Over the summer, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and wife Nastya Ovechkina celebrated the first birthday of their son, Sergei. That celebration included both an extravagent “Boss Baby” themed party, as well as the release of the first-ever public photo of Sergei.

With Sergei’s privacy being so closely guarded over the last year by his parents on social media, Nastya spoke to Russia’s “Hello!” magazine about her son for the first time as part of their issue on children.

“It has been a difficult but very happy year. Sergei was a very large baby, so I had to give away all of the newborn clothes I had bought and switch to 3-4 months size,” Nastya told “Hello!”, as translated by Igor Kleyner. “When I look at my childhood photos, I see that my son looks like me. But when he is next to Sasha, he is an exact copy of him.”

Nastya went into more detail with “Hello!” about how much Ovi has taken to fatherhood, right from the moment Sergei was born. The strong connection between father and son was evident from Nastya’s reveal of Sergei’s first word.

“Sasha has an incredible connection to his son. Even his first word was ‘daddy,'” she said. “We have been living in Russia for the last few months, my husband has a lot of projects and business trips here, but he is constantly in touch with his son, and if he has even 30 minutes of free time, always comes to him. On the ice, Ovechkin is a beast, but at home he is gentle, kind, caring, he even learned how to change diapers while we were still in maternity ward.”

With the 2019-20 NHL season around the corner, and Capitals Training Camp about to start on September 12, Nastya also took a moment to recognize Ovi’s impact in Washington, as well as how important it is for the two of them to support and take time for one another.

“In the US, Sasha is a hero. He is recognized even in a supermarket – that’s wonderful, but also a great responsibility,” Nastya said. “The new season is about to begin, he will be having practice sessions all the time, and I know how much he needs support at home. Of course, I want to spend every minute with my son, but it’s also important not to forget about the husband. That’s why I try to set up romantic dates for us – I know how much he needs that.”

Headline photo: hello.ru/Anastasia Belskaya