Washington Capitals News: Alex Ovechkin closes in on history plus Nic Dowd and Hendrix Lapierre speak

The Washington Capitals season is inching closer. Of course we know Alex Ovechkin is 42 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's record for the most goals of all time. But if he breaks it as early as this season, what would that mean for the future?

Janson Dunech of The Hockey News mentions Ovechkin captaining Russia which would make perfect sense. He wrote, "Almost as easy as (Sidney) Crosby, the "Great 8" has no rivals when it comes to leading Russia at the Olympics. He's the only Russian born captain to capture the Stanley Cup." He also notes Martin Fehervary as potentially making Slovakia.

In other news the Caps continued to be active in the community taking part in the 12th annual Baltimore Street Hockey Tournament. Hayley Salvatora of WashCaps.com notes that Madison Square topped Lakeland in what was a championship rematch but a different outcome.

The game took place on August 2nd and the winning team rushed to the middle of "The Dome" at Madison Square Recreation Center in Baltimore City. And yes they hoisted a mini Stanley Cup style in the 6-1 win.

Also in The Hockey News, Sammi Silber writes that the Crash the Net podcast returned and found some input from guys like John Carlson and Nic Dowd.

Silber talked to Hendrix Lapierre and he explained,

"It's good to have good shot or good playmaking abilities or whatever, but you can score - whether it's just four goals or five goals a year - on tips or deflections or finding a way to get a puck through."

Not everyone is a big fan of crashing the net, like John Carlson explained to Silber a few years ago:

"Just two people standing next to each other. Sometimes that's all it takes."

Dowd added in the same story:

"I strive to go and do the exact same thing every single night and get better. The foundation of my game, it's pretty simple... some night, you're going to have really, really good games and you're not going to show up on the scoresheet and some nights you're going to have to have really, really good games and you're going to show up on the scoresheet."

Not every night is going to be a good night. We all have trials and tribulations that we have to battle every single day and that's what makes people human including the players we watch and adore every single game.