Aleksandr Ovetchkine, Killin’ It Since the Beginning

Saturday, April 28, 2018

As a big hockey fan, more specifically a Washington Capitals’ fan, I followed Aleksandr Ovetchkine’s career and I have been completely amazed year after year.

Born in Moscow on September 17, 1985, Aleksandr Ovetchkine admired Aleksandr Maltsev, a player from the Dinamo of Moscow, a team he would later play with. He was also a fan of Mario Lemieux and a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins. His mother, Tatiana Ovetchkina, is a former basketball athlete and his father, Mikhaïl Ovetchkine, a former football player.

In 2002, he was called by the National Russian Team and he participated in the World Junior Championships. He scored 14 goals and 4 assists. His 18 points made history of the world junior championships and broke the record of his idol, Aleksandr Maltsev.

The 32 years old captain, drafted 1st overall in 2004 by the Washington Capitals, played his 1000th NHL game this season and has 1122 points with over than 600 NHL goals. He has known his best season in 2007-08 with 112 points in 82 games with 65 goals and 47 assists.

This year, the Capitals’ captain finished the regular season with 87 points in 82 games with 49 goals. He was the best scorer in the league.

In this year’s playoffs, with only seven games played yet, he scored six goals and had four assists. He might not be at the top of the charts yet but the playoffs have just started, there’s still time for him to do better.

He has also won many trophies like the Calder Memorial Trophy (in 2006), Ted Lindsay Award (in 2008, 2009, 2010), Art Ross Memorial Award (in 2008), Hart Memorial Trophy (in 2008, 2009, 2013) and the Maurice «Rocket» Richard Trophy seven different times (in 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018).

Aleksandr Ovetchkine has played in two different leagues before playing in the National Hockey League. He played in the Russian Elite League from 2001 to 2005 and in the Kontinental Hockey League in 2012-13.

The left wing player has known four amazing NHL seasons with over 100 points which was 2005-06, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10. He had seven seasons with over 50 goals and he even scored 65 goals in 2007-08.

He is known for his more than great participation during the games. He is always one of the players with the most shots. In 2008-09, he was the player with the highest number of shots in one season which was 528. It is the second highest number of shots after Phil Esposito who did 550 in 1970-71. Ovetchkine is also a player who never hesitate to hustle. For this reason, he got suspended for two games twice in his career.

If I compare his incredible statistics with other team’s player, it is clear that he’s a great player. In 2012-13, he only played 48 games and still made 56 points. If we compare this to the best scorer of the Montreal Canadiens this very season, Brendan Gallagher, who made 54 points in 82 games, it is clear that Aleksandr Ovetchkine is unbelievably strong.

From what I’ve seen from this guy, I believe he’s more than a great player and he fully deserves his captain title. The Great Eight hasn’t finished to impress me and I know that he is still going to be a good player for the rest of his career. I wish him the best of luck for the rest of the playoffs and for the future seasons. I hope that, one day, he’ll win a Stanley Cup because I really think he deserves it.