Ovechkin Alexander (biography, personal life of an athlete is presented below) is one of the most famous hockey players of our time. He is the first player to enter into a contract worth more than $ 100 million. Five times he managed to score 50 goals per season and four times to score over 100 points. In 2014, Alexander was recognized as the top scorer of the Washington Capitals. This article will describe a short biography of a hockey player.
Childhood
Ovechkin Alexander (photo below) was born in 1985 in Moscow. He became the third child in the family. Mom of the future hockey player Tatyana was an Olympic basketball champion. And father Mikhail professionally played football for Dynamo (Moscow).
Love for hockey appeared in Sasha at the age of two. He walked with his mother through the toy store and noticed equipment in the window. Alexander did not leave her until he bought the whole set. Six years later, the boy was brought to the hockey section by brother Sergei. Moreover, parents actively opposed this. This was the main reason for Sasha's departure from the section. But one of the coaches saw the potential in the boy and persuaded his parents to return him to the ice.
Favorite teams of the young athlete were Dynamo (Moscow) and Pittsburgh Penguins. Ovechkin also appeared idols - Alexander Maltsev and Mario Lemieux.
After the section, the hero of this article entered the hockey school Dynamo. Here, Alexander broke the record of Pavel Bure, scoring 59 goals in the championship of Moscow. In 2000, the young talent was transferred to the adult Dynamo squad.
Carier start
At the age of 16, Ovechkin Alexander, whose photo had already flickered periodically in sports media, made his debut in the Super League (Russia). In the first season, the hockey player scored 2 goals and played 22 matches. In 2002, an athlete in the junior team went to Slovakia for the World Cup. There Ovechkin became the best newcomer, gaining 18 points.
A year later, Alexander played already as part of the main national team of the Russian Federation at the tournament "Ceska Poyishtovna". The 17-year-old Ovechkin immediately set 2 records there:
- as the youngest goal writer;
- as the youngest athlete in the national team.
In 2003, they tried to buy Alexander in the NHL, but the deal did not take place, since the player was a minor. In the 2004/2005 season, the young athlete became a key player in Dynamo. After 53 matches, he decided on his role in the team, became the best left attacker.
Relocation to the USA
In 2004, Alexander Ovechkin, whose biography is now known to all hockey fans, was selected in the draft under the first number. But in the NHL there was a lockout, so he had to stay at Dynamo.
In 2005, uncertainty appeared: Ovechkin’s contract with the team came to an end. Of course, the Dynamo leadership wanted to extend it in order to receive compensation in the event that Alexander left the NHL. Omsk Avangard also offered beneficial cooperation to the athlete. It was with this club that the young man entered into a preliminary contract. However, Dynamo managed to extend its contract with the player, and the situation became impasse. There was another problem: Vanguard released Ovechkin to Washington Capitals without any compensation, and the blue and white demanded $ 2 million. In addition, the Dynamo did not pay the hero of this article a salary.
As a result, Alexander Ovechkin, whose growth will be indicated below, left for the USA. And the Russian court ruled that the athlete should remain in Dynamo. But this decision, as well as the club’s claim for compensation, was rejected by an American judge. In general, this “battle” was won by the National Hockey League and a young athlete.
NHL
George McPhee (manager of Washington Capitals) immediately decided to build a game around Ovechkin. Before Alexander, this club used the same strategy for Jaromir Jagr. The Russians were assigned the maximum salary for a debutant - $ 4 million, taking into account bonuses. In the NHL, Ovechkin immediately had a rival - Sidney Crosby. It was with him that the athlete fought for the prestigious Calder Trophy award and eventually managed to win.
From the first matches, hockey player Alexander Ovechkin, whose biography is full of vibrant sporting events, fully met McPhee's expectations. The young man scored goals, made assists and scored points. In the first season, Alexander earned 49 points. Only Ilya Kovalchuk had more.
Masterpiece
In the game against the Phoenix Coyotes, Alexander scored one of the most beautiful goals in NHL history. After the push of one of the rivals, he managed to make a club hit in the fall. The Phoenix coach Wayne Gratzky exclaimed: “This is not a goal, but just a masterpiece!”
Record contract
In 2007, the striker played in the All-Star Game for Vostok. The excitement around Ovechkin significantly affected his game. The hockey player was nervous and did not break the defense of Roberto Luongo in the shootout competition. Alexander also showed the worst time in the race for speed.
Nevertheless, in the next season, the Washington Capitals signed a record contract with Ovechkin. For 13 seasons, the forward received $ 124 million. In the NHL, this was the first such case.
Criticism
In the 2008/2009 season, the Washington Capitals reached the semifinals, where they lost to the “penguins”. After some time, Ovechkin was criticized by the popular Canadian journalist Don Cherry. And the representative of the media had a good reason.
After the goal, Bextrem, Green, Theodore and Ovechkin were supposed to demonstrate a trick: Alexander throws a club on the ice, and his colleagues show that it is hot. But after the goal was scored, the teammates were not there, and the striker played the pantomime alone. Experts and journalists did not appreciate his acting skills. And Cherry wrote that Ovechkin was likened to idiots from the Sokker who celebrate goals scored by Kretin’s gimmicks. Most of the fans also considered such antics a bad example for their children. After that, the coach asked the hockey player to show less emotions on the ice. And the striker agreed.
Captain Washington Capitals
In 2009, Alexander Ovechkin, whose biography should become an example to follow for beginner hockey players, led his team. After 30 days, the forward scored more than 500 points. Unfortunately, the Washington Capitals could not win the Stanley Cup. The team flew out of the championship in the first round of the playoffs. But the Americans and Canadians increasingly called the hero of this article Alexander the Great.
By the end of 2013, the hockey player had 11 personal NHL awards. Among Russian athletes, this is the best result. The forward also crossed the line of 1000 points, got into the TOP-100 of the best snipers and won the fourth Trophy. But, unfortunately, this did not help the team itself. The team did not reach the playoffs and became the ninth in the East. A flurry of criticism fell on Alexander for a poor game in defense and weak leadership qualities.
The beginning of the 2014/2015 season was uneven at Ovechkin. A series of continuous goals gave way to the fact that the hockey player could not earn points for five consecutive matches (the first case in his career). Then Alexander scored 7 points in three games. But at the end of the season he made up for lost time, becoming the team's top scorer.
Team game
Ovechkin Alexander, whose biography is in many sports encyclopedias, stands not only for the Washington Capitals. He does not forget about the national team. In 2006, the athlete traveled with the national team to the Olympic Games in Turin. Alexander himself performed very well (scored 6 points - assists and 5 goals), but the team did not reach the prize places. But next year the team won bronze at the World Cup. This time it was the other way around: Ovechkin was scolded for injuring an opponent, poor play and disqualification. And the team itself was praised. But at the 2008 World Cup (Canada), everyone excelled. The hero of this article took sixth place in the ranking, and the team received gold medals.
Variable success
Ovechkin Alexander (biography, athlete’s personal life is regularly discussed in the yellow press) missed the next World Cup. But in 2010 I went to the Olympics. But the game in Vancouver did not work out. The team managed to reach only the quarter finals, where she lost to the Canadians. Many then remembered Alexander's proprietary power tricks.
The athlete faded at the 2010 World Cup and 2011 World Cup. He compensated for his failures in 2012, taking gold and becoming the two-time world champion. And in 2013, the forward of “Washington” went on the ice with an injury. Alexander did everything he could, but the Russian team took only 6th place, losing to the Americans with a score of 3: 8.
The Olympics in Sochi also failed. But the national team was able to recoup in Minsk at the 2014 World Cup. Ovechkin was appointed captain. And this was the right decision: in the end, Russia is the winner, and Alexander is the three-time world champion. In that year, the hockey player became the most popular athlete in the Russian Federation.
Ovechkin Alexander: height, weight
These parameters of the hockey player are interesting to many fans. In most sources, the following numbers are presented: an athlete's height is 190 centimeters, and weight is 100 kilograms.
Personal life
30-year-old Ovechkin is single. Moreover, the forward himself assures others that his wife will be only a girl from Russia. The media periodically recorded in the hockey player’s girlfriend Zhanna Friske, Victoria Lopyreva and Fergie.
Since 2011, the striker met with the famous athlete Maria Kirilenko. It came to an engagement. But at the initiative of the girl, they broke up in the summer of 2014. Then there was a short-term affair with gymnast Karolina Sevastyanova.
Anastasia Shubskaya is the name of the girl whom Alexander Ovechkin is currently meeting. He periodically uploads a photo with his wife (potential) in his instagram. Anastasia also does not lag behind him. Recently, a very eloquent picture appeared on the Shubskaya page. On it, a girl sits with Alexander in a restaurant, and on her ring finger flaunts a ring with a large diamond. Most likely, with this photo Anastasia hinted at an engagement. It is likely that in the near future the hockey player will finally lose his bachelor status.
Now Alexander Ovechkin, whose biography is presented above, lives with his parents in Arlington (a suburb of Washington). Mom is his agent, and his father mounts sports videos. After the son’s career ends, they plan to return to Russia.