Hockey legend Alexander Ovechkin

Alexander Ovechkin is one of the best hockey players in Russian history. He celebrated his 35th birthday in 2020. Over the years, the guy has managed a lot – to win the status of the best hockey forward in history, to become a father of two beautiful boys – Sergey and Ilya, to keep his sincerity and openness, for which he is loved by his wife Anastasia Shubskaya, colleagues and friends, and fans alike.

From a young age, Alexander Ovechkin developed certain principles of life for himself, which helped him reach unprecedented heights in his career as a hockey player. He calls hockey his favourite sport, which he does not regret spending his own time and energy on. Even as a child, the future famous athlete realized that hockey is his vocation. Alexander’s mother Tatiana Ovechkina is 2-time Olympic champion in basketball. That’s why the boy has been in sport since he was little. He was an active fan of his mother’s team, but he chose another direction for himself – hockey. There is even a legend in the Ovechkin family saying that two-year-old Sasha literally froze when he saw real hockey armour. Then his parents presented him with a hockey outfit, and the boy could no longer imagine his life without training on the ice. There were often times when he had to skip school for sports activities, but his teachers did not scold him for it. On the contrary, they met him halfway and supported him.

The future great hockey player’s favourite subject at school was, of course, physical education. And also labour and algebra. In general, Alexander Ovechkin had only pleasant impressions of his school years. In one of his interviews the athlete recalled that teachers loved him, even in spite of low grades, misconduct and missed classes.

The athlete had a trusting and warm relationship with his father, Mikhail Ovechkin. He always accompanies his son to all trainings, gives advice and points out mistakes. But the parental tutelage does not annoy the hockey player. On the contrary, Alexander is very happy that he has such a wise and experienced mentor as his father.

At the age of 17, Alexander Ovechkin got his first call-up to the senior hockey team, and since that moment his professional career began. The year before at age 16 he participated in Junior World Championships and in just one tournament managed to score 14 goals and break a record of productivity set by hockey player Alexander Maltsev.

Today Alexander Ovechkin is a man to be reckoned with. He is an example for aspiring athletes. Three times world champion with the Russian national team, two superlatives with the NHL (100 points and 50 goals), and multiple sport records (best hockey player in the league, nine-time best shooter). Is that not a reason to set an example for the youngsters?

The human qualities of hockey player Ovechkin should also be noted. After the demise of Lokomotiv, he was the one to take to the ice wearing a bib with the Loko emblem. Alexander provides financial support to various orphanages, buys sports uniforms for youth sports schools, but categorically refuses to advertise his good deeds. He does not want a PR campaign for charity, and that’s it!