If you’ve ever wanted to see one of hockey’s greatest current players drive down Sixth Avenue on a Zamboni then your dreams have come true.  Alex Ovechkin did just that by jumping aboard a customized Zamboni and driving one block up the street to the NHL Store Powered by Reebok.  It’s all part of the NHL Player Media Tour happening in New York this week, as well as an effort to promote the new NHL 2K10 video game of which Ovechkin’s likeness is the cover art.

After driving the Zamboni up the block, he jumped down and entered the store where he proceeded to face off against several competitors on the new Wii game.  16 other players joined Ovechkin in Manhattan for the Media Tour, including Boston’s Zdeno Chara and Tim Thomas.  The players were promoting what we all expect to be a brilliant 2009-10 season, which kicks off in Stockholm on October 4.  Besides facing plenty of press, the players were also making appearances, filming promotional clips and meeting and greeting fans.

In other off ice news, the Penguins have crashed the White House to meet with President Obama.  As part of their visit, they also took to the ice to play with the oldest minority youth hockey club in the country as part of the United We Serve program to promote community service.  This is only one of the events running in conjunction with the September 11 Day of Remembrance.

With less than a week to go before the preseason gets underway, it’s good to see the players out and about.  Check out Ovechkin’s joy ride in the video below and stay tuned for reports on the preseason action.

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