Ovechkin always put on a show, NHL.com writer recalls

Alex Ovechkin’s goal-scoring days in the NHL will end after this season, the Captials captain announcing Monday this will be his season for the Washington Capitals.

Somehow, it feels like the show around Ovechkin will continue, though, whatever he does next, whether that’s playing in the Kontinental Hockey League in his native Russia or stepping away from the game completely to spend more time with wife, Nastya, and their sons, Sergei, 7, and Ilya, 5. Ovechkin had an aura about him that something fun was going to happen, starting with his NHL debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 5, 2005.

Since then, he has scored 929 goals, to break an NHL record many thought was unreachable, brought the Stanley Cup to Washington and left an indelible imprint on the League.  

I was fortunate to see a lot of it during the 10 years since I joined NHL.com as a writer based in Washington D.C. When NHL.com was expanding its staff ahead of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it made sense to have someone around the Capitals, who won the Presidents’ Trophy as the League’s best team in the regular season, and Ovechkin, one the game’s most dynamic players.

I also remember NHL executive vice president of communications John Dellapina saying something like, “Who knows, (Ovechkin) might be chasing down the goal record someday.” Ovechkin scored 522 goals before my first day on the job, April 6, 2016.

He scored his 895th goal to break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894 exactly nine years later, on April 6, 2025, against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena. Ovechkin’s belly-flop slide across the ice during the celebration that followed was emblematic of the unrestrained joy with which he has played for 1,575 regular-season games to this point and 161 playoff games in the NHL.

I was a young(ish) beat reporter covering the New York Rangers for the Bergen Record in New Jersey when Gretzky scored his 894th goal against the Islanders at Madison Square Garden on March 29, 1999. At that time, I didn’t think anyone would ever get near that number. 

For a while, Ovechkin couldn’t see it happening either. During a one-on-one interview ahead of getting his 1,000th NHL point on January 11, 2017, against the Pittsburgh Penguins, he said, “I talked to Wayne, and I don't think those records can be beaten, ever.” 

As Ovechkin continued to score goals and inexorably climb toward Gretzky, though, he started to believe. He took me a little by surprise when we were talking by the stick racks outside the locker room at MedStar Capitals Iceplex late in 2018-19 season and he said, “I'm going to try to do it.” 

The story, published on NHL.com on April 3, 2019, was his first public acknowledgement that “the Gr8 Chase”, as it was later called, was on. The goal record was never his favorite subject to talk about, but he started to let his guard down some in the aftermath of scoring twice against the Chicago Blackhawks to tie Gretzky on April 4, 2025, and even more after he broke the record two days later.

“I'm probably going to need a couple more days or maybe a couple weeks to realize what does it mean to be No. 1,” he said. “But I can say I'm very proud. I'm really proud for myself. I'm really proud for my family, for all my teammates that help me to reach that milestone and for all my coaches.

“It's huge. It's unbelievable. It's an unbelievable moment and I'm happy.”

The only time he was happier for a hockey-related moment was when the Capitals won the Stanley Cup. After years of playoff disappointments, including losing to longtime rival (and eventually respected friend) Sidney Crosby and the Penguins three times (2009, 2016, 2017) and watching them go on to win the Cup each time, Ovechkin and the Capitals finally broke through in 2018.

Ovechkin was instrumental in helping the Capitals knock off the Penguins in six games in the second round that season and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player in the playoffs after they defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in six games in the Stanley Cup Final. How he celebrated afterwards -- from the Las Vegas nightclubs to a Georgetown fountain -- illustrated how much raising the Cup meant to him.

Traveling to Moscow for Ovechkin’s two days with the Cup that summer was like following a rock star. When Ovechkin brought the Cup to Red Square unannounced on the second day, a massive crowd formed around him within minutes. 

He had no security with him, so it was up to Hockey Hall of Fame Cup keepers Howie Borrow and Mario Della-Savia, Capitals vice president of communications Sergey Kocharov, and Ovechkin's agent, David Abrutyn, to help guide him through the horde. When Ovechkin stopped to pose for a photo lifting the Cup in front of historic St. Basil's Cathedral, the mob politely stepped back, at his request, to give him more room.

In recent years, the only thing that seemed to bring Ovechkin more joy than playing and scoring goals was sharing that experience with Sergei and Ilya. 

Celebrating goals by fist-bumping them through the glass and skating with them after practices was as much of a driving force for him near the end of his career as chasing records.

Ovechkin’s connection with children was evident even before he became a father, though. He had a genuine bond with players from the American Special Hockey Association and a special place in his heart for children battling cancer, whether it was at the Capitals annual Hockey Fights Cancer skate or helping fulfill countless Make-A-Wish requests.

Ovechkin’s relationship with Alex Luey, a youth hockey player from Niagara Falls, Ontario, stands out the most. Luey died Dec. 22, 2019, when he was 15, after a three-year battle with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer that caused him to have his right leg amputated. 

Ovechkin, who first met Luey in 2017, was inspired by Luey's positivity in the face of adversity.

When Ovechkin invited Luey to meet the Capitals at their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Nov. 25, 2017, he promised he'd score a goal for him and got three in a 4-2 victory. 

Ovechkin also scored in two other games Luey attended that season and invited him and his family to Washington for the Capitals Stanley Cup parade. Out of the public eye, Ovechkin would call Luey on his birthday and before surgeries to check in on him and offer encouragement.

“When Ovi first agreed to meet him, I'm thinking, 'OK, this is his PR. This is his job. He's doing a good thing,” Cat Luey, Alex’s mother, told me in 2020. “But it didn't take me long to realize it was more than that. Ovi gave more than just his, 'OK, I have to spend 10 minutes with this kid.' There did seem to be that genuine caring.”