During a brief lull between drills, the player who is the focus of everyone's attention raises his stick waist high and makes the puck dance, flipping it in the air and making it softly land on one side of the blade, then the other.

In a snapshot, that's Alexander Ovechkin, whose dreamy blend of brute force, delicate hands, and uninhibited love for the game has turned up hockey fever in the nation's capital as never before.

"I've been on teams with a lot of skilled players, but I've never seen anyone who loves the game as much as he does," said Donald Brashear, a former Flyer who throws punches for the Caps. "That kind of love for the game was lacking in some of the other top players I've been around. So he's unusual. He brings intensity and joy to every game. He makes you want to go harder. He gives you goose bumps."

Later, after the 22-year-old Ovechkin pulls off his pads and jersey, revealing the physique of an NFL linebacker, he seems embarrassed by the attention he's receiving as he prepares for his first NHL playoff series, which will open tonight against the Flyers at the Verizon Center.

He acknowledges that the Flyers are one of the hardest teams to play against because they are so physical. For Ovechkin, who in his first NHL game shattered the glass by driving an opponent into it, the Flyers represent a chance for him to have a great time.

"I like to play against Philly," he said. "They're one of my favorite teams to play against. If they hit me, good for them. Then I'll try to hit them back and score some goals. I don't care if somebody hits me. I like it."

Anticipating the brutal treatment he may get, Ovechkin shrugs.

"I think in playoffs everybody can do some, you know, some bad things like cheap shots," he said. "But if they take a penalty, it's good for us."

In hockey discussions, the favorite topic these days is which player one would choose to build a team around, Ovechkin or Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby. It's a tough choice, except when it comes to entertainment value.

"I think Ovechkin might be the most exciting player to watch since Bobby Orr," said Michael Farber, the veteran hockey writer for Sports Illustrated.

Of course, there is no such debate among Capitals fans, whose numbers have grown significantly in the three years since the left wing his teammates call Ovie has been with the club. Anyone who believes Caps owner Ted Leonsis was crazy in January when he signed Ovechkin to a 13-year contract worth $124 million should think again.

The Caps were attracting fewer fans than any team in the NHL before last season. The last time they made the playoffs, in 2003, they didn't even sell out. With Ovechkin, Leonsis told the Wall Street Journal, attendance is up 25 percent, and there's a 90 percent renewal for season tickets. The first two games of the series against the Flyers sold out in minutes, and revenues are up 22 percent over last season.

So Ovechkin, who should win the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player, not only showed his ability to score - 65 goals this season, the most by any player in 11 years - but also his power to lure suburbanite fans wary of trekking to downtown Washington and the Verizon Center.

Some of those in the seats will be guests of Ovechkin, who purchased eight season tickets to every home game and donates them to soldiers and needy children as part of his Alex Ovechkin Crazy 8's program. (He wears No. 8.)

Washington's love affair with Ovechkin has nothing on his home country. Reporters from two Russian sports journals cover every Capitals home game. One of them said Ovechkin was the country's most popular athlete.

The other day, a reporter representing a Russian television network was at practice. She asked Ovechkin if he was aware that Russian hockey fans planned to set their alarms for 3 a.m. to watch the Capitals.

"I know for sure that my friends and their friends will," Ovechkin said. "I know for sure everybody will be screaming and maybe drink beer at 3 a.m."

There's a belief that with four prominent Russian players - Ovechkin, Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Semin and Viktor Kozlov - the Capitals have replaced Detroit as Russia's team. In our nation's capital yet. Imagine that.

His countrymen, though, know Ovechkin, the first Russian to lead the league in both goals and points, is the draw.

"This is the first player I've seen who does everything," said the 33-year-old Kozlov, who plays on Ovechkin's line, which is centered by talented rookie Nicklas Backstrom. "He can hit. He can score. He can pass. You give him the puck and get out of his way. I've never seen anyone get so pumped up when he scores. He has a lot of energy in his body. And he will get better. How much better? Time will tell."

Once Russia's most famous hockey player, the 38-year-old Fedorov was acquired from Columbus in a Feb. 28 trade and put on the first power-play unit with Ovechkin.

Ovechkin also led the league with 22 power-play goals and pumped 446 shots on net, second-most in NHL history behind the record 550 set by Boston's Phil Esposito in 1970-71.

Fedorov, who won three Stanley Cup titles with Detroit, said it didn't take long for him and Ovechkin to mesh.

"Alex has a great shot, and I try to pass him the puck as much as I can and put him in a good position to shoot," Fedorov said. "Obviously, he's proved all season he can score."

Dynamic superstar generates hockey fever in Washington

NHL Playoffs

Flyers vs. Capitals

TV/Radio: CSN; WIP-AM (610).

Playoff preview: Different paths to playoffs; how to handle Ovechkin. E7.

Bumped: R.J. Umberger goes to the fourth line and Sami Kapanen is out of the lineup. E11.