You can call him the greatest goal scorer of all time, and potentially soon… Dr. Ovechkin?
Since 2015, it has been known that Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin planned to earn a PhD, and in 2021, he moved one step closer to doing so. According to a Match TV interview with Professor Viktor Gorsky, Ovechkin is expected to defend his 145-page dissertation and pursue a PhD in Pedagogical Sciences once his playing career ends.
“As I understand it, Ovechkin put off defending his dissertation until after he retired from hockey,” Gorsky said, as translated via Google Translate. “It’s serious work, after all. And Alexander is truly studying, not just for show. But, frankly, Sasha already had everything ready, and it didn’t require much effort. He just needed to find the time. Ovechkin handled his pre-defense very well. He answered all the questions and didn’t fail any of them. And besides, he’s into hockey; he lives his life.”
“Pedagogical Sciences” is an umbrella term encompassing various disciplines that explore the intricacies of teaching and education. Ovechkin’s dissertation topic is “Organization of the technical and tactical training process in professional hockey clubs of Russia and the National Hockey League.”
The core idea of Ovechkin’s dissertation is that North American and Russian hockey cultures have different priorities when developing young athletes, and that players could benefit from getting a mix of the two teaching styles as they age. While Russians tend to prioritize puck possession and technical skill, Ovechkin finds that North Americans focus more on a quicker pace of play and emphasize physicality.
Ovechkin’s idea of mixing the two methodologies was put into practice by one of CSKA Moscow’s youth teams over a full season. The study concluded that young players can successfully learn both Russian and North American tactical styles simultaneously and achieve improved results in their play.
Modern ice hockey is a vibrant and spectacular game, attracting large audiences in many countries and on every continent. For over 60 years, the rivalry between hockey teams from our country (the USSR, now Russia) and North American teams (Canada and the USA) has played a huge role in popularizing the game. Spectator interest is driven primarily by the nearly equal athleticism of the teams, both at the national and club levels.
Today, the statistics for head-to-head wins between the national teams of Russia (USSR) and Canada suggest the advantage of the pioneers of hockey. At the World Championships and World Cups, the Russian and Canadian teams have played 16 matches, with the Russians winning seven and the Canadians nine. At the club level, the series of matches in the 1980s and 1990s are certainly noteworthy. Another aspect of interest in the game is the history of hockey’s development in Russia and on the North American continent. Differences lie in the time of the game’s emergence in these countries and the traditions of athlete training methods. Currently, due to the prevailing circumstances in modern sport and the significant influence of economic factors, a transnational merger of top-level professional players is taking place in clubs in both the NHL and KHL. For a hockey player hoping for a long professional career, it is essential to develop the ability to integrate into a team and embrace the team’s style, regardless of its nationality. However, it should be acknowledged that each country retains its traditional methods for training young hockey players. Therefore, there is a practical need to develop technical and tactical training methods that utilize the approaches and experience of various hockey schools.
Included in the bibliography for Ovechkin’s research are citations for a few familiar names, including Hockey Hall of Famer Anatoly Tarasov and legendary player/coach Viktor Tikhonov.
Ovechkin will eventually present his findings, gathered by studying the training methods of three Russian and three North American youth hockey programs, to the Higher Attestation Commission (VAK) of the Russian Federation. The VAK was established in 1992 after the collapse of the USSR, and is a national government agency that oversees the awarding of advanced academic degrees.
“I want to help with the development of Russian hockey in the future,” Ovechkin said in 2021. “It is important to share my experience. I am planning to open my own hockey school soon… I hope to use the methods that I have studied and practiced in the training of kids.”
Ovechkin’s plans to open that school are still underway, as construction on the “Alexander Ovechkin International Hockey Academy” in his native Moscow, Russia, continues. He visited the site early last summer, touring the building’s shell.
Ovechkin first graduated from the Russian State University of Physical Culture, Sports, Youth, and Tourism in 2008. In September of that year, Ovechkin mentioned he was “thinking” about graduate school. Then, for much of his future Hockey Hall of Fame career, he has simultaneously pursued his PhD.
Correction: A previous version of this post included a report that Ovechkin had already successfully defended his dissertation and earned his PhD. In fact, the linked document was just the “abstract,” or summary of Ovechkin’s main findings, submitted for pre-defense review. According to Gorsky, no specific date has yet been scheduled for Ovechkin’s actual defense. RMNB regrets the error.
