Ovechkin will leave lasting legacy in D.C. area

Jen O'Brien said she noticed it from the first time Alex Ovechkin got on the ice with American Special Hockey Association kids for a clinic in 2014.

The Washington Capitals captain wasn't just present, checking a box or marking time. He was a presence, making eye contact, being playful with the young skaters and lingering on the ice past the allotted time.

"His superpower may be scoring goals, but his other superpower really is, a really down-to-earth guy who just wants to do the right thing," said O'Brien, ASHA's executive director. "He sees everyone's ability to love this game. He sees everyone's ability to participate in this game. He sees everyone's ability to be a fan of this game in the same way that he has the ability to be a fan and to love this game and be a part of this game."

Ovechkin, who announced on Monday this will be his last NHL season, has made an undeniable impact on the ice as the League's all-time goals leader.

His imprint in the region is indisputable. He's made an indelible mark through a swath of communities in Washington and beyond through charity initiatives and efforts to grow a sport that had a back seat to professional football and college basketball in the region before his arrival in 2005-06. 

Since then, more rinks have been built or renovated in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virgina region to accommodate the 

"Ovechkin Effect," the growing demand for hockey that his exploits spawned.

The number of registered youth and adult hockey players in USA Hockey's Potomac Valley Region -- which includes Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia -- surged to 22,222 last season from 12,856 in 2005-06, Ovechkin's rookie season, a 73 percent increase.

Participation in men's hockey grew to 8,378 last season from 3,820 in 2005-06. Women's hockey went from 425 participants in 2005-06 to 994 last season, according to USA Hockey figures.

Boys' hockey jumped from 8,154 in Ovechkin's rookie season to 10,459 last season. Girls' hockey participation in the Potomac Valley region increased to 2,328 last season from 821 in 2005-06.

But like all things Ovechkin, numbers only tell part of the story, said Alexandria Briggs-Blake, president of the Tucker Road Parent Organization, that oversees a minority-oriented youth hockey program in Prince Georges County, Maryland.

"In my opinion, true greatness is measured by impact. It's where someone stands apart, and that's Ovi," Briggs-Blake said. "All the years I've known him, and that's a long time, he always shows up. He does it quietly. Sometimes the cameras are there, and he doesn't make big announcements and those kind of things. He shows up in the communities that need him the most."

Ovechkin has raised more than $256,000 his "GR8 Chase for Victory Over Cancer" initiative which he launched last season on the way to shattering the NHL record of 894 goals, previously held by Wayne Gretzky. 

In partnership with Hockey Fights Cancer and the V Foundation for Cancer Research, Ovechkin donated an amount equal to his goal total for every goal he scored during the remainder of his career.

Ovechkin also brought something just as important as money to the cancer fight. He gave his time, meeting with young patients like Alex Leuy, who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer that caused him to have his right leg amputated in September 2016.

The Capitals captain first met Luey after Sportsnet held its "Rogers Hometown Hockey" telecast in Niagara Falls on Oct. 8, 2017, and hosts Ron MacLean and Tara Slone surprised him with a video message from Ovechkin, his favorite NHL player.

Ovechkin invited Luey to meet the Capitals at their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre on Nov. 25, 2017.

After promising to score a goal for Luey, Ovechkin had a hat trick in a 4-2 victory.

He also scored goals in two other games Luey attended that season and invited him and his family to Washington for the Capitals parade after they won the Stanley Cup in 2018.

Ovechkin was crestfallen when Leuy succumb to cancer at 15 in 2019.

"It was important that he had that connection with Ovi and it was real and it was authentic which was the most eye-opening for me to really get to know who Ovi was as a man," Cat Luey, Alex's mother, said. "He's compassionate, empathetic and just caring. He would call and check up, ‘How are you doing,' and wish him well. Even to the point after my son passed, he sent messages to us as a family. It's not like he just stopped. He didn't stop caring." 

O'Brien said she saw the same compassion during Ovechkin's interactions with special needs hockey players and those from other underserved communities.

In 2006, Ovechkin launched "Ovi's 8's," a program that provides underserved children with tickets to Capitals games. Since its inception, more than 6,000 people have been able to attend a game for free, including many ASHA participants.

He became an ASHA ambassador in 2014 and has made donations to the group to help cover costs for 136 special hockey teams across the United States and support more than 5,260 athletes and nearly 400 coaches. 

"To every one of our kids, especially the ones in D.C., he's their friend," O'Brien said. "Think about what it means to these kids in schools when they're getting bullied or something like that. ‘No, I'm Alex Ovechkin's friend, I'm okay.' That's real."

Since Ovechkin's involvement, ASHA has expanded from 45 programs in 30 cities to 140 programs nationwide, serving more than 8,750 athletes and 11,500 total members including coaches and volunteers.

Washington is home to five ASHA teams including the Baltimore Saints, Montgomery Cheetahs, NOVA Cool Cats, Washington Saints and Frederick Gargoyles.

Ovechkin's impact on the growth of hockey in the region is also tangible. Players like former University of Wisconsin forward Lacey Eden say they were drawn to the sport by Ovechkin's scoring prowess, swagger and his style, from his yellow skate laces to the tinted visor he wore early in his NHL career.

An Annapolis native, Eden led NCAA Division I women's hockey with 77 points (29 goals, 48 assists) in 41 games this season with Wisconsin, which defeated Ohio State 3-2 for their second consecutive Women's Frozen Four championship on March 22.  She was the selected with the No. 5 pick by Las Vegas in the 2026 Professional Women's Hockey League Draft.

"As a little kid hockey player, I remember always wanting to practice my one-timers in Ovi's ‘office,'" said Eden, who attended Capitals games with her father at Verizon Center, now Capital One Arena. "Growing up in the DMV where hockey maybe wasn't the most popular sport, there was always that stardom from Ovechkin.

"I was actually at the watch party outside Capital One in 2018 for the Stanley Cup Final, just being part of the moment for the Caps, being part of that growth of hockey in the DMV," Eden said. "All sparked by Alex Ovechkin."

Ralph Featherstone, a coach with Washington's Fort Dupont Cannons, North America's oldest minority-oriented youth hockey program, said Ovechkin had crossover appeal that's helped produce a generation of Black players and hockey fans in the region.

Ovechkin practiced with the Cannons several times during his career, and he brought the Stanley Cup to the Fort Dupont Ice Arena in 2018 to pay homage to the program and its founder, Neal Henderson, the first Black person elected to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.

"The kids see that he's authentic and he's different," said Featherstone, a retired U.S. Marine colonel who was the first Black player to captain the U.S. Naval Academy's club hockey team.  "They like the way he stands out – the yellow laces, the visor – and yet he still fits into the team concept. Young Black athletes, especially wrestlers, are told, ‘You got to cut your hair' or "Your hair grows out of your head wrong.' To see someone like Ovechkin being himself, I think it gives you courage to be who you are despite the noise."

Spurred by Ovechkin's popularity, more than one million local elementary school students have participated in the Capitals Hockey School program. Available to students grades 1-8 at 1,722 schools, the program provides street hockey equipment, a custom curriculum and staff training.

The program, supported by the NHL/NHL Players' Association Industry Growth Fund, has donated 67,946 sticks, 3,048 nets, 45,080 balls and 12,848 pucks to participating schools.

More than 25,000 players have participated in a Capitals Youth Hockey event since 2019; and 11,700 individuals have participated in the Capitals' Future Caps Learn to Play presented by Worldwide Technology from across the DMV since 2017. 

The Capitals have built or refurbished 14 outdoor inline/ball hockey rinks in the area due to increased youth hockey demand.

Briggs-Blake said Ovechkin may be moving on after this season, but his impact in the region remains.

"His commitment to access, to representation and opportunity continues and will continue to grow and reshape the future of hockey," said Briggs-Blake, a member of the Capitals Black Hockey Committee. "He can move to Russia or whatever and his impact, his legacy, will be right here. We will never forget him."