Ahead of the Washington Capitals’ nationally televised game against the Boston Bruins on Saturday, Alex Ovechkin did an interview with TJ Oshie. The feature, filmed on the ice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, was aired before puck drop.
During the chat, Ovechkin spoke about how his parents greatly influenced his playing style, how he handles being a hockey dad himself, and most notably, when he will decide it’s time to retire from the NHL.
Ovechkin is currently in the final year of his contract, and the Capitals have 18 games remaining in the 2025-26 season — a campaign that’s unlikely to end with a playoff berth.
“When it comes time for you to hang them up, what are the factors that will go into your decision?” Oshie asked in the interview.
“How my body gonna feel,” Ovechkin said. “Because right now, hockey is so hard, it’s so fast. I’m 40, and it’s hard to keep up with young guys. You know? But most important thing is health-wise. I don’t wanna be like, I don’t wanna play hockey, and then after one or two years, my knee or my elbow or my back is gonna be hurting. So I’m not gonna feel comfortable for the rest of my life. So I have to be smart about it.
“I still love the game,” he added. “I still enjoy come here in the locker room, like hang out with the boys.”
In previous conversations, Ovechkin has said he wants to play out the entire 2025-26 season before deciding on his future. He’d also like to end his career where it started — in Russia with Dynamo Moscow of the KHL — even if it’s just for a game or two before hanging up his skates for good.
“You never know what’s going to happen, right?” Ovechkin said to Jeff Marek and Bruce Boudreau on the Hockey Lifers Podcast in November. “Right now, I’m here, and I’m enjoying my days here. We’ll see.”
Ovechkin also discussed with Oshie what it’s like being a hockey dad.
“I’m kind of hard on Sergei and Ilya when they’re on the ice,” Ovechkin said. “You have to skate, you have to work. You have to score goals. The same was with me when I was a little kid. I don’t wanna practice, I just wanna have fun. Without the puck, it’s boring. But that is what it is, you have to start doing that, that kind of stuff since day one.”
As for where he gets his physicality and his constant motor for the game, he credited his parents for instilling it in him.
“It comes from heart, I think,” he said. “My mom was twice Olympic champion, like best basketball player. Yeah. And I learned a lot from her. And just to work hard, play hard, that’s the most important thing for athletes. Because if you’re not gonna work hard on the ice, you’re not gonna feel good. ”
Oshie then reminded Ovechkin of a moment in the 2014 Olympics, where his future captain laid him out with a big hit “flying over top of me.” Oshie asked, “Where does that love, that physicality, where does that come from?”
“Again, it’s from my parents, my dad,” Ovechkin responded. “We watched highlights, goals, hits, fights. And my dad said, ‘Okay, if you wanna play in the NHL, you have to be, first of all, physically smart. And you have to get hit and then take a hit.’ And if you remember my first game, I was so pumped, I was jacked, I killed the guy. Broke the boards, I think. And then it became, you have to set the tone, you have to show who you are. And I started doing it right away.”
Whenever Ovechkin does decide to call it quits, he will go down as the NHL’s all-time goals leader. He also sits third all-time in hits with 3,851.
