.

I sat still, staring at him for another full minute before I got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind me.
I took off in the opposite direction of the mall, not caring that he was most likely still watching me.
I splashed through the puddles, realizing that my new sneakers were probably destroyed; I didn’t care. What’s a ruined pair of sneakers if it means less time with him?

It wasn’t like I should have expected anything different. The guys had always told me he was the most arrogant, superficial person on the ice; I had always assumed that they were exaggerating, but now I knew.
Now I knew for sure that Alex Ovechkin was just as horrible as everyone said.