At age 36, Alex Ovechkin had one of the greatest starts to a season of his career and scored 50 goals for the ninth time, tying a legendary league record shared by Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy. For Ovechkin, the 2021-22 season, individually speaking, was the best he’s had in the back half of his career.

But apparently, Ovechkin is not satisfied. While attending Dynamo Moscow’s soccer game over the weekend, Ovechkin told Russian media that he will be changing his offseason training regimen and start working out much earlier than in past years.

“I think we will start preparations at the end of June,” Ovechkin said per Google Translate and via a Sports.ru story. “We will work gradually. And then we will fruitfully approach the training process in July and August.”

For the 2021-22 campaign, Ovechkin said that “I started in mid-July. And now it will be almost a month earlier.”

The Capitals’ captain was cryptic when asked why.

“I want to change something,” he said.

In past years, we’ve observed Ovechkin have a Crossfit-esque training regiment that includes off-ice workouts like running and bike-riding. He also has done creative exercises to keep things fresh.

In the last two seasons, Ovechkin has struggled with injury as the playoffs began. Against the Panthers, Ovi admitted he was dealing with a shoulder issue after slamming into the boards weeks earlier. The year before, he was nursing a lower-body injury against the Bruins.

“It’s not a secret that I hit the board, hit my shoulder,” Ovechkin said. “In playoffs, I don’t think it matter. If it hurts you have some injections, you have some magic pill.”

But the important part is that it seems Ovechkin is as motivated as ever despite four consecutive first-round exits in the playoffs.

The future Hall of Famer is 20 goals short of 800 career goals and trails only Gordie Howe (21 goals) and Wayne Gretzky (114) on the NHL’s all-time goals list. Ovi has four years remaining on a five-year contract extension he signed last summer.

Headline photo: Amanda Bowen/RMNB