ARLINGTON, VA — A chorus of screams greeted the Washington Capitals as they hit the ice on Wednesday. 895 fourth and fifth-graders from Arlington County Public Schools gathered at MedStar Capitals Iceplex to cheer on Alex Ovechkin in the Caps’ first full practice since Ovechkin broke the all-time goals record on Sunday.
Though all Capitals practices are open to the public, few have featured quite this level of attendance or enthusiasm.
“Crazy. Crazy, fun. It’s an enjoy time right now,” Ovechkin said. “It’s great, obviously, to see how the kids get involved for hockey. They know this team. They know all the players and it’s very nice to be part of it.”
The cheers continued throughout the morning, even as the team spent the first half of practice on the adjacent Arlington rink. Head coach Spencer Carbery remarked that players and coaches could barely hear each other over the roar by the end of the skate.
“We were struggling with those last two drills,” he said, laughing. “The communication was not good and I gave our guys a pass on that.”
As the Capitals saluted the crowd in attendance, Ovechkin recreated his now-iconic belly flop celebration before the end of practice. He explained that John Carlson, who has four children of his own, had the idea.
“Carly tell me the kids wants to see it, so OK,” Ovechkin said of the dive. “Yeah, it’s a great memory.”
“It was awesome,” Dylan Strome said of the moment. “Good to see him do that and a lot of kids.”
Wednesday’s school visit, the latest in a series of celebrations honoring Ovechkin’s milestone, served as a reminder of the impact Ovechkin has had not only on the sport of hockey, but on the city of DC. Ovechkin has brought more and more fans to hockey in the area over the last two decades, introducing a new generation to the sport.
Youth hockey registration in DC has increased by over 185% since Ovechkin’s debut season, per USA Hockey. Players like Joe Snively and Patrick Giles came of age in the post-Ovechkin DC area before making the NHL, and Tom Wilson hopes to see more follow in their footsteps.
“I had a thought out there, just how cool it was to see all the kids and what Ovi’s done for hockey in this area,” Wilson said. “Even when I got here, compared to now. And then obviously when Ovi started in Washington, there wasn’t a ton of youth hockey. The programs weren’t as strong as they are now. He truly changed the game in this DMV area.
“I’m assuming some of those kids might be NHLers one day. When you see greatness and you see history and you see something that you want to be when you’re older, it’s pretty powerful. I remember all the Leafs and everything when I was a young kid growing up in Toronto. To have a role model like that that’s given so much to the community and so much to the game, it just creates dreams.”
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery has witnessed that impact both as part of the team and through 13-year-old son Hudson, who plays youth hockey in Maryland. While his time as a coach has shown him what Ovechkin can do on the ice, his experiences as a father have helped him understand just how far Ovechkin’s stardom reaches.
“My son plays youth hockey in the area and so you go to all these rinks and O is everywhere,” Carbery said. “And that’s the legacy that he has and what he’s done inside of this organization. It goes and it’s going to transcend for years to come when he’s retired. The lasting impact he has on the game of hockey in this community will be felt for long after I’m long gone.”
Nearly seven years after the 2018 Stanley Cup win, Ovechkin’s new record has exposed even more people to the sport, both in Washington and elsewhere. Those 895 screaming children became a tangible symbol of the record chase’s impact on the DC hockey community, something that will linger even once Ovechkin hangs up his skates.
“You can see kids right now get crazy,” Ovechkin said. “Look at the fans. How many new fans come into the building, go to the practice and they get involved in the game? So, it’s great for hockey.”
