#21 Alex Ovechkin changed the course of D.C. Sports History forever
It's not just goal scoring. There's plenty of updates to that as Alex Ovechkin, the number one draft pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft is chasing Wayne Gretzky, the number one goal scorer of all time as we've been working on this.
Ovechkin made his Capitals debut on Oct. 5, 2005 and is D.C.'s longest tenured athlete. Only Walter Johnson of the old Washington Senators and Darrell Green of the Washington Redskins, who just got his number retired by Josh Harris and company, have also played 20 seasons in this city with their respective club.
Youth participation has gone up since the Caps joined the NHL in 1974 and since Ovi's debut it's skyrocketed. So much so that the Caps held a big event over the weekend on the campus of George Mason University bringing back the popular Capitals Street Hockey Extravaganza.
Incredible to see the @Capitals Street Hockey Extravaganza welcome kids to the world of hockey almost 50 years after the inaugural event! I can’t think of a more perfect way to celebrate the team’s 50th Anniversary season.
— Ted Leonsis (@TedLeonsis) November 18, 2024
This event has evolved tremendously since the ‘70s,… pic.twitter.com/eikpwBgnSN
What an extraordinary time for 70 local youth hockey players at today's Street Hockey Extravaganza.
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 16, 2024
Congrats to Team Gold on taking home the hardware!#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/bAWD3BVrkq
What started in the 1970s as a small event at the old Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland has fully evolved across the entire D.C., Maryland and Virginia region and that event in mid November just before the holidays is a perfect sign of more participation to come.