Alexander Ovechkin writes hockey history again. On February 25, the Washington captain played his 1,400th NHL game. Ovi became the 41st hockey player in history to reach such a milestone. And the first Russian!
Furthermore, the striker is only the tenth player to play more than 1,400 games for a club. Amazing!
This event did not go unnoticed, neither in Russia nor in North America. Washington Post journalist Bailey Johnson dedicated an entire article to Ovechkin’s significant imprint. An article by an American columnist even made it to the cover of the publication! Yes, Ovechkin ended up on the cover of the largest, oldest, and most important publication in America’s capital!
Ovechkin on the cover of the Washington Post
Photo: twitter.com/CapitalsPR
In honor of such a significant event for Ovechkin’s career, here is a translation of an article from the Washington Post.
“When Alex Ovechkin was a rookie, his teammates feared he might have a heart attack.
The Washington Capitals forward, who was 20 when he played his first NHL game in 2005, has always done things his way. At the time, this meant training before the game with three energy drinks. When the rest of his teammates drank Gatorade (the name of a series of special isotonic drinks. – Note from the “Championship”) or water between periods, Ovechkin drowned the soda.
“We all sat there and said, ‘Okay, this can’t continue.’ “This guy’s going to have a heart attack or something,” recalls Olaf Kolzig, the former Capitals star goalie who played with Ovechkin from 2005 to 2008. “I don’t think he has the same game routine now that he’s drinking energy drinks and Coca-Cola, but I don’t think I drink as much water as everyone else.”
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19 seasons later, the details of that routine have changed, but what remains the same is Ovechkin’s commitment to his unusual habits. And after Alex played his 1,400th game on Sunday against the Florida Panthers, becoming just the 41st player in NHL history to reach that milestone, he was probably the first to do it on the bench drinking Pepsi from a bottle. .
Since joining the league in 2005, Ovechkin has played in all but 59 of Washington’s games, a whopping 96%. Only Patrick Marleau, Nicklas Lidstrom, Alex Delvecchio and Gordie Howe had appeared in a higher percentage of their team’s games by the time they reached their 1,400th game.
“It’s kind of an enigma,” Kolzig said. “I probably don’t have the healthiest diet in the world.” Ovi likes to have fun with guys, so she’s not one of those guys who is constantly trying to find a magic elixir in terms of nutrition or training. Ovechkin is an old school player…he is just one of those hockey players who continues to live.”
Ovechkin doesn’t always have time for sentimentality, but the 38-year-old Washington captain admitted that this milestone means a lot to him.
Alexander Ovechkin
Photo: AP/TASS
“Obviously it is a fairly large number, many games. “I am happy to have held these meetings in one organization,” Ovechkin said. – This is good… Thanks to my parents, they gave me good health. “I was lucky to escape without serious injuries.”
“The Russian car does not break down”
It didn’t take long for Bruce Boudreau, who became Washington’s head coach midway through Ovechkin’s third season, to identify the traits that made his star player special.
“As soon as I saw it, the fact that I was coaching this team became a reality,” Boudreau said. “Ovi had a big influence on me. He was simply full of energy, completely dedicated to the task. At that time this could be described with the words: “Russian cars do not break down.” His physique was phenomenal. He just did these things…There are certain people who have everything in the world where they are stars.”
Of the 59 games in which Ovechkin was absent, only 35 were missed due to injury, including three this season. But this does not mean that Alex, like all hockey players, did not play with injuries.
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One of Boudreau’s most vivid memories: December 2007, when Ovechkin needed nearly two dozen stitches to close a cut on his thigh after a game against Pittsburgh. And at the next meeting, two days later, he played poker.
“He couldn’t put on any equipment or anything like that. Only me [думал]: “He won’t be able to play,” Boudreau said. -But Ovi said he would play… I only remember shaking my head at the end of the game. Here he is, a guy who didn’t even know how to skate in the morning, and now he scores four goals and five points, just stunned. I just said, “This guy is amazing.”
Boudreau has returned to the Capitals in recent weeks, joining the Monumental Sports Network broadcasts, giving you a closer look at a rejuvenated Ovechkin.
It’s no secret that Alex started the season poorly. But when he returned from a layoff in early February, he scored seven goals in eight games and extended his pre-break scoring streak to 10 games, his longest streak since 2018, when he scored points in 14 straight games. On Sunday, Ovi was held scoreless but came within inches of scoring on one of his classic power-play one-timers, only to be stopped later, denying him a chance to take home the victory in overtime.
Bruce Boudreau and Alexander Ovechkin
Photo: nhl.com
“The last two games I’ve seen him,” Boudreau said, “when he skates and moves, he looks like Alex Ovechkin himself.”
“Simply incredible”
Winger Tom Wilson played 735 NHL games over 11 seasons, all of them as Ovechkin’s teammate. To put Alex’s achievement in that context, he has played almost as many games as Wilson to date, having done so before Tom himself came to the NHL, and has played many more since then.
“Only a few players have reached this milestone. “It’s just amazing,” Wilson said. “I like the way he plays… Look at almost everyone above him on this list and you’ll see that they haven’t played like him, that he takes guys out and plays like a power forward. It’s just another thing he does that surprises people.”
Ovechkin never shied away from the physical aspect of the game, even as he grew older. For long stretches this season, it seemed like Alex’s age had finally caught up with him. No one can outrun Father Time forever, least of all someone whose training is “probably not legendary,” as Kolzig puts it.
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But at a crucial moment for Washington’s slim playoff hopes, Ovechkin turned in a series of good old-fashioned performances, dragging the Capitals with him, as he has for years, and reaching an important milestone in the path.
“I think the driving force is probably hunger,” Wilson said. “Every game he plays, he wants to score, he wants to win, he wants to be the best player that ever lived. It’s one of those moments where you look at it day after day and sometimes you have to pinch yourself. It’s crazy how many games he’s played and what he’s done.
Ovi led this team. He played 96% of the games; That, all those statistics and stuff, you wouldn’t even believe it if people told you. There are simply no words to describe what he did.”
