A large-scale ceremony honoring Alexander Ovechkin took place in Washington. The Russian hockey player, who became the second best sniper in the history of the National Hockey League, was elevated to the rank of the greatest.
On December 24, 2022, Alexander Ovechkin scored a landmark double in a match with the Winnipeg Jets (4: 1). Thanks to the first goal, the Russian captain of the “Washington Capitals” caught up with Gordie Howe, and with the second puck he was ahead of the legendary Canadian and got into a clear second place in the list of the best snipers in the history of the NHL championships. 802 goals in the NHL … Before Ovechkin, this crazy mark was submitted to only one person, whose name is associated with dozens of league records. For one of the main Ovi and leads a great pursuit. She is also «The Gr8 Chase», as they say in America.
A truly grand event could not do without appropriate festivities. Their “Washington” and the NHL prepared for several months. Why so long? The scale of the event requires responsible and hard work. Also, we must not forget that the NHL is a business in which people think about ways to make money with special enthusiasm. br>
The ceremony honoring Ovechkin took place on the night of March 22 Moscow time — before the match with the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was in the game against the Blue Jackets that Alexander made his NHL debut in October 2005. The event was really loud. Even a few hours before the start of the match, all North American hockey media adhered to the same agenda, and the media service of “Washington” mercilessly fired tons of cool content from all guns. For example, funny interviews with Ovechkin's main teammates.
Or a video with congratulations on behalf of other NHL clubs and their stars. The entire league was immersed in the history of Ovechkin's name.
- “It’s just incredible how you continue to score so much. I know that you still have a lot of fuel in the tank, so keep up the good work,” Ovechkin supported his main rival in his NHL career, and now a close friend of Sidney Crosby.
- «I've always enjoyed watching you play, I did it as a child. Now I have the opportunity to play against you personally, and it's always a lot of fun. You beat Gordie Howe, which is an amazing achievement. Your next achievement is to catch up with The Greatest. I will follow your pursuit,» said the best hockey player of our time, Connor McDavid.
During his arrival at the Capital One Arena, Ovechkin passed through a corridor of two hundred fans who own seasonal season tickets for the club's home games. All of them were dressed in themed paraphernalia. Fans at the arena were also given dummy figures in the form of Ovechkin with a goal counter.
All other fans also had the opportunity to touch history in the truest sense of the word: in the arena, the Capitals placed a real throne of Ovechkin, made from more than 802 pucks. Does anyone else have questions about who is the king in the US capital?
The rest of the Washington players, dressed in special T-shirts with the image of their captain, passed through the same corridor. They also tried on jerseys with Ovi's «eight» for the pre-match.
Well, just before the start of the game, the Russian goalscorer was congratulated by the Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and Mark Howe, the son of the legendary Canadian forward Gordie Howe, whom Ovechkin was ahead of in the list of the best snipers in the history of the NHL championships. The Russian received memorable gifts from Washington, the NHL and the League Players Association. Among them is a stick of the USSR national team with autographs from the 1974 Super Series between Canada and the Soviet team and a puck that Gordie Howe scored in this series. During the ceremony, Ovechkin, of course, was accompanied by his wife Anastasia, mother Tatyana, sons Ilya and Sergey, and brother Mikhail.
And the NHL gave Ovechkin a goal — the 820th in his overseas career. Already in the 6th minute of the meeting, the Capitals opened the scoring, breaking a losing streak, when the team of Peter Laviolette regularly missed the first in the early debut. Ovechkin fired a cross from the right to the far post, and Dylan Strome closed the pass against Blue Jackets defenseman Nick Blankenburg. Initially, it was Strome who was the author of the goal, but later the puck was rewritten to Ovechkin. Representatives of the NHL felt that the puck bounced off the stick not from Strome, but from Blankenburg. Since the concept of an own goal does not exist in hockey, the thrower was recognized as the author of the goal. That is Ovi.
For Alexander, this goal was the 40th of the season. The captain of “Washington” became the first Russian hockey player in the current draw, who reached this mark, as well as the first in the entire history of the NHL, who reached this peak for the 13th time. In the number of seasons with 40 goals or more, Ovi overtook the former record holder, Wayne Gretzky.
On the wave of success, the Caps scored two more goals by the middle of the first period. 3-0 in the opening — you can't think of a better start. But “Washington” would not be “Washington” if it had not come up with problems for itself even in a comfortable situation. Even in the confrontation with the worst club in the championship. “Capital” missed twice in a row, and then allowed into their own net and the third puck, losing the former advantage in the long run. Sonny Milano and Nick Jensen alternately tried to save the hosts from the hassle, but in vain. “Columbus” in the first half of the third period scored twice more and still equalized — 5:5. And it seemed that Jensen, having scored a double 4.5 minutes before the end of normal time, would still bring Washington a victory over an outsider, but no. teams in overtime. In it, as expected from such a scenario of the match, the guests from Ohio turned out to be stronger, who made a comeback and overshadowed the holiday of the entire US capital. Jack Roslovich did not give a damn about all the celebrations in honor of Alexander Ovechkin and put an end to the match with his goal — 7:6 (OT). For “Washington” this defeat was the third in a row. Thoughts about the playoffs in the “capital” is becoming less and less.