The Washington Capitals announced Alex Ovechkin as their nominee for the 2026 King Clancy Memorial Trophy on Friday.
The trophy is awarded annually to the player “who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” Ovechkin is the first Capitals player not named Tom Wilson to earn the nomination since 2022.
Ovechkin, playing in his 21st and potentially final season with the Capitals, has continuously served the DC community and its surrounding areas throughout his entire career. Captain of the team since 2010, Ovechkin’s leadership extends off the ice, particularly through his involvement with the American Special Hockey Association and youth hockey development.
With Ovechkin’s help, ASHA has been a constant presence around the Capitals over the past decade. He has been an ASHA ambassador since the organization’s first skate event in 2014 and made a significant donation to ASHA to help cover ice costs for 136 special hockey teams across the United States. His skate with the program at MedStar Capitals Iceplex this past December was the eighth event he has helped them put on.
Starting last season, Ovechkin also partnered with Hockey Fights Cancer and The V Foundation for Cancer Research to create THE GR8 CHASE for Victory Over Cancer. The goal of the collaboration was to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer research while Ovechkin tracked down Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record. Ovechkin has committed to donating money for every goal he scores, starting from his 885th career goal, for the remainder of his NHL career.
Ovechkin also released a cereal, Ovi’s Great Crunch, in conjunction with Giant Food to raise funds for the same cancer-related causes. He has done additional work for other causes like America’s VetDogs, the MSE Foundation, Ovi’s 8s, and the Capitals’ annual Canine Calendar.
ESPN plans to release an upcoming feature titled “8 Forever,” which will highlight Ovechkin’s off-ice impact. It will air during Saturday’s coverage of the Capitals’ game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Only one Capitals player has ever won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, goaltender Olaf Kolzig at the end of the 2005-06 season.
Ovechkin was also recently chosen as the Capitals’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
Here’s the Capitals’ full press release:
Capitals Announce Alex Ovechkin as Capitals Nominee for NHL’s King Clancy Memorial Trophy
Trophy is awarded annually “to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”
ARLINGTON, VA – The Washington Capitals announced today captain Alex Ovechkin has been named the club’s 2025-26 nominee for the National Hockey League’s King Clancy Memorial Trophy.
The King Clancy Memorial trophy is awarded annually “to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”
Over the course of two decades with the organization, Ovechkin has made a tremendous impact on the community. During the 2025-26 season, Ovechkin continued his support of THE GR8 CHASE for Victory Over Cancer, which saw Ovechkin team up with the Capitals, Hockey Fights Cancer, and The V Foundation for Cancer Research in March 2025 to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer research while in his pursuit of becoming the League’s all-time goals leader. Ovechkin has committed to donating money for every goal he scores starting from his 885th career goal for the remainder of his NHL career, with Monumental Sports & Entertainment matching his contributions. The funds raised through this campaign will support the V Foundation via Hockey Fights Cancer and will help establish the Alex Ovechkin GR8 CHASE Pediatric Cancer Research Grant. To date, more than $256,000 has been raised through the initiative.
The 2025-26 season also saw Ovechkin team up with Giant Food for the debut of Ovi’s Great Crunch, a coveted, limited-edition cereal celebrating Ovechkin’s historic achievement in becoming the NHL’s all-time goals leader. A portion of sales proceeds from the cereal benefit The GR8 CHASE For Victory Over Cancer. In conjunction with the cereal’s release, Ovechkin spent an afternoon at a local Giant, where he served the cereal to local youth hockey players and distributed boxes to shoppers around the store.
Ovechkin also has a longstanding relationship with the American Special Hockey Association. A December 2025 skate marked the eighth season that Ovechkin has hosted ASHA for a skating or street hockey event. He has been an ASHA ambassador since the organization’s first skate event in 2014 and made a significant donation to ASHA to help cover ice costs for 136 special hockey teams across the United States. This contribution supported over 5,260 athletes and nearly 400 coaches. Ovechkin’s influence on adaptive hockey can be felt throughout communities across the U.S.
During Ovechkin’s 10-year association with ASHA, the organization has expanded from 45 programs across 30 cities to 140 programs nationally, with more than 8,750 athletes now participating and 11,500 total members including coaches and volunteers. There are four ASHA teams in the Washington, D.C. region, as well as teams in Richmond, Va., York and Hershey, Pa., home to the Capitals’ AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.
Ovechkin has also long-supported youth hockey development programming in the Washington, D.C., region. According to USA Hockey, overall, there’s been significant growth in participation in the D.C. area since Alex Ovechkin was drafted, dubbed “The Ovechkin Effect”. The total number of USA Hockey-registered players (youth and adult) in the Washington D.C. area climbed more than 186 percent from 2005-06 through 2024-25, and 70% across the region as a whole during the same time frame.
In October, America’s VetDogs, a New York-based national nonprofit that provides specially trained service dogs to veterans and first responders with disabilities, announced they named a service dog “Ovi” in honor of Ovechkin. Ovechkin met future service dog Ovi and representatives at the Capitals practice facility earlier this season. This tribute came in celebration of Ovechkin’s monumental achievements surpassing the all-time NHL goal record with his 895th career goal and as he became the 23rd player in NHL history to play in 1,500 career games. Ovi is black Labrador Retriever that is being raised in Virginia by an America’s VetDogs’ volunteer puppy raiser. Ovi has been undergoing basic training, learning obedience, good house manners and the fundamentals of service dog training. At the end of his time with the puppy raiser, Ovi will return to America’s VetDogs campus in New York where he will work with a certified service dog instructor to learn skills to mitigate the disability of a U.S. veteran or a first responder – these skills include retrieving dropped items, nightmare interruption, opening handicap doors, and more.
In 2006, Ovechkin created Ovi’s 8s to provide tickets to underserved children in the region. Currently, Ovechkin purchases eight Capitals season tickets and donates them to the American Special Hockey Association. ASHA then distributes these tickets to participants in the four local Special Hockey teams: Baltimore Saints, Montgomery Cheetahs NOVA Cool Cats and Washington Ice Dogs. Since the creation of Ovi’s 8s, Ovechkin has donated more than 6,000 tickets to the community.
Additionally, Ovechkin actively supports various organizations that make dreams come true for sick children, taking the time to meet with them and grant their wishes throughout his career with the Capitals. He also supports several team causes, including the team’s annual Hockey Fights Cancer skate, annual Canine Calendar, Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation’s annual Top Golf for charity event and other initiatives.
