Elena Alyonka Larionov is an aspiring singer, not a tennis player. She is a Blonde Russian Hottie, but is that where the similarities end? Miss Larionov is the daughter of NHL great, Igor Larionov, who also happened to be Alex Ovechkin’s favorite player growing up. Larionov appeared on American Idol, and has been featured by wonderful sites such as Puck Daddy and Japer’s Rink. Why? Because she attended the NHL Awards Ceremony last year with the aforementioned Alexander Ovechkin. The picture that you have been staring at to the right is the wonderful couple at this event. So of course this appearance started some rumors about Ovechkin and Larionov and possible romance. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review recently caught up with Alyonka, and reported,
Ovechkin, too, is a life-long friend, which is why Alyonka laughed when rumors of a romance began after the two were photographed on the red carpet together at last year’s NHL Awards Ceremony. They’re just friends. “I’ve known him since I was a kid,” Alyonka said. “He asked me to go to the Awards with a large group of friends. I didn’t think people would make such a big deal of that. I also took pictures with (Red Wings forward Pavel) Datsyuk, and no one said anything about me and Datsyuk. I’ve known him my whole life, too.”
So why was a Pittsburgh publication reporting on the young lady? Because Larionov joined the Penguins in December, working with Pens TV, and was recently featured in a video segment called, “Cooking with Geno”. That’s right, she is now being seen with Ovechkin’s Russian rival, Evgeni Malkin.
The video — think “Real World” meets a Russian-born Rachael Ray — caused an Internet sensation, producing more than 58,000 hits in its first two days on the Penguins’ Web site (and quite a stir in Russia, as well). “People keep saying it’s a big deal, and I’m like, ‘It is?'” Alyonka said. “Apparently, it’s like the most-watched thing on the Internet for hockey.”
The Tribune Review continues :
“We should do is a huge (cooking) segment with Geno and Alex. That would be funny! I’m down for that,” Alyonka said. “I’ll give Alex a call and see if he wants to do it.”
So how does all of this relate to Anna Kournikova? Well, she was the Russian born beauty who was once at the center of a controversy involving two of the best hockey players in the NHL, both from Russia : current Capital, Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Bure. Sound familiar? Rumors swirled, with denials coming from all over the place, but eventually Fedorov revealed that he had indeed married and divorced Kournikova. Her people still deny that to this day. From SI.com:
A torrid Russian love triangle involving Fedorov, Bure and Kournikova raged in the tabloids on both sides of the Atlantic with the two multi-millionaire ice hockey players both claiming to be engaged to the tennis diva. Fedorov told The Hockey News that he questioned Kournikova about Bure and wanted to break up but was convinced by the tennis pinup to continue their relationship. “I still don’t know what it was,” Fedorov said. “I read only in magazines what was going on and I basically tried to break up.”
I seem to remember Anna once telling us that she was just “friends” with Sergei and Pavel too. Maybe that word means something different in Russia. So what do you think, is Elena Alyonka Larionov the next Anna Kournikova?
