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Alex Ovechkin honored by Wayne Gretzky, parents, and son for scoring 700 goals in touching pregame ceremony

By Ian Oland

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February 25, 2020 8:16 pm

Alex Ovechkin was honored in a pregame ceremony by the Washington Capitals after scoring his 700th career goal Saturday against the Devils.

Ovechkin left the Capitals bench after an introduction video aired on the jumbotron and joined his son Sergei, his wife Nastya (who’s expecting baby number two), Capitals majority owner Ted Leonsis, president Dick Patrick, and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly who were already on the ice.

By the end of the ceremony, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Video

The Capitals’ first honored Ovechkin with a video offering congratulations from his closest teammates and the NHL’s greatest goalscorers of all-time.

“Congrats on 700 goals. What a great milestone. I’m so happy for you,” Nicklas Backstrom, who has assisted on more of Ovechkin’s goals than any other player, said. “Huge accomplishment. Keep going. Don’t stop here.”

Mike Gartner, who sits seventh on the NHL’s all-time goals list (708), had this to say. “I’ve been told that there are more guys that have walked on the face of the moon than have scored 700 goals and you have made it look easy so far in your career. We both know it’s not easy to score that many goals. And I also think it’s pretty cool two Washington Capitals are in that 700 goals club.”

Gartner, of course, forgot Jaromir Jagr, who scored 766 goals and spent parts of three seasons in Washington.

“700 goals is a lot of goals,” Jagr said. “If I would be Wayne Gretzky, I’d be shaking right now. Because I think you’re going to beat him.”

Gretzky offered his congratulations as well, garnering a massive pop from the Capital One Arena crowd.

“Congratulations on joining the 700 Club,” Gretzky said. “You’ve had an outstanding career. You’ve scored 700 goals. You’ve won the Stanley Cup. And you’ve meant a lot to the game hockey – not only in Washington but throughout North America and Russia. I’ll be there saying the same thing when you get to 800. Good luck.”

The video also featured a message from Mikhail and Tatyana Ovechkina, Ovechkin’s parents. Tatyana is a two-time Olympic gold medalist as a basketball player.

“Congratulations from both of us. You are wonderful! We have always believed in you. We are so proud of you, our son,” Tatyana said. “We also want to extend our huge thanks to the entire coaching and training staff, management, and the whole team. And of course, our extended gratitude and appreciation to all the fans. It is an incredible organization, the Washington Capitals. We want to wish everyone happiness and good health. Once again, congratulations! Big kisses from both of us. We love you all very much!

But the highlight of the video was the congratulations Ovechkin received from a barking Blake, his dog, (“Congrats! I love you!” the dog supposedly said) and his son Sergei, who while holding 700 balloons, and said “Papa!”

Ovechkin appeared to begin tearing up as the video his son played. Everyone else in the arena probably did too. I know I did.

In terms of gifts, the National Hockey League presented Ovi with a Tiffany Crystal. The Washington Capitals presented Ovechkin Hublot Big Bang Unico Titanium Watch. Hublot is one of Ovechkin’s sponsors.

In the end, the best part was Ovi’s interactions with Ovi Jr.

Ovechkin would respond by scoring his 701st goal 1:55 into the first period.

Congratulations, Ovi!

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Jets

Headline photo courtesy of NBC Sports Washington

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