Heading year tactics could change Ovechkin’s record hunt on Gretzky

Heading year tactics could change Ovechkin’s record hunt on Gretzky

cnn-While NHL Let us take a look at how this extraordinary wing player came to the National Hockey League.

The beginnings of Ovechkin

ovechkin was born on September 17, 1985, two days after the deadline to qualify for the 2003 draft. How sought-after was the then 17-year-old player from the Moscow Dynamo? So inaugurated that the Florida panthers several times in the course of the Drafts tried to choose him in the last rounds a year before he was even entitled to the draft. They claimed that Ovechkin was old enough due to leap years to be selected in 2003.

an unexpected draft

Of course that didn't work. But it caused some great stories among the teamexecutives and scouts that were due to the end of the draft at Nashville Airport. The GM Rick Dudley and the Florida Panthers at the time cannot be accused of trying it, and their assessment of the young Russian's talent cannot be questioned.

With the NHL-Draft rules at that time, Ovechkin was finally the first overall pick from the Washington" Capitals drafted. And it all started with a phone call.

The preparations for the lockout

The NHL draft had not yet become a nationally transferred event, and so the then Capitals General Director (and now president of the hockey operations of the Vegas Golden Knights) George McPhee learned that Washington had won the draft lottery in 2004, although the chances were only in third place.

In the following weeks, the conversations in the Capitals office revolved around two players born in Russia who were to become the most talented strikers in NHL history: wing player Alex Ovechkin and Center Evgeny Malkin. The choice of Ovechkin, the combination of goal instinct, skating ability, physical presence and tireless fighting spirit the franchise and the interest of the fans in D.C. lived.

The challenges of the NHL

But not everything was smooth for the Capitals and the Ovechkin era - at least not at the beginning. In fact, there was no beginning, at least not in the year in which the winger born in Moscow was drafted. The NHL paused throughout the 2004-05 season due to a work dispute, so that the then 19-year-old stayed in Russia and played a fourth season with the Moscow Dynamo. The fans of the Capitals had to be patient and management had to act quickly.

I have known George McPhee for over 20 years, and he once told me how little time the Capitals had to secure Ovechkin when the NHL-Lockout ended in 2005: three days. And not only time played a role, but also the reluctance of Ovechkin's parents who preferred that their son stayed in Russia, made the discussion more complicated.

Ovechkin's breakthrough in the NHL

But it was Ovechkin's wish to play in the NHL that ultimately won, and so he came in D.C. to. At first he moved into a hotel room, but then moved in for the first few weeks of his career at the Capitals to McPhee and his family. The Ovechkin era had finally started.

The waiting time had paid off: at the age of 20, he scored 52 goals in his first season and was awarded the Calder Trophy as the NHL rookie of the year. Who was in second place that season? A boy from Nova Scotia called Sidney Crosby, who ironically was the long -time teammate of Evgeny Malkin.

an impressive career

Almost twenty seasons later the boy, who once said to his GM McPhee: "The Russian machine never breaks", shortly before that to break one of the most iconic records in NHL history. The "GR8" is about to exceed the Great One.

In the course of his career, Ovechkin scored nine seasons with 50+ goals, including 65 goals in the 2007-08 season. He was chosen 12 times as the all-star, appointed the League MVP three times and was one of the 100 best NHL players of all time. A year later he celebrated the first Stanley Cup with his capital when they defeated the incredibly successful Vegas Golden Knights in five games. The GM from Vegas this memorable season was none other than McPhee.

the look into the future

ovi sat down with pic.twitter.com/lujmnmaal6 - nhlontnt (@Nhl_on_tnt) 6. March 2025

A legacy is created

When everything is said and done - no matter how many goals Ovechkin will still achieve - and finally a monument in his honor in D.C. The presentation of Ovechkin will surely be in the legendary pose in which he camps on the upper left corner in the power play of the Capitals, symbolically calls for the passport and is ready to send an explosive shot past an imaginary and helpless goalkeeper.

McPhee was able to experience numerous of these goals in real time, and years after Ovechkin's career at the Capitals, I asked McPhee, which was most noticeable to him when he watched his Russian superstar so regularly. He said Ovechkin "let the goals look just" and quickly added: "That's not it." He also mentioned that Ovi is "one of the best things the NHL ever happened."

And if Ovechkin finally withdraws, what would McPhee tell the dynamic Russian about this fateful draft day in June 2004? He replied dryly: "It was a very good choice."