Normally goaltenders lament giving up goals, but years after retiring from the NHL, Pascal Leclaire looks back at one of them fondly.
Leclaire was the goalie who Alex Ovechkin beat to score his first goal in the National Hockey League on October 5, 2005. Ovechkin tallied twice in his NHL debut, and, in total, hit the back of the net five different times on the French Canadian goaltender during his career.
“I never thought I was going to end up in history talks, but it does give me a good story now and then,” Leclaire said to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. “A lot of people don’t actually believe it.”
He added, “I always joke that I gave him confidence right off the bat.”
Ovechkin scored twice in the second period that night, first blasting home a one-timer from the slot that Leclaire had no chance on. In the interview, Leclaire recalled feeling surprised just how hard Ovechkin’s shot was, especially in comparison to other young stars he had faced like Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane.
Now, nearly 20 years later, Leclaire is retired and serves as a hockey analyst for TVA Sports. He currently is one of 180 different goaltenders Ovechkin’s scored on — one of Ovi’s many nuanced NHL record. The Capitals captain sits just 16 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history.
“I think it’s great for the game that we have something like that happening in front of our eyes,” Leclaire said. “I’d like to have a jersey from him signed just as a souvenir because I was part of it. To me, it’s a good story. My daughters weren’t born when I retired from the NHL, so now they’re starting to get it. My oldest one starts asking questions about hockey… She doesn’t understand yet that the best goal-scorer in history of the sport scored his first goal against me.”
Ovechkin has given past and current players gifts at times. He once gave Miles Wood a signed photo when the then-Devils forward admitted to years earlier sending a card in the mail to get autographed by his hockey hero and never receiving it back. Ovechkin also frequently exchanges sticks with other star players so he can build his own personal collection at home. After the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018, he gave one of his sticks to Jay Beagle on locker clean-out day.
