With four games remaining in Washington’s regular-season schedule, the Capitals know they may be playing some of their final games with franchise legend Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin, now playing his 21st NHL season at age 40, announced Wednesday that he would wait until the summer to decide whether or not to continue playing, neither opting to announce his retirement ahead of time nor committing to another season in DC.
Whatever Ovechkin decides, head coach Spencer Carbery says the team will be behind him.
“We’re going to support O,” Carbery said. “However he wanted to go out, he’s earned that right. And him taking time, and wanting to make the best possible decision for him and his family, totally supportive of it.
“And whether he’s back next year, he’ll be welcomed with open arms, from my standpoint as the head coach, and as our captain. And if this is it, we’ll support him that way. And I’ll celebrate him, and give him a big hug, and have a cold beer with him.”
Ovechkin has said that his health will be the biggest factor when he weighs his options in the offseason: he has played in all 78 Capitals game this season but has taken regular maintenance days off from practice, and more than two decades of NHL hockey has certainly taken a toll on his body.
Still, Ovechkin leads the team with 61 points (31g, 30a), becoming the first player in NHL history with 20 30-goal seasons. If he wants to come back, his teammates note, he’s certainly capable of producing.
“I think everyone in the room knows he can still play if he wants,” said Logan Thompson. “I mean, he’s got 30 goals this year, so he’s still producing at such a high rate. But, yeah, it’s going to be a sad day whenever he decides to hang them up.”
Carbery, now in his third season as Capitals head coach, knows better than to underestimate Ovechkin.
“I think the best compliment I can probably pay him, which you guys have all witnessed over the years, is anything that you don’t think Alex Ovechkin can do, you’re sorely mistaken,” he said. “And it just happened once again this year. It happened last year. It happened this year where, you think maybe the goals have dried up and maybe, you know, — all of a sudden he scores nine goals 12 games. Next thing you know, you look at the stat pack and he’s got 30 goals on the season, and he’s 40 years old.
“And you just shake your head. I mean, it’s hard enough to score 10 goals in the National Hockey League, and Ovi at 40 has 30. He defies all logic when it comes to — as fast as the league has gotten, as good as the league’s gotten, he’s still productive at this point in his career.”
Ovechkin had already helped define an era of hockey even before he broke the all-time goals record last spring, a crowning achievement in a historic career. Many Capitals players grew up watching Ovechkin play — Cole Hutson and Ilya Protas hadn’t even been born when he made his NHL debut — and now they may be by his side when he hangs up his skates. The weight of that legacy, and their part in it, isn’t something members of the team take lightly.
“I’ve tried to keep it focused on being the head coach, and helping our team prepare and win games, but I can’t help but, at times, just sit back and appreciate and soak it in: a little bit of, potentially this is the last season of the greatest goal scorer in the history of the game,” Carbery said. “And I’ve had the opportunity to be the head coach along this ride, when he broke the record and now in the final years of his career.
“So it is pretty special, and I know I’ll reflect on it a lot, but I’ve just pinched myself every day to have the opportunity to be able to coach O and be able to be along for this ride over the last three years.”
The Capitals would miss Ovechkin’s goal-scoring talents, sure, but more than that, they’re mourning the potential loss of a longtime teammate and friend. Ovechkin has been Washington’s captain since before any of his current teammates came to DC, a constant positive presence in the Capitals locker room.
Thompson has cherished his time with Ovechkin since joining the team last season.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I say it all the time: it’s just a privilege to be his teammate and to be able to call him a friend. Since coming here two years ago now, he’s been nothing but amazing to me. He makes coming to the rink a whole lot of fun. Just really special to be here with him.”
Asked what he’d learned about Ovechkin in that span, Thompson pointed not to anything he’d seen on the ice, but to the man he’d gotten to know off of it.
“Playing against him, he would joke with you on the ice, but you never got to see the other side of him,” he said. “And now, since coming here, he’ll text you whenever. If you want to go for dinner, he’s always reaching out. If you ever want to come over and have a beer, he’ll be the first guy to say, ‘Yeah, come on by.’ He’s just a good person, and I think that’s definitely gone a long way.”
Even as he’s entered his third decade of NHL hockey with no record left to chase, Thompson says Ovechkin still has that child-like glee for the sport — joy that rubs off on those around him.
“He’s the same,” Thompson said. “He’s still having fun, right? I think that’s the biggest thing, is he still loves playing hockey, loves coming to the rink, loves hanging out with his teammates. You can tell every time he scores a goal, just the joy he has and the celebrations, that he still loves doing it, and we love being a part of it.”
The Capitals will stand behind whatever choice Ovechkin makes this summer, but that doesn’t make it any easier to grapple with his potential retirement — whether it comes next season or down the road.
“Everyone in the room obviously wants him to come back,” Thompson said. “He’s been a special player in this league for so long, and now he’s just a good friend. So you never want to — it’s sad that his time, you never know, is coming to an end here, maybe soon. We don’t know that. But, yeah, it’s sad.”
“That will be different, when he no longer is wearing that C and wearing the Capitals crest,” Carbery added. “Again, I’m going to support everything that he wants to do from a decision standpoint, but, yeah, it’ll be a tough day.”
