If I had a nickle for every time an ex-teammate told a story that started with “And then Alex Ovechkin showed up in a pair of booty shorts” I’d have... a substantial number of nickles.
Alex Ovechkin's journey to 700 goals started with laughs, pranks, beaches and a lot of questionable clothing choices.
(Okay I usually don’t repost stuff that’s behind a paywall too often, but this is too good not to share. Tarik has done a stellar job taking over at the Athletic; I highly recommend him; he’s worth the subscription.)
From wearing an American flag patterned Speedo on South Beach to scoring four goals with a couple dozen stitches in his leg to subjecting teammates to techno blasted at ear-splitting volume levels in his car, the tales from Alex Ovechkin’s first few seasons in NHL are the stuff of legend inside the Capitals’ headquarters.
In recent days, as Ovechkin authored the hottest goal-scoring stretch of his career in chasing another historic milestone – he is two goals shy of 700 for his career – The Athletic talked to more than a dozen of his teammates throughout the years, as well as members of the Capitals’ staff. The question was a simple one: Tell us your favorite early(ish) Ovi story.
Some had to think long and hard. Others began answering before the question was posed. A few refused to share because, well, it was a little too juicy for public consumption.
But more than enough did tell their Ovi story. And they’re a hoot.
Former Capitals forward Brian Willsie, Ovechkin’s first NHL roommate on the road: One thing we’d often do is we’d dine together or with the group, and we’d come back to the room and we’d order room service dessert. At the start, Alex’s English was coming but it was coming slowly. So I would do the ordering, whether it was fruit, ice cream or something of the sort. But I was telling him the whole time, “You’ve got to start doing this. I’m not going to be your roommate forever.” So finally, one of the nights we got back and he really wanted ice cream. I said, “Nope, I’m not ordering. You got to do it.” It was almost like a father-son thing. I said, “It’s your time, you got to do it.” He was so mad. We just sat there watching TV. He had his arms crossed. It was a staring contest. I told him again, “If you want ice cream, you have to do it.” He was so angry. Eventually, he just jumped out of bed and said, “OK, I do it. What do I say?” So he went over to the desk and ordered ice cream with chocolate sauce. I said, “Order two. Don’t leave me out.” He was super nervous. But he got it all out. He wasn’t confident in his English, but it was better than he thought it was.
Former Capitals defenseman Brian Pothier: We landed in Fort Lauderdale. We hadn’t been south in a while and it was wintertime. Ovi and (Alexander) Semin were like, “Let’s do it. Let’s get in the water.” They changed, ran down to the beach and did this like wild sprint into the water. It was reckless, and it was pretty cold. Then all of a sudden they come flying out of the water screaming because they were getting stung by jellyfish. That was probably 2006 or 2007, so his second or third year. They were fine. They were little jellyfish, but there were a lot of them. They had little marks on them. It wasn’t like they were mutilated, but they had little stings on them. It was pretty funny.
Former Capitals forward Matt Bradley: The people at the hotel were like, “Hey, you can’t go in the water, there’s jellyfish.” We didn’t have swimsuits. I’m pretty sure they went in their underwear. They were excited. It was like they had never seen the ocean. It wasn’t even warm. They just wanted to go in the ocean. I’m 90-percent sure they just had their underwear on.
Former Capitals captain and linemate Chris Clark: He came in the next day and had that big welt. It was all red. The welt is how we found out. I think he ran right through the jellyfish warning signs that were everywhere. I don’t know if he didn’t believe the signs or if he didn’t read them. The fact that there wasn’t anyone in the water should have been a warning to them, too.
Former Capitals forward Brooks Laich: I think he was named captain mid-year one year. Anyway, the first day of training camp the next year we kept saying, “We can’t wait for captain’s dinner this year because Ovi is buying.” Captain’s dinner is at the start of every year; the captain and the two assistants take the entire team out for dinner before the first road game. The captains take everyone out and pay for the entire meal. It’s a gesture to the guys from the leadership group. “We’re like, oh, we can’t wait! Ovi, you’re going to be buying captains’ dinner and we’re already starting to plan it.” He’s like, “Captain’s meal, what’s that?” We couldn’t believe that he didn’t know from the previous three years that he’d been bought dinner by the captains. We’re like, “You gotta take the whole team out for dinner.” And he’s like, “Okay. Sushi Rock, right after practice.” And we’re like, “Whaaaat?” He’s like, “Yeah, we do it today.” Okay. This was Day One of training camp. We tell everyone on the training camp roster that Ovi is buying lunch at Sushi Rock. So 63 guys go to the Sushi Rock for lunch on Day One of training camp – all on Ovi’s credit card. Then we make him buy captain’s dinner again once the team is settled a couple of weeks later. I think he got pissed when we told him he had to do it again. He was like, “I already did it.” We were like, “No, no. This is for the team now.”
Sushi for 63 guys? That’s like at least five, six grand. I love that story because it just encompasses Al. What a fantastic teammate. He’s just like, “Okay, let’s do it today.” And then buys lunch for everybody.
Brooks Laich: It was early on in our career. It might have been our first year, in fact. He was around like the 35, 40 goal mark. He’s established. It’s the second half of the season, and he’s cruising. We get home from a trip. We just got shit-kicked in Florida. We got beat up by Tampa. This is when we flew out of BWI and we had to get on the bus to get shuttled over to our cars. We get to that bus and Ovi gets on the phone with one of our trainers or one of the (equipment vendors). And he’s yelling. The whole bus is quiet. It’s dark. It’s like 1:30 in the morning. And he’s yelling, “These fucking sticks are shit! Call the fucking fabric and tell them to make better sticks!” He called the factory “the fabric.” He thought the word for factory was fabric. Everybody on the bus is just dying.
Former Capitals head athletic trainer Greg Smith: We were down in Miami on our day off. The kid decides to go out on the beach. So he goes out and buys like a European bathing suit, like a bikini, a Speedo. It was an American flag. It was hilarious. It was a Speedo! We’re like, “Ovi, you can’t wear that.” He’s like, “Why? Because of American flag?” We’re like, “No, because it’s a fucking Speedo and your junk is hanging out.” But he thought it was because of the American flag. I have a picture on my phone, of Ovi, in an American flag Speedo, on South Beach. So, of course, we posted it up all over the locker room.
Chris Clark: Half the time it was just the stuff that he wore. He’d come in and I’d be like, “What are you wearing?” He’d say, “What? It’s Dolce.” I’d say, “I don’t care how much it costs or who makes it. It might be the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen.” He had this one pair of pants, that were like jeans on the top but sweatpants in the legs. He was so proud of them. He thought they were the best thing ever.
Former Capitals forward and linemate Mike Knuble: Well, he used to wear these pants that were basically Daisy Dukes with cotton sweatpants attached for legs. We would always point and scratch our heads. One day someone says to Ovi, “Those pants are terrible. What the hell are they? Do you go to the club or go to work out? You have both covered, and we know you don’t work out!” He turns and smiles and says, “Dolce and Gabbana” and just keeps strutting away. We yell back, “They’re ugly as hell.” Now we are interested and decide to look them up. They were like $800 or something like that. Needless to say, we were shocked. We then coined the term “hobo-chic” to describe his really expensive clothes that look like they were from a dumpster. But we loved to give it to him about his attire.
We are eating pregame one day at (then Kettler Capitals Iceplex) and he pops into the room in a freebie NHL entry draft t-shirt from Carolina. It had sort of a Hurricanes logo on it. This is 5-6 years after he was drafted and has been making $9.5 million (a season) for three years. They probably gave him a pre-draft goody bag with a bunch of free crap. He still had the t-shirt from the bag! He didn’t hear the end of that one for a while. Needless to say, he didn’t wear that T-shirt again. I would really love to have a look in his closet one day.
Former Capitals defenseman Steve Eminger: He used to wear these jean shorts that looked like women’s shorts his rookie season. They were so tight, so high. We got a hold of them, cut them up and threw them out. And that was that. He had to go home from the rink in some Capitals gym shorts. That was the last we saw of those shorts. I don’t think he had a lot of clothes at that time. (Jeff Halpern) might have been the aggressor on that one. We were like, “Ovi, that’s it. You can’t ever wear anything like that again.” They were acid-washed!
Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom: In the beginning when we got here, he was driving me everywhere. The first thing I noticed is, well, you never talk when you go in the car with him because he plays the stereo full blast. Techno, everything. It’s just really fucking loud. There’s no way to talk. If he’s about to say something, he’ll reach over and turn it down, and he’ll ask you a question. And then put it back on full blast.
Another thing with his driving, especially when he was younger, was he loved to go a little faster. He’d always push the pedal and then hit the brakes. So you’re sitting like this (Backstrom pushes himself back in his locker stall and then snaps his head forward). That was a fun thing he always did when we drove together to the airport. He’d go full speed and then hit the brakes. But he would only go full speed for like 200 feet. Then he’d go, “Oh fuck, I’m so scared in case the cops are coming.” That was when he first got that white Mercedes (AMG S63). I think he’s got that back in Russia now.
Capitals defenseman John Carlson: It was maybe my third year, and my aunt made dinner for the whole team (prior to a game in New Jersey). It was a traditional Italian dinner. My cousin owns a deli, so he brought the appetizers and all that. We were all there. And after a couple of rounds of appetizers and soup and whatever else we were having, the pasta and meatballs came out. And Ovi goes up to one of my aunts and asked for, uh, ketchup. That’s a deadly sin. I would say in most cases that gets a slap in the face. But they’re not like that. But it was certainly a shock to them. They couldn’t fathom or understand that anyone would ever want to put ketchup on pasta or meatballs. But they went and got the ketchup because they were good hosts.
Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov: Like four or five years ago, we tried to make a reservation for sushi restaurant in Vancouver. We called ahead and tried to get a reservation. So, I remember, we say my last name and (Evgeny) Kuznetsov. And they said, no. They don’t have any space, available rooms, tables, whatever. And we said, what about if we bring Alex Ovechkin? They said, hold on one second. I think the guy talked to the manager or whatever. They give us a table. It was pretty funny because it was all of us – Stan Galiev, me, Kuzy and Ovi. We all were in the hotel room. It was on speaker so all four of us could hear it. It was so funny. Alex just started laughing. At first they had nothing, then right away it was, “Oh yeah, yeah, you guys can come.”
Former Capitals defenseman Brendan Witt: His rack (at Piney Orchard Ice Arena) was always full with like 50 sticks. One day I sawed a bunch of them. He’d wind up, take a shot and he’d go, “What the fuck?” Then the next one would snap. “What the fuck!” You have to think of Ovi yelling, “Fuuuucccckkkk!” You know Ovi taking those big slappers. Just imagine broken blades on one-timers. It was awesome. Usually, when I cut someone’s stick, it was always in the blade and then I would re-tape it properly. I would take off the tape and then hide the cut behind the tape because then you never know. If you do the shaft, then you would see a cut in the graphite. I’d always cut it in the blade, underneath the blade, different angles of the blade. So it breaks differently each time. I swear he went in and got a new stick each time. I don’t think he ever figured out it was me.
Former Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau: I remember telling (then-general manager) George (McPhee) after we traded Chris Clark, “It’s Ovi’s team now, and we got to make him captain, even if he’s not completely ready for it. He’s the captain and the leader of this team and he will be for many years.” So I asked him if he wanted to be captain and he said, “YESSS!” It was really emphatic. “Yes, I want to be captain. I really want it.” He wasn’t like, “Yeah, I don’t know if I’m ready.” None of that. It was, “Yes!” Adamantly. He wanted to be the captain. I said, “You’ve earned it and you deserve it and you’re our leader and we’re going to follow you.”
Greg Smith: Early in his rookie season, he turns to me on the bench and says, “Do you have a wodka?” I said, “A what?” He said, “You know, a wodka?” He does the drinking motion. I said, “Oh, vodka.” I said, “No, I don’t have any vodka. It’s the middle of a game.” I’m thinking what’s wrong with this guy? Then he shows me — and honest to god — it’s a little paper cut on his finger. He’s like, “You know, wodka? It kills germs.” I’m like, “No, no, we have peroxide for that. But don’t drink it.” He pours it on his cut. And then he says, “I need a plaster.” I said, “What is a plaster?” You know how he gets. I have a fanny pack on. He grabs my waist and starts digging around in my fanny pack and pulls out a band-aid and says, “See? Plaster.”
Bruce Boudreau: My go-to stories about Ovi are about how he’s able to be as physical as he is and not get hurt. I remember him going knee on knee with Tim Gleason, who is a big 225-pound guy. Alex went to the room. I went in and he was like, “I’m fine.” It was like nothing happened. I also remember him going knee-on-knee in the playoffs with Sergei Gonchar. Nothing happened to Alex and that guy misses the rest of the playoffs. Those physical things are what I remember most of all. One time, we played Pittsburgh and he got a big cut on his leg. It was about eight inches long and he needed about 25 stitches. He couldn’t even walk. Two days later we were in Ottawa and he played, even though I was amazed at the scar on the inside of his leg. And he scored four goals that night. He’s done that kinda stuff every year of his career. The toughness of him is overlooked sometimes.
NBC Sports Washington play-by-play announcer Joe Beninati: You know he loves cars. It’s his rookie year. He’s a puppy. But he’s Alex. He’s a star and he’s got the big car – a BMW M6. A white M6. He sends it off to get all this aftermarket work done, air dams, ground effects, brakes, rims. One night, we come out of the garage and we’re stopped at a light. We were going to the airport after a game. He’s got his car, he’s all happy, he’s all proud. And here’s this schlub TV announcer pulling up next to him in an M6. He looks at me. I look him and I wave. And he just drops his head. I look back at him and I go, “What, I can’t have one, too?”
Former Capitals senior director of communications Kurt Kehl: We were at a Ravens preseason game, and we had gone down to the sideline. Now we were walking back up to the suite and he sees this stand for Dippin’ Dots. So he buys a little carton of Dippin’ Dots. We take a few steps as he’s eating them. He looooveeees them! He goes back and buys two more. So now he’s got three things of Dippin’ Dots. We’re up in (former Ravens executive) Dennis Mannion’s suite. I’m sitting next to Ovi and he’s got these three things of Dippin’ Dots in front of him. I see George (McPhee), who was big on nutrition, walking into the suite. So I remember sliding the Dippin’ Dots away from Ovechkin and in front of whoever was sitting next to him. Ovi looked at me all confused. I said, “Just wait until George leaves and then slide them back over.”
Joe Beninati: Rookie year, again. Shy, not really good with the language. Whenever we put him on camera, he would be very self-conscious. It’s just about time for Russia to announce the Olympic team. Our producer/director, Bill Bell, is like, “Just get him on camera for a soundbite and ask him what would it mean to you to get selected for the team? Pavel Bure is the GM.” He comes in our studio and he sits down and he gives me an answer, and it’s good. He walks out of our studio where he’s shy and intimidated and not sure about the sound of his own voice. He walks into a scrum of other media. Someone asks him, “What would it mean to you if you make Team Russia?” He answers, “You tell Pavel Bure that I’ll play goalie! I’ll do anything to make the team!” And I’m like, “Ack! Why couldn’t you give that to me just two seconds ago?”
Kurt Kehl: When he first got here, Nate (Ewell, the Capitals’ former director of media relations) and I took him somewhere to do a media interview. We’re coming back and parking at the arena. And on the way back, he’s like, “I’ll take you to lunch. I’ll take you to lunch.” We’re like, “No, it’s okay, Alex. This is part of the job; it’s what we do. You don’t have to reward us for doing our job.” But he was really badgering us. “I’ll take you to lunch. I’ll take you to lunch.” So finally, Nate and I said, “Sure, we’ll go.” He took us to McDonald’s. Because he wanted a burger. I was like, “Wait a minute. I put up this big fight because I thought he was going to take us to Capital Grille. If I knew it was going to be a Big Mac, I wouldn’t have made such a fuss.”
Longtime Capitals equipment manager Craig “Woody” Leydig: It was probably Ovi’s second year and we’re in the equipment room at – I guess it was called MCI Center back then – and anyway I’m sitting there doing some work and he was lacing. He had laced a couple of eyelets. And then there was an impromptu meeting called. He said, “Woodman, would you finish it for me?” And I did. Then he went out that night and had a multiple-point game. And from there, it just became habitual. He’s a creature of habit, like a lot of guys.
Kurt Kehl: When he first got here, he lived with McPhee. I remember telling George at one point, “Hey, if he totally gets in your hair, let me know if I can do anything.” One day George says to me, “Can you take Ovi to Laurel to skate with a couple of guys?” We get up to Laurel in that back rink. (Olie) Kolzig was there. (Jeff) Halpern was there. (Trent) Whitfield was there. I had never seen Ovi skate. And he comes on and starts skating on that back rink. You know how it echoes in there. Hearing him skate. He isn’t a graceful skater. It wasn’t like (Mario) Lemieux or (Alexei) Kovalev skating. It was just pure power. You could hear it in that rink. I had never seen or heard anything like that. And then he let a couple of shots go. And I remember Halpern looking up at me in the stands … and Halpy was almost like, “What the fuck is that?”
Former Capitals director of media relations Nate Ewell: I don’t remember the exact date, but we had played in either Philly or New York because we took the train back. Then the whole team had to take the Metro back from Union Station to Verizon Center. Which in and of itself is kinda absurd if you think about it – all the Caps getting on the Metro. I was standing there with him on the platform and we were talking about world juniors for some reason. I said, “Man, I HATED you!” He just laughed and said, “Why? Why did you hate me?” I was like, “You were always taunting the crowd. You had the tinted visor. I thought you were cocky and brash.” He was like, “I was just having fun.” It’s exactly how people’s perception of him has changed. They all thought here’s this guy that celebrates too much. But once you get to know him, you realize it was just him having fun.
An oral history of the early years of the Alex Ovechkin era in DC
ALEX OVECHKIN
Obviously it was a special moment to win the Calder, because it was a big battle between me and Crosby. I had more points than him, but I felt like, "He is Canadian, and he is probably going to win it." We went there just for fun. Of course my family was there and my agent was there, and I was like, "Whatever. Whatever happens, happens."
And when I won it, I didn't even prepare my speech because I was a hundred percent sure Sid was going to get it. And I was shocked. As soon as I won it, I was shocked. I was like, "Holy moly, what do I have to say?" My speech was tremendous, I think. And Olie won, and we drafted Nicky.
As soon as you look back and remember all of the moments we have had together, we have had ups and downs. We have had good nights, we have bad nights. We have good days, bad days. But it doesn't matter what happened, we always kind of look back because we knew it's me and him that was going to carry this team until the moment when we won. That was something special, because basically we built this franchise. I was first guy who came into the league, and he was second. This is my 15th [season] and him the same. It's crazy how times fly, but that's something special that me and him are still here together. Of course, different guys have come in and lots of talent has come into the league and to the team, but it's not the same. Me and him came to the team when it was rebuilding. They built a new organization, a new franchise, and it's something special.
TED LEONSIS
I'll never forget when we had this season ticket holder event, and there was all this speculation. We did a good job of keeping it quiet, and I said, "I have good news and I have bad news. What you've been reading about Alex signing a five-year extension, it's just not true." And it was like, "Oh, he's leaving - there was already chatter: Montreal and all the Canadian teams." And then I said, "He's staying for 13 years!" and the place went nuts.
...I remember we had the announcement, and Nick drove him here and was hanging out with him. And that - I think - compelled [Nick] to say, "Well, I want to be here. I'll do 10 years." And so then you have your two first-round picks - both bedrock guys - committed to the community long term.
OLIE KOLZIG
It's still so hard to put it into words. I mean, it was so surreal and I think it still is. Watching the [Cup] Final this past June and seeing St. Louis celebrate, I just put myself back at T-Mobile Arena. We had the countdown, and we had the whole staff up there, and we were just jumping around like we were little kids. And then we went down on the ice.
I still can't really put it into words. It was obviously one of the most special moments I will ever feel. But I think that really the coolest part of that whole day and that whole night was when Ovi came over. We hadn't really connected on the ice at all; he was doing his photo opps and he had his family there. He was getting ready to leave the ice with the Stanley Cup, and out of the corner of his eye he saw me, and he turned right around and skated over to me with the Cup. He said, "Can you believe we did this, bitch?" And he handed it to me. To me, that was my favorite moment of that whole run, that whole experience.
This entire article is just a fantastic love letter to and description of how the Ovechkin era got started, starting with the Caps winning the lottery and including quotes from a ton of old teammates and it’s so, so Ovi, from freaking out over winning the Calder and drafting Nicky to handing the Cup to Olie Kolzig, the goalie he grew up with.
“Can you believe we did this, bitch?” What an icon.
Wait the best was when I met Emmy. He came off the ice after Richie so everyone was crowded around Richie and Emmy just goes "hey guys!!!" And everyone just looked at him and went back to Richie. I took full advantage of that ofc and went right up to him and got a hug
