WASHINGTON, DC — The cheers began before the puck had even dropped.
With Alex Ovechkin waiting until the summer to decide whether he plans to retire, fans poured in to celebrate what could be his final game in DC on Sunday afternoon. Capital One Arena, which had grown quieter during the Capitals’ largely lackluster season, swarmed as Washington faithful made what could be one last trip to pay their respect to a franchise legend.
Fans made their opinion on Ovechkin’s future clear: shouts of “one more year” echoed from the start of the game. What did Ovechkin make of the chants?
“I will think about it,” he said, flashing a grin.
Ovechkin has resisted fanfare about his potential retirement every step of the way. Especially after the spectacle that came with his chase of the all-time goals record last season, Ovechkin shied away from discussing his plans, and that trend continued Sunday when he waved off the Pittsburgh Penguins’ postgame handshake line. When asked how he felt about the attention, Ovechkin deflected even that question back onto the team as a whole.
“Well, we have attention the last couple of weeks, maybe, because we need to win, we need to collect the points, and I would say tonight was a huge win,” he said.
And Ovechkin had no intention of sitting back and basking in the glory, attacking the Penguins with three big hits within the game’s first period.
“I guess he’s going for the hits record still,” quipped Tom Wilson. “He’s a machine. I love the guy. So proud of the way that every night he steps up in a different way. It’s been so fun to be a part of.”
Whether Ovechkin liked it or not, however, Sunday’s game wasn’t just about the points in the standings, though a regulation loss would have ended Washington’s playoff hopes. Instead, the matchup marked the potential end of an era in DC.
“You could tell the day felt different,” said head coach Spencer Carbery. “And even with our game, as much as we were trying to keep it focused on playing well and getting two points, it creeps in.”
“If it is Ovi’s last home game, you want to give him the right tribute,” noted Dylan Strome. “But at the same time, we’re still fighting for a playoff spot.”
Ovechkin is undoubtedly the greatest player ever to don a Capitals jersey. Tasked with saving a franchise and revitalizing the league after the 2004-05 lockout, Ovechkin has spent the last two decades putting on a show, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s seemingly unbeatable goals record, and bringing Washington its first Stanley Cup championship.
Sidney Crosby, perhaps one of the only people who can understand the weight of the eyes on Ovechkin, has nothing but respect for his biggest rival. It was Crosby who proposed the rejected handshake line, and the pair exchanged signed jerseys and sticks after the game.
“He’s had a huge impact on and off the ice,” Crosby said. “He came in with such high expectations, and I think he matched them, if not more.
“I mean, how do you live up to those expectations? But to be the greatest goal scorer of all time and to do what he’s done, as consistent as he’s been, (is) pretty impressive. Definitely honored that I’ve had the opportunity to play with him all these years.”
Carbery said he’s found time to be nostalgic in quiet moments, grinning as he expressed gratitude for his place in Ovechkin’s career.
“I usually [reflect] early in the morning when no one’s around,” Carbery said. “I look up at the board, and I see O there, and I’ll just have five minutes to myself, of thinking about different moments that him and I have had.
“And if it is the end of his career – I smile, usually, in those moments because I’ve been blessed to be the guy that gets to be his head coach when he broke the all-time goals record. And I get to be the head coach that was with him at the end. And I don’t take that for granted one bit. That’s a special thing that I will have for the rest of my life.”
Along the way, Ovechkin earned the love of a city. For the goals he scored, sure, but also for the flash he scored them with, the childlike glee he takes every time rubber hits twine. Washington loves him for the inevitability he has had on the ice, a seemingly unstoppable threat in his prime, as much as they adore him for his larger-than-life persona and his insistence on eating chicken parmesan before games.
From the chaos of the Young Guns era to the role of elder statesman he’s taken on in recent years, Ovechkin’s hands built a hockey town, one goal at a time.
“What he’s done for this city, you can’t really put into words,” said Wilson, Ovechkin’s longest-tenured teammate. “I mean, he’s literally changed the game. He’s changed the game of hockey. He’s changed everything in this city from that. What he’s done, it may not ever be done again for a franchise.
“He was so important to the league and so important to the game of hockey, so important to the city…I think there’s hundreds of thousands of kids that have played the game because of him and look up to him every day. He’s worn all that and just done it with class, and the amount of pressure he’s been through, and just continues to exceed expectations and be a legend of the game.”
Sunday’s game, whether or not it marks the end of Ovechkin’s time in Washington, gave fans a chance to thank him for the two decades he’s spent on Capitals ice. The applause for Ovechkin at the starting lineup, always raucous, turned into a minute-long standing ovation. Fans cheered for him after every hit, every shot, nearly every time he touched the puck, and even once when he was on the bench.
Even Ovechkin’s teammates couldn’t keep their focus solely on the game, moved by the recognition of his legendary career.
“It’s tough,” Logan Thompson said of watching the standing ovation. “You don’t want to get a little emotional, just seeing what he’s done. So it’s unbelievable. It’s cool to be his teammate. That’s a moment that I’ll cherish forever, just on that ice tonight with him.”
Ovechkin saluted the fans back when he was named First Star of the Game, applauding the crowd as he skated across the rink he’s come to call home.
“Guys, you support us through all my career,” Ovechkin told the stands during a bench interview with Monumental Sports Network’s Tarik El-Bashir. “Obviously, last night we have a big win in Pittsburgh, and tonight we need your energy, and we have it. So thank you very much for your support.”
Ovechkin may well come back for another season. If all goes well, he may even come back next week, facing the Penguins once again in a first-round playoff series. But if this is the end, if this proves the last page in a storied career, Ovechkin will have left his mark on the people of Washington, and they’ll have marked him in turn.
“The fans always support me, support the organization, team, boys,” Ovechkin said. “Of course, they love me, but I think they love the boys. They love how we play, because we play for them.”
