Alex Ovechkin says he’s waiting until after the season to decide his hockey future
Alex Ovechkin says he is waiting until after the Washington Capitals’ season is over to decide whether he’s calling it a career or returning to play one more year.
The NHL’s career goal-scoring leader announced his intentions in a clip of a pretaped interview with Capitals radio broadcaster John Walton that aired Wednesday.
“We’re going to make a decision in the summer,” Ovechkin said, adding he needed to talk with his family, owner Ted Leonsis, president of hockey operations Brian MacLellan and general manager Chris Patrick.
Ovechkin said health would be the biggest factor: “I’m going to be 41 years old in September, so you just have to be smart about it.”
He has been peppered with questions for several months about whether he’ll retire or play a 22nd season in the league. Ovechkin’s current contract expires June 30.
“I still enjoy it, I still have fun,” Ovechkin said in Toronto. “I’m still happy to be with the boys in the locker room.”
Washington will have just three games left after playing at Toronto on Wednesday night and faces an uphill climb to make the playoffs. Coach Spencer Carbery said Ovechkin has the organization’s full support.
“He’s earned that right,” Carbery said. “He’ll be welcomed with open arms (or) if this is it, we’ll support him that way, and I’ll celebrate him and give him a big hug and have a cold beer.”
Monday was the one-year anniversary of the Russian superstar scoring his 895th goal at the New York Islanders, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record that seemed unapproachable until Ovechkin came along.
Ovechkin has since scored 33 more goals, 31 this season, to get to 928 in the regular season. On March 22, he scored No. 1,000 total in the NHL, counting goals in the playoffs.
He also holds records for the most power-play goals with 331, game-winning goals with 141 and shots with 7,091 — and counting. Not just an offensive powerhouse, the 6-foot-3 winger has been a physical force and ranks third on the career hits list with 3,871.
The Capitals visit longtime Ovechkin rival and fellow face of the sport Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, then host them Sunday. The home finale in the nation’s capital is sold out, with tickets going for way above face value in anticipation of it being the captain and franchise cornerstone’s final game there.
They visit Columbus on Tuesday in what could be Ovechkin’s final game in North America. He played his first career game in Washington against the Blue Jackets on Oct. 5, 2005.
“The game’s changed almost every year,” Ovechkin said. “More faces come into the league, and you can see how fast they are, how skilled they are. And obviously you have to adjust yourself, your body, your mind. … It’s life.”
Ovechkin, who is from Moscow, could opt to play one more season in the KHL, where he started as a professional when it was called the Russian Superleague. He played from 2001-05 and during the 2012-13 NHL lockout with Dynamo Moscow.
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The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
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