This is new to me, so I’m thinking it’ll be new for many of you.
Alex Ovechkin — a future Hall of Famer, respected captain of your Washington Capitals, and perhaps soon the NHL’s new Goals King — once had a weigh-off with Pat Maroon.
This revelation is via two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Alex Killorn, and from a Spittin’ Chiclets interview in late 2020.
The weigh-off, which public would have probably raised millions of dollars on pay-per-view, happened inside the bubble during the NHL’s 2020 playoffs as the league tried to complete its season during the pandemic. The Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning were both staying in Toronto at Hotel X along with the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
What a time this was pic.twitter.com/xZG4fC3KMc
— Jake (@marchandd01) July 15, 2023
Both Ovechkin and Maroon weighed 236 pounds according to their NHL bios that season per the Tampa Bay Times and had the same thiccness per a Very Scientific RMNB Research Article.
“I will say when we first got to the bubble, our hotel was a little different because it was like all the teams that were already in the playoffs, and we didn’t play a game for like a week, or like an important game for a week and a half,” Killorn said on the podcast. “So it was like an all-paid, inclusive resort trip for a couple guys.
“I remember at one point, Ovechkin and Pat Maroon found a scale and they were doing a weigh-off. Everyone was betting on who was going to weigh more. I won’t get into it but that was one of the funnier [moments] when I saw them. I think Ovi was like ‘There’s no way I weigh more than you’ and [Maroon’s] like ‘get out the scale.’ It was pretty funny.”
The victor or, I guess, loser, of the weigh-off remains unknown.
Ovechkin’s always been a bit aloof and cagey about his weight perhaps because the standard measurement in Russia is in kilograms. Ahead of the 2019 season, Ovechkin created headlines nationally, perhaps accidentally, when he said that he changed his offseason training regiment: “less weights, more quick.” But still had the same poundage. “Same. 260.” That was 21 pounds heavier than his listed weight of 239.
The 2020 Bubble Playoffs featured several remarkable and ridiculous moments involving the Capitals. During this same time, David Pastrnak lost a bet to Tom Wilson, forcing the Czech superstar to publicly tweet that Wilson was the best goal scorer in the league.
Appreciate it Pasta! But I think @ovi8 https://t.co/CWOKalLh7M
— Tom Wilson (@tom_wilso) July 29, 2020
Evgeny Kuznetsov shaved his head completely bald after the Caps went down 3-0 in their series against the New York Islanders, bearing a remarkable resemblance to Barry Trotz. Braden Holtby brought a guitar into the bubble.
The hotel bubble situation also caused a number of weird social interactions that players were not previously used to.
“Yeah, you kind of do a double spit take,” Nic Dowd said then. “Oh, I’m getting in an elevator with five different (opposing) players. It’s just [a situation] you don’t run into a lot.”
During another chance meet up, Alain Vigneault shared an elevator with Ovechkin the day before the Capitals played the Flyers in the round robin.
“It’s funny,” the Flyers head coach said August 5. “The situation we’re in, this morning when I went down for breakfast, I went down (the elevator) with Ovi. So we were talking about tomorrow’s game. Usually, that doesn’t happen.
“They’re excited about tomorrow’s game and we’re excited. It should be a real fun one.”
There were rumors that the Capitals turned their bubble experience into a vacation and didn’t take the experience seriously, but any behavior was likely due to everyone in the bubble trying to handle a difficult situation the best they could. There was lots of down time and the players were forced to be away from their families during their appearances in the postseason.
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