Friday night, after a week’s full of informal skates with his Caps teammates, Alex Ovechkin kept working out.

A slimmed-down Ovechkin, who returned several weeks early to North America, was spotted at a local Virginia school, Washington-Lee High School, doing a medicine ball drill. Caps teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov, not seen in the photo, was also present.

Photo: Gretchen M.

This picture got me thinking.

At times during his career, Ovechkin has been criticized by fans for his weight and his fitness. For whatever reason, the Russian machine has a reputation among some hockey fans that he doesn’t work out hard enough or dedicate himself to the sport as much as other NHL superstars do. If only Ovi dedicated himself to the sport like Sidney Crosby does, maybe the Capitals would have already won a Stanley Cup.

Or maybe, this whole time, those people have gotten Ovechkin wrong. Maybe his work ethic is second to none. Maybe Ovi just doesn’t advertise his private work outs on social media. And the times you do see him on Instagram, he’s shirtless and sloppy on stage signing Ra-Ra-Rasputin, which is way more memorable.

Maybe we shouldn’t be so critical. Maybe we should let those 558 goals in 12 seasons speak for themselves.

It’s just a thought.