A star worth selling

ATLANTA — Alex Ovechkin passed Sidney Crosby on the season scoring list Thursday night. His NHL-record $124 million contract signed earlier this month far surpassed Crosby’s deal.

Ovechkin also has helped rescue his once woeful Washington Capitals and could make the playoffs for the first time in his career, while Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins will try to keep a tenuous hold of a postseason spot while their superstar misses several weeks with an ankle injury.

Still the one area in which the two phenoms do not compare is off-ice revenue. Crosby has become a marketing entity with no NHL rivals, an endorsement juggernaut who is measured against top superstars from other major sports.

That is something Team Ovechkin is out to change.

“It is time for Alex to do business on a different level,” said Konstantin Selinevich, who has become the man behind the business of Alex Ovechkin. “We all know he and Crosby are the faces of the NHL. I think he has backed that up with the results. Some guys have got the big contracts and not done as well, but Alex has been even better.”

People in the hockey community questioned why Ovechkin fired super agent Don Meehan in November 2006, but with the help of Selinevich, his parents and his brother, Mikhail Jr., the Caps’ All-Star left wing has done well for himself financially and his portfolio is far from a finished product.

Crosby has become a mini-mogul, with television commercials, mainstream magazine covers and pictorials as well as the perception that the NHL has put all of its proverbial eggs in his basket.

“Sid is not just selling to the hockey people, he’s selling to the masses — to everybody, to people who don’t even know hockey,” Caps goaltender Olie Kolzig said. “I don’t know if outside of hockey, Ovie is that big of a guy. Give him some time though. There might be some overexposure with Sid eventually and people might look for a new approach and go after Ovie. I think he’d be a great salesman. He’s very charismatic. I don’t know if he has a face for TV, but he has a knack for it.”

Indeed, Ovechkin the actor has been a big hit. He has done commercials for the NHL and for the team, including a popular one with majority owner Ted Leonsis and a vending machine last season.

“I just have fun with it,” Ovechkin said. “I am a hockey player, not a TV star.”

Ovechkin has several endorsement deals, including CCM, Upper Deck, Elite Hockey and Hype energy drink, and Selinevich said he is working through the details on more deals. To help manage the business aspect, Selinevich and Mikhail Jr. have set up a company to market Ovechkin called Great Eight.

“I think the comparisons with Crosby are subtle things and sometimes not-so-subtle things that happen to put one guy ahead of others,” Caps director of media relations Nate Ewell said. “The other thing and this isn’t the league’s fault, but Reebok has pinned more on Sidney than CCM has on Alex. That’s all one company but different brands. … Certainly there has been more mainstream Reebok advertising for Sidney.”

While Reebok has produced a Crosby-inspired “Rbk SC87” clothing line, Selinevich said CCM is about to do the same with Ovechkin. The company has created different styles and designs for Ovechkin to approve, and he will meet with CCM representatives next week for another batch of test subjects.

Selinevich said he expects the clothing line to debut after the World Championships in Canada in May.

“The clothes are more sporty looking,” Selinevich said. “It is a cool logo and the clothes will be like Alex. He has a crazy personality and likes crazy colors.”

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