FanHouse Iihf World Champions...

What's it like to be 19 and one of the world's top athletes? I'm guessing that Patrick Kane, center for the Chicago Blackhawks, has a pretty good idea. Just a few days back Kane was named NHL Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News, and he made an appearance on Sporting News Radio to talk about the honor.

Which was where Kane, who has traveled pretty extensively as a member of various U.S. national teams, got sidetracked onto a topic most athletes generally don't talk about: Where to find the best looking women:

Once again, FanHouse has gotten passed an English translation of an interview that's appeared in the pages of Sovetsky Sport. Today, we're able to share a translation of an interview conducted by the folks at Sovetsky with Sergei Fedorov, late of the Washington Capitals. Fedorov is in Quebec City with the Russian National Team competing in the IIHF World Championships. Thanks once again to Sovetsky's Washington correspondent, Dmitriy Chesnokov, for giving us a hand.

Sergei Fedorov scored the game winner against Switzerland (5:3). After the game he met with Pavel Lysenkov at Hotel Concorde, right after dinner.

To be honest, the plans were to do a long interview with questions about the distant Soviet past [the last time Sergei played at the Worlds was when the Soviet Union still existed]. To debut for Team Russia at World Championships at 38 is a unique fact in itself. Just for that fact one can write odes to Sergei. But Fedorov did not want to talk about it:

"Oh, no, I will only talk about the game against Switzerland. If I start kicking up the past, my brain will start working backwards. And I need to look forward and not lose my concentration. Playoffs are close."

Every once in a while, FanHouse gets passed an English translation of an interview with Washington's Alex Ovechkin that's appeared in the pages of Sovetsky Sport. Today, once again, we're able to pass along a translation of his most recent talk with the folks at Sovetsky after he was named "Athlete of the Month," by the newspaper and one of its television partners.

The biggest news in the interview -- it looks like the refs working the worlds are getting the same sort of reviews the refs working the Stanley Cup Playoffs are getting. In other words, they stink (but you already knew that). Thanks to Dmitry Chesnokov, Sovetsky Sports' Washington correspondent, for the translation, which follows:

As a result of a poll conducted by "Sport" [Russia's public sports channel] and Sovetsky Sport [Russia's largest newspaper], Washington Capitals and Russian national team forward Alexander Ovechkin was named Athlete of the Month in April. Alex received 51.4% of the vote, overtaking Evgeni Malkin who received 48.6%. This interview Alexander Ovechkin gave to Pavel Lysenkov and Vitaly Slavin of Sovetsky Sport in Hotel Concorde two hours after the end of the Russia-Sweden game [3:2], where Alex the Great scored the game winner.