Laich Says Young Ovechkin Had Crosby-Beating Ferocity

Brooks Laich is not handing out soft praise here, and that matters because he saw Alex Ovechkin up close when the edges were still razor sharp. His memory of early-career Ovechkin paints a player who brought a level of ferocity that could overwhelm almost anybody, even in the same era as Sidney Crosby. It is the kind of inside-the-room testimony that reminds you how scary Ovechkin looked before years of history turned him into a legend.