"I don't want to see it," the 23-year-old Russian said Wednesday after getting eliminated from the NHL Charity Shootout poker tournament at the Rio.

Ovechkin, arguably the most colorful and exciting player in the NHL, is visiting Las Vegas for the first time for today's NHL Awards show at the Palms.

The left wing cleaned up at last year's show in Toronto, where he became the first player to win the Hart Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the league's MVP; the Lester B. Pearson Award, which is awarded to the league's outstanding player as picked by the NHL Players Association; the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, which goes to the leading goal scorer; and the Art Ross Trophy, which is awarded to the leading point scorer.

Ovechkin already has earned his second straight Rocket Richard Trophy after leading the NHL with 56 goals this season.

In fact, he was the only player in the league to score 50 or more and joined Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy as the only players to notch three 50-goal seasons in their first four years in the NHL.

Ovechkin, who finished with 110 points this season, also has scored at least 100 points in each of his 50-goal seasons, settling for 46 goals and 92 points in his second season.

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin won this year's Art Ross Trophy with 113 points and, along with Ovechkin and Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk, is a finalist for the Hart and Pearson awards.

It's the first time in NHL history that all three finalists for either award are Russians.

"It's good for Russia hockey, for sure," said Ovechkin, who was born and raised in Moscow and whose parents were both star athletes in Russia -- with his mother a two-time Olympic gold medalist in basketball for the former Soviet Union.

But Ovechkin hasn't always gotten along well with Malkin, who was drafted second in 2004, one spot behind Ovechkin.

The two appeared to patch things up at this year's NHL All-Star Game, where Malkin handed Ovechkin a floppy hat and huge pair of sunglasses to wear during the Breakaway Challenge. But it didn't sound as though they were best buddies Wednesday, when Ovechkin was asked if he got along with his two fellow Russian finalists.

"No, not along," he said. "I talk to Datsyuk, but not with Malkin."

Ovechkin still might be smarting from his team's loss to the Penguins, because he also had no interest in talking about Pittsburgh's other young superstar, center Sidney Crosby, who surprisingly isn't a finalist for any award today.

"I don't want to talk about it, about him," said Ovechkin, who gives himself a "50-50 chance" to repeat as the Hart winner.

If he does win again, he would become the first player in 11 years (Dominik Hasek in 1998) and first forward in 24 years (Gretzky in 1985) to do so.

But, no matter how many individual awards Ovechkin piles up -- and it could be plenty since he's yet to hit his prime -- he'd trade them all for one Stanley Cup.

"We were close (this season)," he said. "But not close enough."

• NOTE -- The NHL Awards will be broadcast live from the Palms, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Versus (67). Fans can watch players and celebrities arrive on the red carpet in front of the Palms from 3:15 to 4. Past and present players expected to attend include Ovechkin, Malkin, Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom, Mike Richards, Kris Versteeg, Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas, Tony Esposito, Sergei Fedorov, Doug Gilmour, Pat LaFontaine, Brian Leetch, Mark Messier, Stan Mikita, Joe Nieuwendyk, Luc Robitaille, Jeremy Roenick and others. Celebrity presenters are expected to include Michael Buble, Kevin Connoly and Jerry Bruckheimer, along with show performers Robin Thicke and Chaka Khan.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.