Alex Ovechkin is one of the greatest hockey players of all time, but no matter how many goals he scores or impossible records he breaks, he’ll still just be dad at home to his kids. Which may be why his “crazy about hockey” son, Sergei, has a favorite player other than him.
Ovechkin first revealed that fact at the 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend while speaking with NHL Network’s Jamie Hersch.
“I know you’re probably your son’s favorite hockey player, you should be,” Hersch suggested.
“I’m not. I’m not. No,” Ovechkin said, shaking his head and laughing. “Aube Kube. Nicolas. He’s, yeah, number 96 Washington Capitals.”
“Anyone on another team they’re starstruck about and excited to see this weekend?” Hersch asked.
“He excited to see Crosby, McDavid, you know?” Ovechkin replied. “Yeah, he’s kind of tired of me.”
What seemed like a possible over-exaggeration was confirmed to be very true by Ovechkin’s wife, Nastya, as she was filmed traveling to Capital One Arena with the couple’s two kids, Sergei and Ilya, for the Capitals’ GR802 pregame ceremony last March.
“Sergei’s very excited to be on the ice while all the team going to be next to him because he’s a huge fan of Capitals, so he gonna see all the boys,” Nastya said.
Nastya then asked Ovi Jr. who his favorite player was in Russian. Sergei replied within a millisecond, the fourth-line grinder and 2022 Stanley Cup champion, “Aubé-Kubel.”
“Yeah, it’s true. I don’t know. It’s his guy. You see his (iPad)?” Nastya said. She then showed off the homescreen, which featured a selfie of Sergei and Aubé-Kubel smiling together. “[Sergei] said (in Russian), ‘He is my best friend.’”
After the 2023-24 season concluded, Aubé-Kubel signed with the Buffalo Sabres and was joined on the team by Beck Malenstyn, who the Caps dealt in a Draft Day trade for a pick that turned into defense prospect Cole Hutson.
Aubé-Kubel, however, hasn’t forgotten about Sergei’s loyalty since leaving DC. The two recently picked up their friendship where it left off on December 14 at Capital One Arena.
After the Sabres fell to the Caps 4-2, Aubé-Kubel and Malenstyn ambled over to the Capitals’ locker room afterward to meet up with their former teammates. Ovechkin, who did not play in the game due to a broken leg, was downstairs with Sergei postgame. There, Aubé-Kubel did something kind for Ovechkin’s six-year-old son ahead of the Christmas holiday.
“We met with some players in the hallway near the locker room,” Aube-Kubel told RMNB. “I signed a picture for mini Ovi. And said hi to some of the guys with Beck as well.”
How cool is that?
