Years ago, Alex Semin told a Russian outlet that he would travel with the Washington Capitals to games as Alex Ovechkin attempted to capture the NHL goals record. While that didn’t happen, Semin did travel to the United States to celebrate with Ovechkin shortly after his former teammate scored the 895th goal of his career to become the new NHL goals king.
Sunday, Semin posted a photo to his Instagram page holding the milestone 895-goal puck with Ovi. His two children Danil and Alexander posed in front of the two hockey players.
“Congratulations friend!🤝 @aleksandrovechkinofficial #nhlalltimegoalsleader,” Semin wrote in Russia, but translated by Google Translate.
In a second photo Semin posted, all four of the players’ children posed with them on the ice as well.
The Krasnoyarsk, Russia native was first spotted back in the area at Capitals practice on Thursday, April 10 later appearing at the team’s game that night against the Carolina Hurricanes where the Caps honored Ovechkin with a “Gr8ness Pre-Game Ceremony.” Semin got a loud roar when he was introduced to the capacity Capital One arena crowd along with former Russian great Ilya Kovlachuk. Sasha Minor then participated in the Top Shot challenge, setting a new alumni record with a time of 12.21 seconds.
Semin, who played six seasons with Ovechkin, still owns the distinction of being the only player other than Ovi himself to score 40 goals during The Great 8’s time in DC. He also assisted on 45 of Ovechkin’s 895 career goals — ninth most of any Capital.
“A unique person, not from this planet, and everyone has known that for a long time,” Semin said, summing up his friend in a December 2024 interview.
