My baby blue eyes must break you. (Russian Esquire Facebook page)

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is on another cover. This time his face graces the front of the December edition of Russian Esquire. The photos were taken by portrait artist Martin Schoeller. Some of the shots were taken at a local Silver Diner.

Ovechkin covers a wide variety of topics in the interview. Here are a few of my favorite nuggets as translated by Olga Fedorova (who literally bought a hard copy in Russia).

Ovechkin on his childhood:

Alex Ovechkin: “I read books only when I was asked at school. And my parents rarely read me fairytales because I lived in a fairytale. It’s only unclear — a good or bad one.”

Ovechkin’s childhood dream:

AO: “To buy a toy store and to play with all the toys.”

On his fashion as a young adult:

AO: “I look at my old clothes and remember back to how I used to dress. When I was 22, I wore crazy things.”

On making the NHL:

AO: “I started playing hockey late and it was unclear until the very last moment if I was talented or not. But it turned out well.”

On fighting:

AO: “I don’t like to fight. I like to watch how others fight.”

On his first love:

AO: “I fell in love for the first time when I was 9. It was in the countryside. Country-style love, we walked around holding hands, her name was Tanya. I visited that village last year to see my friends, I saw her too.”

On his eating habits:

AO: “I can eat anything. After practice I can stop at McDonald’s. I don’t have a problem with gaining weight, thank god.

On beer quality:

AO: “Beer is the same everywhere. After three glasses, you can’t understand if it was good or bad.”

Ovechkin on mortality:

AO: “If I find out I will die tomorrow, I would most likely go to this liquor store and start drinking everything, to forget everything, fall asleep and not wake up. What else would I do?”

Here are a few more photos of the spread from Olga.