Alexander Mikhaylovich Ovechkin (born September 17, 1985) In January 2008, he signed a thirteen-year contract extension worth $124 million with the Capitals, the most lucrative contract in NHL history.
Ovechkin was the first overall selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he began play in the 2005–06 NHL season, in which he won the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year. During the 2007–08 season, he led the NHL with 65 goals and 112 points to capture the Rocket Richard and Art Ross Trophies. That season he also won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the top player voted by the NHL Players’ Association and the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP. He is the only player to win all four awards since the Rocket Richard trophy’s inception in 1999.
Alexander Ovechkin is the son of Mikhail Ovechkin, a former professional football (soccer) player, and Tatyana Ovechkina, who won two Olympic gold medals while competing for the Soviet women’s basketball team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
The first sign of Ovechkin’s future came when he was two years old – while in a Soviet toy store, he grabbed a toy hockey stick, and refused to let go. His parents treasure the picture to this day. Whenever he saw a hockey game on TV, he “dropped all his toys” and ran to the TV, protesting strongly if his parents tried to change the channel. His parents say they knew he would be an athlete when he chose to run up the steps to their 10th floor apartment instead of taking the elevator. They also encouraged him to be athletic, sending him out to play at nearby soccer fields and basketball courts.
Sergei, Ovechkin’s older brother, had initially introduced him to hockey, and Alexander enrolled in hockey school at the age of 8. Soon after he began, however, he had to postpone his hockey career because his parents were unable to take him to the rink. But one of Ovechkin’s coaches saw his talent and insisted to his parents that he should continue playing hockey. Sergei later died in a car accident when Alexander was only 10. A childhood friend claims this is one of the reasons Ovechkin is so passionate on the ice.
Because he studied at the Military Institute for Border Guards he did not have to go through compulsory military service.
Ovechkin began playing in the Dynamo Moscow system and at the age of 16, made his debut for the team in the Russian Superleague in the 2001–02 season. In the 2003–04 season, he won the Superleague award for Best Left Wing and became the youngest Dynamo Moscow player to lead the team in scoring.
In 2004–05, he missed nearly two months of play because of a shoulder injury sustained in the Gold Medal Game against Canada in the World Junior Championships.
Ovechkin was the first overall draft choice in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, going to the Washington Capitals. He had been projected as the first overall pick for nearly two years, and had earned comparison to Mario Lemieux. He was so highly regarded, the Florida Panthers attempted to draft him in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft in the 9th round, even though his birthday was two days after the cut-off (September 15, 1985). Rick Dudley, the general manager of the Panthers, claimed the pick was legitimate, saying that using leap-years Ovechkin was old enough.
Following the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Ovechkin played his first game with the Capitals on October 5, 2005, scoring two goals in a 3-2 victory over Columbus.
On January 13, 2006, in Anaheim, Ovechkin scored his first career hat trick against Jean-Sébastien Giguère of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to help Washington win the game.
On January 16, 2006, Alexander Ovechkin scored a goal that veteran hockey reporter Bill Clement called “one of the greatest goals of all time.”[cite this quote] Knocked down by Paul Mara, a defenceman for the Phoenix Coyotes, then sliding on his back and facing away from the net, Ovechkin was able to hook the puck with one hand on his stick and slide it into the net past goalie Brian Boucher for his second goal of the night. It is usually referred to as “The Goal.”
On February 1, 2006, Ovechkin was named NHL Rookie of the Month for January 2006 as well as being named Offensive Player of the Month, becoming only the third player in NHL history to earn both honors in a single month.
Ovechkin led 2005–06 NHL rookies in goals, points, power-play goals, and shots. He finished third overall in the NHL in scoring and tied for third in goals. His 425 shots led the league, set an NHL rookie record, and was the fourth-highest total in NHL history. Ovechkin’s point total was the second-best in Washington Capitals history and his goal total tied for third in franchise history. He was also named to the NHL First All-Star Team, the first rookie to receive the honor in 15 years. After the season ended, Ovechkin received the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s best rookie. EA Sports made him one of the cover athletes for NHL 07.
On January 24, 2007 Ovechkin played in his first NHL All-Star Game in Dallas, scoring his first All-Star Game goal.
After much speculation, Ovechkin signed a 13-year contract extension worth $124 million with the Capitals on January 10, 2008. The contract, which averages $9.5 million per year, is the richest in NHL history. Working without an agent, Ovechkin negotiated directly with Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and general manager George McPhee.
On March 3, 2008, Ovechkin notched his fourth hat trick, against the Boston Bruins. He scored his 50th, 51st, and 52nd goals of the season, the second time he has hit the 50-goal mark in three seasons with the Capitals.
On March 21, 2008, Ovechkin scored his 59th and 60th goals of the season against the Atlanta Thrashers, becoming the first player in the NHL to score 60 goals in a season since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in 1995–96. Ovechkin was the 19th player ever to reach the 60 goal plateau. On March 25, Ovechkin scored his 61st goal to hold the Washington Capital’s team record for regular season goals previously held by Dennis Maruk. He would break Luc Robitaille’s record for most goals by a left winger in one season on April 3, 2008, by scoring two goals, his 64th and 65th of the season.
Following the 2007–08 NHL season, Ovechkin was awarded his third consecutive Kharlamov Trophy, named after Soviet hockey star Valery Kharlamov and presented by Sovetsky Sport newspaper. The Kharlamov Trophy honors the best Russian NHL player as voted by other Russian NHL players.
Ovechkin finished the 2007–08 NHL season as a points leader with (112) goals (65), winning the Art Ross Trophy and the Rocket Richard Trophy, respectively. That year, he was also awarded the Lester B. Pearson Award as the top player voted by the NHLPA and the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP, becoming the first player in the history of the NHL to win all four awards, as well as all four awards in a single season.
In his first NHL playoff game, Ovechkin scored the game-winning goal with less than five minutes left.
In late October of the 2008–09 NHL season Ovechkin returned home to Moscow to visit his ailing grandfather, missing only the second game of his entire career, and snapping a consecutive streak of 203 games.
On February 5, 2009, Ovechkin scored his 200th goal against the Los Angeles Kings becoming only the fourth player in the NHL to reach the milestone in four seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux.
On March 19, 2009, he scored his 50th goal of the season, becoming the first Washington Capitals player to reach the 50-goal mark three times.
On May 4, 2009, during Game Two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals versus the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ovechkin would score his first career hat trick in a playoff game as he scored three points for the winning effort 4-3.
Ovechkin finished the 2008–09 NHL season with 56 goals, winning his second Rocket Richard Trophy in as many years, joining Jarome Iginla and Pavel Bure as the third player to win the award twice, and the second player after Bure (2000–2001) to win the award in back-to-back seasons.
