After another hard summer training, Alex Ovechkin arrived at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Friday for the team’s first day of on-ice drills. It looks like he had a ball.
Ovechkin blew kisses, made a few jokes, and even came over to greet his loving fans. He also appears to have brought some gifts to his Capitals teammates.
First thing in the morning, Tom Wilson showed off a box of Ovi O’s he got. “What a treat @ovi8,” he wrote on Twitter.
Special delivery this morning. What a treat @ovi8 #OviOs pic.twitter.com/iUH78F5fji
— Tom Wilson (@tom_wilso) September 13, 2019
A few hours later, Ovechkin’s group, Team Blue, jumped on the ice. Blue includes Ovi’s likely first-line line-mates, Nicklas Backstrom and Wilson. Ovechkin blew a kiss.
At first, on our Instagram Story, we reported that it was for Nicklas Backstrom. But Nastya Ovechkina corrected us.
We are sorry for this egregious error and promise to do better in the future. (Those two are so cute, right?)
Later, Ovi took his skate test, which featured three full-length-of-the-ice laps. Ovechkin, it appears, finished second after Tom Wilson.
Here’s Alex Ovechkin during his skate test today pic.twitter.com/tS0aa9OMN5
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) September 13, 2019
When he got back to the bench, he made a joke to Brooks Orpik – the newest member of the Capitals Development Department.
Ovi shouts down the bench at Orpik: “Batya! You glad you don’t have to do this this year?” pic.twitter.com/ACHLR2yWZ5
— RMNB (@russianmachine) September 13, 2019
After practice ended, Ovechkin made his way over to fans for a photo.
Spasibo Ovi 👋 pic.twitter.com/hlZI6kp41c
— RMNB (@russianmachine) September 13, 2019
When he left, he gave Vince Backstrom, Nicklas Backstrom’s son, a surprise.
Later, he promoted the release of NHL 20 and chirped Don Cherry.
So yeah, tell me if I’m wrong, but I think Ovi is really glad hockey is back. I think his age 34 season will be his best one yet.
