Beyond the ‘C’: The Story of Alexander Ovechkin (PART 1)
HEIGHT |
6’ 3”
WEIGHT
230 lbs.
POSITION
Left Wing
DRAFTED
1st Overall in 2004
There aren’t enough good things to say about Alexander Ovechkin. He is a worthy opponent and a great teammate. There are countless scenarios where he is making the opposing team look dumb and off-guard. I’m sure you’ve all seen the goal where he scored from his back on the ice, not even looking at the net. With 230 lbs. of muscle, he is the scariest player for a goaltender to see skating down the ice towards them. He is the scariest man in hockey. This is Beyond the ‘C’: The Story of Alexander Ovechkin, Part 1.
Ovechkin is a team player. I already mentioned he was a great teammate. He holds 11 Washington Capitals records. Among these are most career overtime goals, which he has 10. He also has most goals in a season as a rookie with 52 goals. The same year, he made the “most points in the rookie season” category by racking up 106 points. He is tied with Peter Bondra with the most power play goals in a season with 22 goals. Here is one of his goals on the power play. He has a rocket for a shot. Every goaltender is afraid to see him get the puck. I know when I’m playing my NHL 11 video game, I see him get the puck and I do everything I can to get someone in front of him. It is unsafe to have him taking shots on net.
During the 2007-2008 season, he captured 4 trophies. They are the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Lester B. Pearson Award, and the Hart Memorial Trophy. He is the only player to win all 4 awards since the Maurice Richard Trophy was introduced in 1999. He then led Team Russia to the gold medal win at the World Championship the same year.
Ovechkin had his hockey future paved from his younger years. It is said that when he was two, his parents took him to a Soviet toy store and he picked up a toy hockey stick. He refused to let it go. After that, he would sit in front of the t.v. and watch hockey, throwing a fit when his parents tried to turn it off. His parents knew he was going to be an athlete when he chose to take the stairs to the 10th floor of the building rather than the elevator. His brother Sergei had shown him the greatness of hockey. This led to Alex enrolling into a hockey school at 8 years old. Even though his parents couldn’t take him to practice, the coaches highly advised them to find a way for him to get there because he was so good. Then, at age 10, tragedy struck. Sergei, the one who had taught him about this wonderful art we know as hockey, died in a car crash. A childhood friend claims that is the reason that Alex is so passionate about the sport.
In his first game as a Washington Capital, he made some buzz. He scored two goals in a 3-2 victory of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Here is the goal that started his career. On January 13th, 2006, he scored his first career hat trick on Jean-Sebastian Giguere of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Only 3 days later, Ovechkin made history. He scored a goal that was named “one of the greatest goals of all time” by veteran hockey reporter Bill Clement. Here is the video. A goal like that is so magical and well deserved for a player with such talent. He was one of the cover athletes of EASports NHL 07. At the end of his rookie contract year, he signed a 13-year/$124 million contract extension, without the help of an agent. He did everything between him, the owner, and the GM. A month into the 2009-2010 season, Ovechkin suffered an upper-body injury during a game against the Blue Jackets. Here’s the collision.