Alex Ovechkin surprises teammates after his record-breaking goal number 895
Photo credit: NHL
It seems that Alex Ovechkin is a hockey history buff, and an avid collector of sports memorabilia too. Except, in his case, unlike most collectors, Ovi can fill an actual museum - his very own future museum in Moscow.
Ovechkin has been collecting his own, and other players' gear since 2005, when he began his illustrious career. So, when he scored career goal 895, breaking Wayne Gretzky's previous mark of 894, he kept his stick, THE puck, and Ilya Sorokin's paddle from that game.
Ovechkin then inspired his Caps' teammates to become collectors themselves.
"The stick, certain things like that, jerseys," John Carlson said when asked if he was keeping anything from UBS Arena. "Yeah, pretty much everything."
Ovi's teammates, of course, understood the value (historical, and financial, for that matter) of anything that was associated with goal 895, even remotely. Every Caps player was given a red hat from Fanatics, which featured a graphic of Ovi, and read, 'NHL All-Time Goals Leader'.
Prior to the goal 895 ceremony at center-ice, Ovechkin handed over all of his gear, to be authenticated, and then spoke with Tom Wilson, who assisted on goal 895.
"[My] stick, I saved," Wilson said." I got to the bench and Ovi said like, 'Keep the stick'. And I said like, 'For you or me?' Is he going to try to take the stick for his museum, or whatever?"
Of course, Wilson would have had no trouble handing over his assist-stick, even if it were for Ovi's museum. But Oveckin is a class act.
"No," Ovi replied, "no, like I'll sign it for you."
"Tom Wilson then added, "I've never really asked him for an autograph. He gave my dad a stick on my 100th goal he assisted, and he assisted on my first goal. And the stick he used on my 100th goal, he signed, put a message and gave it to my dad."
In addition to the red hat, every Caps player received a red NHL goal record t-shirt. Ovi then signed each hat, including a personal inscription. In Dylan Strome's case, Ovi wrote: To Ziinni. Thx for 2nd assist.
Like I said, class act.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 10 | 41 ANSWERS Alex Ovechkin surprises teammates after his record-breaking goal number 895 Do you own any memorabilia from Oveckin's historical record-breaking night? | ||
| Yes | 14 | 34.1 % |
| No | 27 | 65.9 % |
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