Traveling to Moscow for Ovechkin’s two days with the Cup that summer was like following a rock star. When Ovechkin brought the Cup to Red Square unannounced on the second day, a massive crowd formed around him within minutes.
He had no security with him, so it was up to Hockey Hall of Fame Cup keepers Howie Borrow and Mario Della-Savia, Capitals vice president of communications Sergey Kocharov, and Ovechkin’s agent, David Abrutyn, to help guide him through the horde. When Ovechkin stopped to pose for a photo lifting the Cup in front of historic St. Basil’s Cathedral, the mob politely stepped back, at his request, to give him more room.
In recent years, the only thing that seemed to bring Ovechkin more joy than playing and scoring goals was sharing that experience with Sergei and Ilya.
Celebrating goals by fist-bumping them through the glass and skating with them after practices was as much of a driving force for him near the end of his career as chasing records.
Ovechkin’s connection with children was evident even before he became a father, though. He had a genuine bond with players from the American Special Hockey Association and a special place in his heart for children battling cancer, whether it was at the Capitals annual Hockey Fights Cancer skate or helping fulfill countless Make-A-Wish requests.
Ovechkin’s relationship with Alex Luey, a youth hockey player from Niagara Falls, Ontario, stands out the most. Luey died Dec. 22, 2019, when he was 15, after a three-year battle with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer that caused him to have his right leg amputated.
Ovechkin, who first met Luey in 2017, was inspired by Luey’s positivity in the face of adversity.
When Ovechkin invited Luey to meet the Capitals at their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Nov. 25, 2017, he promised he’d score a goal for him and got three in a 4-2 victory.
Ovechkin also scored in two other games Luey attended that season and invited him and his family to Washington for the Capitals Stanley Cup parade. Out of the public eye, Ovechkin would call Luey on his birthday and before surgeries to check in on him and offer encouragement.
“When Ovi first agreed to meet him, I’m thinking, ‘OK, this is his PR. This is his job. He’s doing a good thing,” Cat Luey, Alex’s mother, told me in 2020. “But it didn’t take me long to realize it was more than that. Ovi gave more than just his, ‘OK, I have to spend 10 minutes with this kid.’ There did seem to be that genuine caring.”