No, he's not related to Alexander, the Russian superstar who won the National Hockey League scoring title this season.

But he is part of an interesting story nevertheless.

This Ovechkin, Leonid, is one of 11 Russian players who are coming to Whitby next week to join up with eight players from the Whitby Wildcats to form a unique tournament team.

The squad, made up of 1994-born players, will have an exhibition game May 22 at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre against the Clarington Toros and then play tournaments in Toronto and Montreal on successive weekends.

The connection between the two teams comes from Whitby goalie Emerson Verrier, who played in Russia for five years while his father worked for a New York law firm in Moscow.

It was enhanced more than a year ago when a Russian team visited Canada for a tournament and had its players billeted by players on the team in which Verrier now plays.

The idea was hatched by Verrier's wife, Celia, and made possible by several people and organizations on both sides of the world, including Russian coach Mikhail Vasilevskiy, who will guide this team.

"It's really unusual and I think one of the best experiences that might come out of this is the understanding of how much they have in common," says Celia Verrier. "I think the bond they'll develop playing alongside each other is much stronger than the bond they develop when they come to a tournament and play with people from their own country against other countries."

The itinerary will be a busy one and include much more than hockey, including trips to the Hockey Hall of Fame, Niagara Falls, and Canada's Wonderland.