Alex Ovechkin has been collecting his own gear and other players’ sticks since the start of his NHL career. An avid hockey history buff, Ovechkin plans to open a museum in his native Moscow someday, showing off his massive collection.
When Ovi scored his 895th career goal and broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goals record on April 6, not only did he end up keeping his stick, the milestone goal puck, and Ilya Sorokin’s twig, but his accomplishment turned some of his Capitals teammates into collectors, too.
“The stick, certain little things like that, jerseys,” John Carlson said when asked if he kept anything that day from UBS Arena. “Yeah, pretty much everything.”
Minutes after Ovechkin sent his faithful one-timer past Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin and belly-flopped on the ice in celebration, every Capitals player was given a red hat from Fanatics that featured a graphic of Ovi and read “NHL All-Time Goals Leader.” Ahead of a 22-minute-long ceremony on the ice, Ovechkin handed over his hockey gear to be authenticated near the locker room tunnel and briefly spoke to Tom Wilson, the player who registered the primary assist on his 895th goal.
“[My] stick, I saved,” Wilson said. “I got to the bench, and Ovi said like, ‘Keep the stick.’ That was one of the first things he said to me. And I said like, ‘For you or for me?’ It was so loud, he didn’t even respond to that, so I was wondering like, ‘Is he going to try and take the stick for his museum or whatever?’ At that point, you kinda just have to, but then the next day he said, ‘No, no, like I’ll sign it for you.’ That was cool.
“The jersey that I wore in that game, I got that signed by him,” Wilson added. “I’ve never really asked him for anything over my career. I’ve never asked him for an autograph. He gave my dad a stick on my 100th goal he assisted and he assisted on my first goal. And the stick that he used on my 100th goal, he signed, put a message, and gave it to my dad, which was really cool. I don’t have an Ovi stick or anything at home, so to have this stuff is pretty cool.”
Post-game, every player was given red NHL goals record t-shirts to go along with their new hats.
Ovechkin took individual photos with everyone inside the locker room while holding the goal puck.
The Capitals’ captain also did something else special for his teammates, according to Wilson.
“He signed everybody’s hats with funny messages and stuff,” he said.
Dylan Strome was the only player who willingly showed off what Ovi inscribed for him, posting an image of his hat on Instagram: “To Ziinni. Thx for 2nd assist. <3”
Jakob Chychrun took a selfie with Ovechkin in the locker room, showing off an autographed Coors Light beer can from the locker room celebration and a signed game sheet. “Truly feel so lucky to be a part of your journey brother,” he wrote. “Grateful”
The printed piece of paper filled with stats from the game seemed to be a popular route other players went for.
“Just the game sheet,” Anthony Beauvillier said. “I kept a couple game sheets. It’s history, so I don’t know, maybe one day I’ll look back at them and I’ll be happy to have them.”
“Yeah, I got the game sheet that he signed,” Connor McMichael revealed on Breakdown Day. “I got the hat and the t-shirt. I got him to write a little message on there. That was pretty cool, so I’m going to see if I can snag a couple more sticks off him before we head out here.”
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery had success on some items and failure with others.
“I tried to get a puck, but I did not,” Carbery said. “I have my game card and, like, the game sheet from that night, so I’ll probably keep that and do something with that.”
Other players were just happy to be a part of the experience and needed nothing extra.
“I think everybody got a hat and t-shirt,” Lars Eller said. “I know I have the hat, so I have a couple things.”
“I don’t need anything,” Logan Thompson, who missed the game due to injury, said. “That’s O’s night. I’m just happy to be his teammate. That’s good enough for me.”
As for Ovechkin, despite being such a huge collector, the thing he cherished most wasn’t the memorabilia or equipment.
“It’s hard to explain, but I think the memory what I have when its happen,” Ovechkin said. “To see Wayne (Gretkzy) on the ice, his wife, and my wife, my mom, my kids, and my family was there as well. It was special moment.”
