When he first arrived in the NHL, Alex Ovechkin rocked yellow laces and a mirrored-tinted visor, having one of the most iconic looks in the league, akin to a Russian RoboCop.
At Fanatics Fest earlier in the month, Ovechkin was asked by Bleacher Report’s Jonny Lazarus what other player could rock that signature look.
“MacKinnon,” Ovechkin said.
“You think he’d ever do that?” Lazarus replied.
“He should,” Ovechkin said before laughing.
MacKinnon’s superstar status in the league and his electric playing style certainly fit the bill. The 2022 Stanley Cup champion has recorded 100 or more points in the last four seasons and taken home both the Hart and Rocket Richard Trophies. But the exquisite skater and puck mover is not known for taking chances or being expressive with his gear, for instance, using an unsealed white-taped knob and a classic heel-to-toe black blade wrap on his sticks.
While Ovechkin still wears the yellow laces — Russian players Ilya Kovalchuk and Sergei Fedorov also at times during their NHL careers — he only wore his mirrored-tinted visor for his rookie season in 2005-06, when he won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year. Legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur essentially put a kibosh to the look in the summer of 2006, complaining that Ovechkin’s visor was a competitive advantage because he couldn’t see the sniper’s eyes. NHL general managers then voted 29–1 to outlaw mirrored and darkly tinted visors prior to the 2006–2007 season.
“Marty Brodeur said, like, he can’t see my eyes, and I was like, ‘What the heck? See my eyes? I’m at the blueline, you’re gonna look at my eyes?’” Ovechkin said last year. “You know, it’s weird thing, but Gary (NHL commissioner Gary Bettman), I think, said, ‘Okay, no more tinted visor for Ovi.’ Okay, whatever.”
Ovechkin, who will be playing his 22nd NHL season in October, said he would bring back the look if the NHL let him.
“Yeah, for sure,” Ovechkin said. “Why not? Okay, NFL – they still have tinted visors. Nobody look in their eyes, right? Everybody look where’s the ball, nobody cares. So, you have to look at the puck, not in your eyes.”
