ALEX THE GREAT 8

Alex Ovechkin almost stopped playing hockey.

His mother Tatyana was a basketball player, his father Mikhail was a soccer player, and they were traveling with their teams, leaving no one to take young Alex to practice. Coach Vyacheslav Kirillov begged Tatyana to get him back into the sport until she gave in.

Good thing, too. Raised in the final years of the Soviet sports system by parents who were already accomplished athletes, Ovechkin was given every chance to succeed, and he has evolved into a superstar on the ice.

The top NHL draft pick by the Washington Capitals in 2004, over 20 years Ovechkin became a Stanley Cup champion and teammates watched him develop into a husband, father and a generous person, paying for dinners on the road and growing reflective on his career and accomplishments. Next on that list will be breaking Wayne Gretzky's career goals record.

"He was a very, very bright young man in terms of his goal-setting for his life," said Hockey Hall of Famer Igor Larionov, who met Ovechkin as a teenager. "He was determined. He was one of the fastest players on the ice, and he had a purpose. Every time he stepped on the ice, he was going to be the best."

Born Sept 17, 1985, and coming of age just as the Soviet Union was giving way to a new Russia, Ovechkin was drawn to the game through his father.

"He would go on some trips and bring me some goalie helmets," Ovechkin once recalled. "I didn't know what it was, except it was something about hockey, and when I was a little kid, everything was about hockey, hockey, hockey."

Ovechkin was 14 when Larionov, by that time already a three-time Cup champion, sat with him in the locker room and shared some advice about doing extra summer training and committing to training in the gym.

"He knew at home, from the parents, from mom and dad, to be successful you have to be determined to do extra things off the ice, on the ice and follow the right steps," Larionov said. "It's synergy between genetics from his parents, his approach to the game, his drive, his fire, his power that made him a great player."

At 17, Ovechkin scored a tournament-best six goals in seven games to help Russia repeat as world junior champion, and was again the leading scorer the following year as he emerged as the top prospect in the NHL draft, just ahead of countryman Evgeni Malkin.

The lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 season delayed Ovechkin's North American arrival, but on his first shift, Ovechkin hit an opponent so hard he dislodged the partition holding the plexiglass together. He also scored career goals No 1, then goal No 2 on the way to getting 52 of them and being named rookie of the year.

Ovechkin led the NHL in goals and points in 2008-09, helping the Capitals make the playoffs in his third season, and first of three as NHL MVP.

Forever young

Ovechkin was surrounded by young talent in his early years in Washington. Center Nicklas Backstrom, defenseman Mike Green and winger Alexander Semin joined, and made hockey in the United States' capital must-see entertainment. They were also having plenty of fun off the ice.

In a sport that defines players for winning championships, some worried that Ovechkin would be known only for his individual accomplishments, because the playoff success wasn't coming. The Capitals went through a series of changes from the front office, to the coaching staff and the roster, culminating with Ovechkin leading them to the Stanley Cup in 2018 as playoff MVP.

Even though Ovechkin was 32, he and the Capitals celebrated like few teams in recent history. They famously swam in the Georgetown fountains — a plaque now marks the spot — and the entire run showed the best of Ovechkin.

"A big heart, like a big kid," longtime teammate John Carlson said. "He loves coming to the rink and he loves scoring goals and playing like we did when we were kids."

Ovechkin and Anastasia Shubskaya married in 2016, and the couple had even more reason to celebrate the summer of 2018 when she gave birth their first son, Sergei, that August. Ilya was born in the spring of 2020, and the boys have been right there with their dad for many of his big moments since.

When Ovechkin scored his 801st and 802nd goals just before Christmas 2022, to pass Gordie Howe for second on the all-time list, he walked into the locker room hand-in-hand with Sergei and Ilya and put them on his lap to take photos.

Tom Wilson, a teammate since 2013, now a father, and likely to succeed Ovechkin as captain, has witnessed the growth firsthand — joining them for family vacations and seeing him as a family man, playing Dance Dance Revolution with his nephews and nieces.

"You don't think about hockey," Ovechkin said of his home life. "You don't think about the training or practice. You just enjoy your life, enjoy your time with the kids, with family, with friends and you can basically do whatever you want."

Still the same

Backstrom met Ovechkin nearly two decades ago, before either was 21. The fun times, the Cup win and hundreds of goals between them have come and gone.

"He's always been the same," Backstrom said. "He hasn't changed a lot since the first time I met him. He's the same kind of outgoing person."

Marcus Johansson, who played his first seven NHL seasons with Washington and returned for another stint with the Capitals in the 2022-23 season, said Ovechkin has "got a big heart and he takes care of the people around him." That's what current center Dylan Strome tells friends who ask what Ovechkin is like.

"Very, very, very generous with his time, his money — going out of his way for people," Strome said. "He always wants to be with the guys, whether it's to watch sports or just talk or whatever, or have a couple beers, he's always in for that."

Carlson believes the 39-year-old Ovechkin has stayed young, as the age gap between veterans and young teammates in the locker room grows, while at the same time appreciating each moment a little more. Wilson has seen Ovechkin sign dozens of pucks, sticks and jerseys for other teams after a game without the slightest hesitation.

"You can't even really describe him in words," Wilson said. "He's just a guy that's bigger than life, bigger than hockey. A personality that, whenever he does hang them up, the game will miss him a lot."

Agencies Via Xinhua