During the Washington Capitals’ west coast swing, Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson did an interview with Linda Cohn for a feature on ESPN+. During the interview, we learned that Ovechkin would instantly retire if he broke Wayne Gretkzy’s goal record. “Yeah, right away. See ya!” Ovechkin said as he saluted the camera.

ESPN recently made more of the ridiculous interview available on YouTube. There we learned of Alex Ovechkin’s frustration with diets.

During the 2018 postseason, Ovechkin’s legendary and “borderline inspiring” appetite was made public by Brooks Orpik in a Players’ Tribute article. Orpik explained that The Great 8 had chicken parm from Mamma Lucia before every game. It’s “the kind of thing you want to take a five-hour nap after eating,” he said.

Ovechkin talked more about his eating habits with Cohn.

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Cohn pointed out to Ovechkin that he’s one of the top players in the NHL despite his age. She pointed out that Tom Brady of the NFL and LeBron James of the NBA changed certain things – from either the way they played to the way they ate or trained – to stay relevant.

“Yeah, of course, I’ve done last couple of years I change my training,” Ovechkin said before adding, “I don’t change my diet.” He laughed.

In September, Ovechkin revealed during an NHL Media Day interview that he did less weightlifting and more cardiovascular training, but created a stir when he said his weight remained the same: 260 pounds.

Cohn then asked Ovi “What’s your favorite food?”

“Everything I can eat,” Ovechkin said. “You can ask John, I eat everything.

Carlson responded that Ovi loved Mamma Lucia’s chicken parm.

“Chicken parm, yeah. I just eat it pregame. Pizza,” he said. “I’m not a big fan of stay on diets. I try to diet once, didn’t work well. I just didn’t lose weight. I said you know what, forget about it. I’m just going to do my thing.”

Ovechkin also spoke about the Capitals Stanley Cup celebration in 2018.

“I think we make one mistake out there,” Ovechkin said. “In Georgetown, we didn’t bring any cameras. That was probably the highlight of our celebration I think. Everybody was together, fans, team, and we just have so much fun. It seems like basically you can do whatever you want and nobody would care. But I think yeah, I hope we gonna get not only one Cup but, hope so, get a couple Cups, but the celebration is gonna be much much bigger because we knew how to do it. It’s gonna be planned right away.”

He also had a cute exchange when John Carson revealed that Connor McDavid is the toughest player in the NHL to defend.

“I think he’s probably at the top of everyone’s list in terms of when we do our meetings no matter if you’re a forward or a defenseman or goalie, you always need to be aware of where he is and he’s a guy that can strike from anywhere and very fast.”

Cohn added that over the years speed is now king with the MacKinnons and McDavids. She told Ovi you’re not really a north-south guy.

“I was like them. Not anymore,” Ovechkin deadpanned.

Cohn asked when it went away.

Ovechkin turned to Carlson, “Tell me.”

Carlson began sheepishly laughing. “I don’t know. You’re still north-south. You can still fly.”

“I can still fly when it’s playoffs time,” Ovechkin responded.