First off: the Empire State Building’s lights have nothing on Toronto’s CN Tower. T.O’s architectural marvel has been illuminated nightly in a rainbow of colo(u)rs for over a year, but tonight is the first time that I’ve eye-witnessed it.

Anyway, on to the show. Alex unveiled his new clothing line, with designer Roger Edwards, last night at the Spice Route, a fashionable-enough new hang out in the “Fashion District” of downtown Toronto. The main event took place outside on the venue’s concrete patio, which featured a few potted miniature palm trees (I didn’t touch them to check whether or not they were natural potted plants), plush chocolate-colored seating, glass tables, wicker end-seats, all underneath fixtures resembling Asian paper lanterns. An expansive, breezy lounge for the summer, and likely a welcome addition to Toronto’s summer patio scene.

Waiting for the star of the show to arrive, I met Nate Ewell and Sean Parker from the team’s media department and, a bit later, Tarik El-Bashir, Caps beat writer for the Post. (Tarik and I went to high school together, and its been far too long since we’ve caught up.) Reporters from the NHL Network, NHL.com, SI, the Fan 590, Leafs TV, ET Canada, and local broadcast outlets were present. Coach Bruce and his lovely wife Crsytal stopped by as well. And Lisa Hillary of Comcast SportsNet attended, getting interviews with Alex and Bruce.

The press invitation to the event referenced “some of Canada’s most beautiful models showcasing the new [Ovechkin clothing] line.” And that teaser did not disappoint. I have a sweet event shot with two of them, taken by one of the official photographers, which I may keep to myself (at least until I can get to a scanner).

The clothing line is essentially long and short sleeve black shirts, fleece jackets and hoodies, and baseball and “military-style” caps, all with a distinctive font and logo featuring Alex’s #8. The goods will be available at Pro Hockey Life and, si vous parlez français, Sports Rousseau. Here are some of my photos from the event.

The designs were largely out of Alex’s hands but, perhaps most importantly, he apparently designed the featured logo. According to Sean Parker, Ovie sported the logo on his skates last May at the IIHF Worlds in Russia, well before the clothing line project took flight. Its a good one.

Alex looked pretty wiped out on arrival. Earlier in the day, he did a photo shoot at the Pantages Hotel, which apparently is a favorite for NHL-types. (Additionally, as I learned from Mrs. Boudreau, the hotel was simultaneously hosting movie shoots in the lobby and on the third floor, which led the Mrs. to question why anyone who wanted any manner of peace and comfort would want to stay there.)

At one point during the shoot, according to Tarik, the photographer instructed Alex to position himself on a ledge over which led to a ten story plummet, and portended nothing but doom. We wondered the reaction of his parents or an agent (if Alex had one) upon witnessing such a reckless stunt. When Bruce heard the story, his eyes got wild. His duties might be made a bit more difficult without #8 on the first line.

Alex did say a few words, that he was “happy” and “excited” for the launch, taking some credit for the logo’s design, and that his teammates can get this stuff for free. The red color of the logo signifies Russia, but we can rock the red with it too.

Not sure whether sizes big enough for Bruce or Ted will be produced.

This rookie amateur journalist struggled to get up close during that brief free-for-all interview period. I’ll learn. I always appreciated that a job like Tarik’s was a difficult one, but more so after this poignant experience. Tarik specifically referenced the travel - he was overjoyed upon the post-lockout release of the imbalanced schedule.

Ovechkin wore purposely ripped D&G jeans at the event, but otherwise looked fairly conservative on this occasion. One of the most outlandish items Tarik mentioned observing Alex wear this season was some sort of red track pant which featured denim material at the waist, perhaps as if track pant legs were sewn onto jean shorts.

I also learned that Alex Semin enjoys distinctive footwear - notably some bright red shoes and light grey, suede cowboy boots. Otherwise, while Ovie seems to favor the D&G in most things apparel, Semin wears more classic Hugo Boss suits.

One observation of Bruce which I thought I’d note: he offered a bold view on practice for a such a driven and naturally gifted player as Ovechkin - no practice after February. Most players who get his minutes are so banged up by that time of the season, Coach reasoned, that they need a break from the rigor. And Ovie’s not one that needs steady instruction and motivation. Coach said that he couldn’t recall even a couple of games out of his entire time behind the Caps bench where Ovie didn’t give it his all, every shift, adding that he’s no “floater.” The admiration seems mutual - Parker told me how Ovie’s smile often beams bright and wide in the head coach’s midst.

I also asked Coach whether he had a speech prepared for tomorrow. Nope. But that’s Bruce. He’s an off-the-cuff public speaker.

At about 9 pm, Alex, Bruce and Crystal, and Nate disappeared into the indoor restaurant area for a private dinner. Eventually, Bruce emerged with some relief, commenting on the stuffiness of the dinner portion of the evening, that he no longer had to “keep his nose up.”

Sean Parker, Crystal and I discussed at length the plight of the “hockey mom” (far, far beyond that of the soccer mom) and how difficult it must be for DC metro area families to afford to get their children into hockey, without the serious financial benefactors, both individual and corporate, so prevalent in more “traditional” hockey hotbeds of the US (not to mention how heavily youth hockey is subsidized up here in Canada).

As the evening was winding down, well past the event’s end (and, ultimately, the end of CCM’s bar tab), Bruce joked to Crystal that they must return to their hotel soon because “the gym closes at 1am.” Yeah. Good thing room service at my hotel didn’t shutter until then either.