Nicolas Aube-Kubel dished about Alex Ovechkin’s “borderline inspiring” diet on a French-speaking podcast posted on Monday.
Talking with Drette Su’l Tape, Aube-Kubel shared incredible details about Ovechkin’s foot-long spicy Italian sub and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos order at Subway before road trips. Ovechkin is such a creature of habit that he gave a Subway employee his phone number and has his combo meal personally delivered to him in his car before ambling over to the Capitals team plane at Dulles.
Aube-Kubel, who is currently playing for the Minnesota Wild, was a member of the Capitals during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, and is Sergei Ovechkin’s favorite player. He won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.
“He has the phone number of the guy who works at Subway,” Aube-Kubel explained to Drette Su’l Tape in an Instagram video and via a translation by Google Translate. “When he leaves the arena, he texts him. He passes by, he doesn’t get out of the car. The guy comes to the car, he comes to give (him the sandwich). I’m not even kidding. It’s crazy, because he doesn’t want to go back to Subway and be recognized by everyone.
“And when he gets on the plane, anywhere, he’s on the road, there’s always a six-pack (of beer) waiting on his table. A six-pack of Prague beers. Czech Pilsner. It’s always waiting.”
The Subway Instagram account saw Aube-Kubel’s quotes about Ovechkin’s love for their sandwiches and left a comment on a Hockey Forever post.
“We hereby call Alex “The Great Ate,” Subway wrote.
Aube-Kubel’s comments come shortly after former Capitals defenseman Matt Irwin revealed that he was Ovechkin’s personal beer guy during his stint with the team.
“I was in charge of getting him his adult beverages on the bus, and that was one of my roles that I found to stay on the team, basically,” Irwin said. “I was always making sure that the beers were on ice. There’s times I’d be walking – I remember in Tampa Bay, I was walking down with two cases in my hand, walking down the street, sweating, made sure the big man had his beverages, his protein shakes after the game.”
Ovechkin has been open about his love for beer and how it helps him recover from the rigors of professional hockey.
“We just like to relax,” Ovechkin said in 2024 after revealing the Capitals have a beer fridge in their coach’s room. “After hockey, you are tired, a couple of glasses of wine or beer is normal… It relieves tension.”
@br_openice Just broke a 31 year standing all-time goals record… time for a well deserved locker room soda 😅 #Gr8Chase #fyp #hockeytiktoks #hockey #nhl #hockeyplayer #washingtoncapitals #ovechkin ♬ original sound – BR_OpenIce
Ovechkin’s most recent goal celebrations also included beer baths after scoring his 894th and record-breaking 895th career goals. His openness about beer drinking even led a Russian state official to believe that the Capitals captain could help bring beer back into the country’s stadiums after a 20-year ban imposed by President Vladimir Putin.
