Happy 31st birthday, Alex Ovechkin!
Here are eight great facts about the Washington Capitals' superstar winger.
1. Athletic heritage
Ovechkin's mother, Tatyana Ovechkina, won a pair of Olympic gold medals in women's basketball, as well as a World Championship, and six European Championships.
She currently runs Russia's women's national basketball program.
His father, Mikhail Ovechkin, is also a former professional soccer player.
2. Hockey discovered early
From Peter Baker of the Washington Post:
His mother swears this story is true: When Alexander Ovechkin was a 2-year-old toddler, she brought him to a toy store. Those were the dwindling days of the Soviet Union, when stores didn't have as much as today. But they had toy hockey sticks and they had toy helmets and little Sasha, as he is called, waddled right over to them and wouldn't let go.
Don't believe it? "We have a picture with him wearing tights and holding a hockey stick," his mother, Tatyana, insists.
3. Early tragedy fueled passion for the game
When Ovechkin was 10, his older brother Sergei died following a car crash. The next day, Ovechkin took to the ice for a youth hockey game, and, in 2015, he opened up about the experience.
From Fox Sports:
"It was hard, I was crying. I remember I was crying that day. I was on the bench, I was crying. But my shift, my coach said okay, go play. And I played and I was crying. It was hard but at 10 years old, you obviously [don’t] realize what’s happening. It was a hard moment for my mom and dad, for all my family because oldest son passed away. It was a hard time."
After Sergei's death, Ovechkin said he was more motivated than ever to succeed in hockey since it was up to just him and his other brother, Mikhail, to support their parents as they aged.
4. Panthers attempted draft circumvention
Despite being born two days prior to the 2003 NHL Draft class cutoff date, the Florida Panthers attempted to select Ovechkin in each of four rounds.
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Florida General Manager Rick Dudley attempted in four different rounds to draft Ovechkin, arguing that, if leap-year dates were taken out of the equation, Ovechkin actually would turn 18 four days before his recognized birthday and thus have been eligible for 2003. The NHL rejected the Panthers all four times, but the league did comply with Florida's request to make the final one in writing. This way, if it is ruled that the Panthers were in the right, they could justify a claim on Ovechkin.
Good try, good effort.
Ovechkin was drafted first overall by Washington the following year.
5. Greatest goal of all time?
Ovechkin scored quite possibly the greatest goal of all time during his rookie season.
Words don't do it justice.
6. Biggest raise of all time?
Coming off his entry-level deal with the Capitals that paid him $984,200 per season, Ovechkin signed a 13-year, $124-million contract extension, the biggest in NHL history to that point.
His $9,538,461 cap hit has since been passed by Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Anze Kopitar.
7. Goals aplenty
Heading into 2016-17, Ovechkin ranks 33rd on the NHL's all-time goals list with 525. If he equals his output from last season (50), he'd rise to 21st, two behind Mark Recchi.
The all-time leader, of course, is Wayne Gretzky, who recorded 894 goals in 1,487 games, good for a goals-per-game average of 0.60. Ovechkin's average is actually higher (0.63), meaning he has a shot at breaking the Great One's record if he stays in the NHL past his current deal.
At any rate, he already belongs in the conversation as one of the game's greatest goal scorers, ranking behind only Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux in goals per game among players with at least 500 career appearances.
(Courtesy: QuantHockey)
8. Pride of Russia
Ovechkin is celebrating his birthday in Toronto, preparing for Russia's World Cup opener against Sweden on Sunday.
His first appearance at the senior international level was at the 2004 World Championships, followed by the World Cup that same year. Since then, he has represented his country at the Winter Olympics in 2006, 2010, and 2014, and has appeared in eleven World Championships, winning three gold medals.
Ovechkin ranks fourth among Russian-born players in NHL scoring, only 213 career points behind Sergei Fedorov, and with plenty of hockey yet to play.
He may not medal at the Olympics - although he's determined to play in 2018 - but he will no doubt go down as their greatest player ever to hail from Russia.
