When Alexander Semin takes the lead league in points, with 14 in eight games, it is almost news. When Sergei Fedorov matches Alexander Mogilny’s record for NHL goals, it is news. When NHL MVP and ESPN presidential nominee Alexander Ovechkin takes the day off to visit an ailing relative, it is multinational front page headline news.

The Associated Press covered Ovechkin’s day off. The Vancouver Sun covered Ovechkin’s day off. Ovechkin and Pittsburgh Penguin Sidney Crosby are the faces of the NHL. What they do is news. Semin will have to do more than lead the league in scoring after eight games to get his own headlines.

Photo by Eli Resnick