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Alex Ovechkin voted captain of Metropolitan Division All-Stars for fifth time

By Chris Cerullo

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January 13, 2022 7:01 pm

Alex Ovechkin has been voted into the 2022 All-Star Game and will be the Metropolitan Division All-Star captain. All-Star Weekend will be held in Vegas at T-Mobile Arena.

The NHL announced the all-star rosters and divisional captains on SportsCenter in the US and on SportsNet in Canada.

The seemingly ageless Ovechkin had the best start of his career this season. As of today, he is third in total points in the NHL with 52 and tied for second in goal scoring with 24 lamps lit.

Ovi has played in seven All-Star Games in his career (selected for 12) and has been voted captain five times in total. The past two years he has opted out of attending All-Star Weekend due to him wanting to rest up for the remainder of games left in those seasons. The Capitals claim that he “wants to go” to this year’s game, but that was before he missed the last handful of days of practice due to an injury.

He received the most votes among all players and will be the only Capitals all-star representative.

The other captains are Auston Matthews (Atlantic Division), Nathan MacKinnon (Central Division), and Connor McDavid (Pacific Division).

The All-Star Skills competition is on February 4 and the full three-game tournament commences the day after.

Here’s the full press release from the Capitals:

Fans Elect Ovechkin as Captain of Metro Division for 2022 All-Star Game

ARLINGTON, Va. – Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has been named captain of the Metropolitan Division for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game after topping his division in the 2022 NHL All-Star Fan Vote, the NHL announced today. It marks Ovechkin’s franchise-record 12th All-Star Game selection (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020). NHL All-Star Weekend will take place on Feb. 4-5 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

From Dec. 11 – Jan. 8, fans worldwide were able to cast their votes at NHL.com/Vote and via the NHL App. Ovechkin, who received 30.4 percent of the fan vote for Metropolitan players and the most votes among all players, has been named captain of the Metropolitan Division for five of the six All-Star Games since the NHL switched to the 3-on-3 divisional format in 2016 (2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022). In seven career All-Star Games (he did not participate in the 2012, 2016, 2019 and 2020 games), Ovechkin has recorded 14 points (7g, 7a).

The Moscow, Russia native ranks tied for second in the NHL in goals (24), third in points (52), tied for seventh in assists (28) and first in shots (170). Additionally, Ovechkin’s 32 points at five-on-five (12g, 20a) rank tied for first in the NHL and his 22:03 time on ice per game ranks third among forwards. Ovechkin is currently on a 115-point pace and a 62-assist pace over an 82-game season, both of which would be single-season career highs. No player in NHL history has recorded 115 or more points in a season at the age of 36 or older.

This season, Ovechkin passed Marcel Dionne and Brett Hull on the NHL’s all-time goals list and currently sits in fourth place with 754 career goals, 13 shy of passing Jaromir Jagr for third place. On Dec. 31 vs. Detroit, Ovechkin scored his 275th career power play goal, passing Dave Andreychuk for the most in NHL history; tallied his 119th career game-winning goal, passing Phil Esposito for the third most in NHL history and recorded career point 1,370, passing Johnny Bucyk for 25th on the NHL’s all-time points list. Ovechkin now sits three points shy of passing Mike Modano (1,374) for the 24th-most points in NHL history. Ovechkin also recorded his 28th career hat trick on Nov. 26 against Florida, tying him with Dionne and Bobby Hull for the sixth most in NHL history, and recorded his 600th career assist on Nov. 8 against Buffalo, becoming the ninth active player to reach the mark.

Headline photo via @NHL

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