The Capitals captain said he plans to change up his training this offseason.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin got some work in and tried out a new sport on Friday: pickleball.
Ovechkin joined KHL defenseman Egor Yakovlev, along with basketball player Vitaly Fridzon and former tennis player Anastasia Myskina, for a game of pickleball at the Maxx Royal Kemer Resort in Turkey, where Ovechkin and his family are currently vacationing during the offseason.
Washington's captain broke quite a sweat playing the popular sport and was in high spirits.
Ovechkin said the plan this summer is to vacation in Turkey and then get back to training ahead of what will be his 20th NHL season.
The 38-year-old is coming off what he called one of the most challenging seasons of his career, where he ended up with 31 goals after managing just eight through the first half of the season. He was able to find his touch in the latter half of the year to help his team back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where D.C. was ultimately swept by the New York Rangers.
“To be honest with you, it was tough with the whole situation, the injuries, line combinations. I was talking to Carbs all the time, and we just try to figure out like, 'Okay, what’s the best way for me to start doing my job and start to scoring goals, make some points?'... We have to figure out the system-wise, game-wise, and everything like that," Ovechkin said of the season.
Going into 2024-25, Ovechkin said that he has spoken with his trainer, Pavel Burlachenko, and that he plans to implement some changes to his regimen as he enters the twilight of his NHL career.
Ovechkin currently sits at 853 career goals. He needs 42 more to break Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL scoring rec
