April 7, 2025
Those who know me know I'm a somewhat passionate hockey fan as well as occasional baseball enthusiast. Our hometown Washington Capitals brought our whole region tremendous joy when they won the ultimate prize in professional hockey in 2018, Lord Stanley's Cup.
But only people who've known me since I was a kid might remember that I decided to be a Capitals fan from the very beginning. In 1974 they were a brand-new team, and I thought it would be cool to be a fan of a team from Game 1 on. And I somehow discovered that after sunset, big AM radio stations are allowed to jack their output power way up, and it just so happened that the Caps radio broadcaster, WTOP from DC 400 miles distant, was powerful enough to pick up through some static on a lot of game nights. I'd struggle pointing my portable radio antenna this way and that, and some nights it was hopeless. Which was fitting symbolism for a team that won just 8 games out of 78 during that inaugural season; a record for futility that still stands.
The next few years weren't much better, but over the years the Capitals became a pretty good team, and started to be on TV now and again - especially when they made the playoffs. When I moved to northwestern Virginia in 1992 I was delighted to be reunited with my childhood favorites, and I've watched a LOT of games over the decades since. Including the first game featuring a young Russian superstar in the making by the name of Alexander Ovechkin, back in 2005.
It would be hard to overstate “Ovi's” impact on the region in the last two decades. Larger-than-life, gregarious, and generous with his time and talent too, youth hockey here exploded since his arrival. My next door neighbor and another family across the cemetery are hockey families, something that wouldn't have been possible out here by the Blue Ridge 20 years ago. He's been the face not only of the franchise but really of the sport here in “the DMV” (DC, Maryland and Virginia).
My wife Christmas gifted us tickets to my first Caps game back in early 2020, and I was like a little kid all over again. The uniforms, arena and players are different, but the energy in the building was electric and I was just beside myself with glee. The Caps gave us an amazing inaugural experience; they fell behind by two goals with a minute left, and somehow managed to score two to force overtime, where they scored another goal to win in “sudden victory”. The Metro ride back towards home felt like riding on Santa's sleigh.
These last couple years, it started seeming possible that Ovi might break the all-time goal scoring record. While the legendary Wayne Gretzky's record of 894 career regular season goals seemed untouchable, Ovi kept moving up the list, passing hockey legend after hockey legend, finally past the great Gordie Howe, and with no one left ahead of him but Gretzky. No longer the rambunctious “Russian machine” of his 20s, Ovi still has an innate knack for being where the puck is going, and an absolutely lethal shot that every goalie knows is coming yet still is powerless to stop.
Ovi started the Capitals 50th anniversary season last October 42 goals short of breaking the record. That's a pretty lofty total for a young talented goal scorer, but it would have surprised no one if that was just beyond the reach of the now 39-year old. With the Caps newly-replenished with young talent, they started the season hot and have largely stayed on top of the entire conference all season long. And as their 50th season has unfolded, the team has held special celebrations for each of the team's five “eras”, including those dismal early years as well as the 2018 Stanley Cup champions.
We got Christmas tickets again, for a February game against Gretzky's old team, the highly skilled Edmonton Oilers, who have two of the very best players in the world. Our home and away games with Edmonton last year were unwatchable, as the Caps got blown out both times, so we knew it could be a disappointment.
But not this day! The Caps had the sellout crowd rocking from the jump, and jumped on the Oilers early. Ovi capped the 7-goal explosion with a goal in the final minute, his THIRD of the day. He had just returned to the lineup after his longest injury absence - 16 games for a broken leg suffered six weeks previous. That's when we realized that he really might still have a shot at that lofty milestone this season; to be the best goal scorer in hockey history.
And yesterday on Long Island, in the Caps otherwise unremarkable loss to the lowly New York Islanders, Alexander Ovechkin made that history. Another perfect pass to the left side of the goal, the patented windup and slingshot ripped into the back of the goal for #895. The league was ready of course, having realized the likelihood and then the inevitability of it within the last few weeks, so there was a big ceremony that stopped the game for 20 minutes. Gretzky and his wife were there, as well as some of his longtime teammates from the 2018 Stanley Cup champs.
Little kid me couldn't believe what I was seeing; a legend wearing our uniform for his entire career, breaking an “untouchable” record, much like Hank Aaron besting Babe Ruth's home run total in baseball. The “Gr8 Chase” is over, and now every goal Ovi scores adds to a record I'll likely not see broken in my lifetime (and he has one more year on his contract). On to the playoffs, and who knows what kind of ending Ovi and his teammates might write to this amazing season.
What a time to be ten again.
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One of my favorite elements of the “GR8 Chase” has been Ovi donating in the amount of his goal total for each goal he scores for the rest of his career to pediatric cancer research, a focal point for many years for the whole Capitals organization and hockey generally, in conjunction with the Make-a-Wish foundation. Partnering with the V Foundation founded by college basketball coach Jim Valvano, the Caps ownership organization matches each of his donations, and many in the community have donated too - to date they've raised over $120,000. If you'd like to learn more, please visit the V Foundation/Hockey Fights Cancer GR8 Chase page.
Alex Ovechkin warming up before the game with the Edmonton Oilers, Feb. 27, 2025.
Celebrating one of his three goals - a hat trick! - against Edmonton during the “GR8 Chase”
I may not look ten anymore, but little kid me is screaming and jumping up and down with excitement at ringside before the game. As you might guess, tickets get scarce and expensive when some important sports moment looms, and we were literally in the last row of the upper deck, backs against the wall and yet still with a wonderful view of the action.