Washington Capitals: Alex Ovechkin is the greatest captain in team history
The greatest captian in Washington Capitals history is Alex Ovechkin.
Back on January 5, 2010, the Washington Capitals made a bold move. Alex Ovechkin would finally get to don the C patch as the new team captain. He took the ice for their game against the Montreal Canadiens that night wearing the C, giving fans an introduction to the newest team captain.
Ovechkin is the first European born captain in Capitals history and at the time was named the second youngest at age 24. He was the sixth Russian born player to be an NHL captain. He succeeded Chris Clark after his trade to the Columbus Blue Jackets a week prior. Ovechkin was an alternate captain since his second season in the league before switching from A to C.
Ovechkin has since taken that captaincy by storm. He was bestowed team captain after winning the Hart Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award in back to back years as the NHL’s most valuable player. He was the first player since 1997-98 to win the Hart in consecutive seasons joining Dominik Hasek.
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Off the ice, Ovechkin continues to give back to the community. Since 2006 he purchased eight Capitals season tickets as part of the Ovi’s Crazy 8s program and donates them to Most Valuable Kids to be distributed to underprivileged children and soldiers in the area.
Ovechkin has also made multiple visits to the Children’s National Medicical Center as well as area schools and rinks. He also gives back to the Make a Wise program.
That season, Ovechkin continued to dominate as he scored 50 goals and added 59 assists for 109 points. The Caps would go on to win the Presidents’ Trophy with the league’s best record. They would get bounced in the first round and then after each playoff elimination, Ovechkin was the subject of unfair criticism and some pundits even questioned his leadership.
After a 33 goal season in 2016-17, Ovechkin shut those critics up by leading the Caps to their first Stanley Cup the next year. After that, nobody questioned Ovechkin’s leadership.
Ovechkin had 49 goals that season to lead the league and in the playoffs he added 15 goals to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the postseason.
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Ovechkin followed that up with 51 goals the next season and 48 goals this past season before the league was shutdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Now he enters a big season and the Caps hope to extend his contract so he can remain team captain through the end of his storied career.