The Great Eight

8—on the Capitals. People know him as “The Great Eight,” “Alexander the Great,” “Ovie,” or just by his last name—Ovechkin.

Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Ovechkin also known as Alex Ovechkin was born in Moscow, Russia on September 17, 1985. He is 6 ‘5 ” and 35 years old with 2 kids (Sergi and Ilya) and has been married since 2016 to Anastasia Shubuskaya. His mother was an Olympic gold medalist playing in the Soviet women’s basketball team. His father was a football (soccer) player. He has been playing hockey for 18 seasons. In 2003 he was drafted into the Russian National Hockey Team then in 2005 he was drafted into the Washington Capitals. In 2006-2007, he first appeared in an All-Star game. On December 13, 2022, Alex Ovechkin scored his 800th career goal. Alex Ovechkin scores about 6 goals per game. Alex Ovechkin has 84 more goals till he passes Gretzky. He led the Capitals to the Stanley Cup in 2018 and won!  Also on the 17th of January Ovechkin made his 30th goal this season. He has 652 assists in his career; an assist is when the player helps with a goal. Alex Ovechkin has made 812 career goals. A career goal is all the goals he has scored in all seasons he has played in. Ovechkin plays forwards and left wing in hockey.

Ovechkin is trying to pass Wayne Gretzky in career goals. Gretzky was a player for the Indianapolis Racers, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers. Gretzky has 894 career goals in his hockey career of 20 seasons. Gretzky is 61 years old and has 4 kids. Gretzky played from 1979-1999 and then coached from 2005-2009. Gretzky was 38 years old when he scored his 894th career goal.

Alex Ovechkin is not a perfect player; he has gotten penalties for hooking, tripping, unsportsmanlike conduct, cross-checking, interference, and slashing. He has reached a total of 1,468 minutes of penalty time in his entire career. No hockey player is perfect. He has played 1,326  games, 25 overtime goals, a 34.2 % chance of winning a face off, and has made 124 game-winning goals.