Washington Capitals: When Alexander Ovechkin Hit Evgeni Malkin’s Agent in the Face

Everyone knows Sid vs. Ovi but what about Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin?

Since they made the trip across the pond from Russia to come play professional hockey in North America in the early chapter of the century, Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin have been superstars for their respective teams. These teams, the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively, were rivals long before these two European sensations came over.

However, after being selected number one and two respectively, this meant that their paths were destined to cross on the ice throughout the entirety of their NHL careers. Cross they did, as Ovi has played the Penguins and Geno a number of times throughout his career.

Whenever these two met, however, the focus would usually be on the rivalry between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, and deservedly so. They both entered the league in the 2005-2006 season and immediately became the top players in the league from their on-ice performance and, in terms of popularity, there were no two more well-known players in the NHL through the past 15 seasons. The Sid vs. Ovi rivalry defined their generation of hockey.

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This rivalry was strictly on the ice, however. Rarely did their personal rivalry ever develop into anything more than outscoring and outperforming each other in a game. Living in the shadow of this rivalry was a true conflict that silently showed itself on the grand stage during NHL action, but also involved tension behind-the-scenes as well that – in terms of drama and intrigue – makes it an almost more exciting rivalry than the one that’s been marketed to hockey fans for the past 15 seasons.

Many believe that one of the primary reasons that the tension grew thicker between these Russian dynamos took place during the summer of 2007. While enjoying an offseason back home in Russia, it is believed that an incident occurred at a nightclub in Moscow involving Ovechkin and Malkin’s agent, Gennady Ushakov.

The story goes that, while partying it up, Ushakov made an insulting comment directed towards Ovechkin. Ovechkin responded by punching and allegedly breaking the jaw of Ushakov. This soured Ovi and Malkin’s relationship for the foreseeable future. Malkin would describe it as a “bad situation” to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and, in an interview with Puck Daddy in 2009, claimed that the nightclub incident is the reason Ovechkin would take on-ice runs at him in games that followed.

Ovechkin would deny the event ever took place for a few years until 2009 when, in an interview with RT, Ovi claimed that it is true, “but is okay.” I guess I can forget about that “alleged” stuff, huh? Ovi and Geno didn’t speak for a few years after this, and Ovi certainly took his runs at Malkin.

Malkin was confused by Ovi’s antics, saying in an interview with the Associated Press that “Ovechkin is a great player, but every time he hits me – I don’t know why.” However, it seems that the two have slowly moved past this incident in the 13 years since.

This is the stuff that, as fans, we love to hear about. Lots of people know this story but not enough know this story, which is why I am bringing it back up like a fish that was both stupid and curious enough to bite twice. There are very few things more intriguing in the sports world than beef between players. It’s just like watching reality television. You don’t want to watch to see everyone getting along and having success. You want to see and hear about players genuinely disliking each other and making their thoughts and opinions public. When these players just happen to be two of the top-five best players of the last decade and some of the best of all time, it becomes a lot spicier.

If you want an in-depth look at the rivalry between Ovi and Geno, I highly recommend watching the Beef History video by SB Nation that covers the rivalry in significant detail.

If Malkin’s agent decided to mouth off to a rival of his client, as the story alleges, it seems like he kind of deserved to get smoked the way he did. I can almost guarantee he didn’t do much talking to Ovi after that…ya know, after his jaw healed up and he could actually speak.

People disregard Ovi as a fighter due to his inexperience, but now, with knowledge of this incident, and his near-decapitation of Andrei Svechnikov, it seems the Russian Machine packs a hell of a punch.