Usually professional athletes are targets of autograph seekers. This time, the adoring fan is the athlete.

Prior to his trip to theInternational Space Station (ISS) for 6 months, Expedition 14 Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin autographed his crew photo for another famous Russian: National Hockey League star Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.

A thrilled Ovechkin received the framed photo of the orbiting Tyurin following practice with his Washington Capitals teammates. When Tyurin returns to Earth, he can talk hockey with Ovechkin ― before the cosmonaut took up engineering as a career, he had wanted to grow up to be a hockey player.

Before he heads to space in June 2007, maybe NASA Astronaut Clayton Anderson can send his picture to rightwing Dany Heatley of the Ottawa Senators?