Mark Spector

Mark Spector is a columnist for sportsnet.ca

Alex Ovechkin will be Canadian enemy No. 1 come February, but you wouldn't know it these days.

VANCOUVER — For those of who go back to 1972, the picture being painted here in Vancouver this week has been — as Alex Ovechkin likes to say — "sick."

"Sick" being defined the old way by those of us who were raised to hate the Big Red Machine, and defined the new way for kids who flock to Ovechkin like the rock star he has become.

There was the best Russian hockey player in the world Thursday evening in Vancouver, bedecked in that iconic striped Hudson’s Bay coat and surrounded by a bunch of Canadian kids who thought they’d died and gone to heaven.

He wouldn’t put on a Team Canada uniform, but he wore "The Coat," which came from the white with multi-coloured stripes Hudson’s Bay blanket, perhaps the most tangible, recognizable piece of Canadianna you’ll ever throw across the back seat of a station wagon for a trip across the Prairies.

The biggest hockey tournament in the world is coming up, and Ovechkin will captain perhaps Canada’s toughest rival. He is the enemy, but in a separator of two hockey generations, he is also the face of NHL 2010 and a YouTube star.

So the whole Canada-Russia thing has evolved into to this: Ovechkin sweeps into Western Canada — where fans of the ’72 Summit Series voiced quiet approval as Bobby Clarke’s vicious slash busted Valeri Kharlamov’s ankle, because Kharlamov was a commie and Clarkie was from Flin Flon — and now we treat him like he is Mick Jagger.

"Same situation when(ever) I come to Canada," shrugged Ovechkin, who has been here since Wednesday. "Lots of interest, lots of media, lots of fans. It’s pretty cool.

"It was a pretty sick time here."

It was here in Vancouver where the Hammer and Sickle arrived 20 years ago, when Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov were part of a 1989 Red Army wave that included Slava Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov in New Jersey, and Sergei Makarov in Calgary.

How far have we come?

Ovechkin has taken Vancouver by storm this week, while Edmonton waits in the cold for Ovechkin to skate out on to Rexall Place ice Saturday night.

"It’s crazy," said Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau. "I asked Alex this morning, ‘Is this more (hype) than Toronto or Montreal?’ he said, ‘It’s like Montreal.’ I think it’s more. It’s unbelievable.’"

The scene at The Bay on Thursday left no doubt: Canada-Russia isn’t what it once was. They aren’t the enemy anymore, first and foremost because no fan of Canadian hockey could ever look at Ovechkin’s game with anything but total respect.

We had a guy like him ourselves once. His name was Mark Messier, and he’d skate past you or through you — your choice — then zip a wrist shop past your goalie from 30 feet. If you pushed him too far, you’d likely finish the game on the trainer’s table.

If the hit was dirty, he might say sorry.

Or not.

In fact, today’s 16-year-old likely finds Ovechkin more "awesome" or "gnarly" than Sidney Crosby, who you would never see entering a visiting arena in ripped jeans and a Cookie Monster T-shirt, as Ovechkin did here Thursday.

Then it was over to The Bay, where Canadians positively gushed over him.

"It was incredible," said Ovechkin. "Don’t know how many people were there, but it was pretty sick."

Two months before the Olympic tournament, Ovechkin has made his way about the city these last few days like a Hollywood star.

"Everyone just comes to me and says ‘What’s up?" he said. "(It’s) pretty cool. I feel like a movie star.’"

Meanwhile, the Canucks themselves have spent the better part of Thursday and Friday debating the merits of Ovechkin. You can almost see Ovechkin saying, "But that’s enough of me talking about me. Why don’t you talk about me for a while?"

"He's by far the best player in this league," Henrik Sedin said.

Roberto Luongo says he is a fan. Coach Alain Vigneault was asked how to defend him, like the rest of one of the best teams in the game doesn’t count.

And Canucks defenceman Willie Mitchell willingly admits, "I love his passion. I love how he plays, how he plays physical. For me, yes, he is probably the most exciting player in the game."

Somewhere that skilled-but-small, not overly physical Russian prototype we all had in our heads — the Pavel Datsyuk, Slava Kozlov, Ilya Kovalchuk kind of player — has gone out the window.

This Russian Messier, we Canadians have to admit, we kind of like him.