Alex Ovechkin is coming off yet another fantastic season, during which he accumulated 73 points in 65 regular-season games. Ovechkin holds a five-year contract with the Washington Capitals worth $47.5 million with a cap hit of $9.5 million.
Ovechkin, 39, shows no signs of slowing down. He remains the most formidable presence on the Capitals’ roster. Beyond his hockey prowess, the Capitals captain is known for his fighting skills.
Ovechkin has been involved in four fights in his entire NHL career, with his most recent one in 2019 when he dropped his gloves against Carolina Hurricanes player Andrei Svechnikov when the latter was only 19. Earning Ovechkin’s praise is a big deal, and recently, the 39-year-old named his favorite NHL fighters.
Who Does Alex Ovechkin Name as the Toughest NHL Fighters?
Ovechkin spent a month in Turkey for some much-needed downtime and recently returned to Russia, ready to train for the upcoming NHL season with trainer Pavel Burlachenko. Amid the rigorous training sessions, Ovechkin took time to talk to Kamil Gadzhiev, the founder of AMC Fights Nights.
He stated that it was the street or the neighborhood where he learned how to fight. Ovechkin’s flair for street fighting was displayed in his 2019 fight with Svechnikov, the most recent one in his career, during a 2019 playoff game, when the Hurricanes defeated the Capitals 5-0.
Andrei Svechnikov gets into a fight with heavyweight, Alex Ovechkin, and is knocked out cold #StanleyCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/TK7Xu1upo5
— James Nalton (@JDNalton) April 16, 2019
When asked to name his favorite NHL fighters, the 39-year-old quickly stated the names of two former players, Donald Brashear and Georges Laraque. Both Brashear and Laraque were widely known in the league for their role as enforcers.
Brashear, who played with Ovechkin for three seasons, was initially called on by then-general manager George McPhee to protect Ovechkin, who was a rookie at the time.
During the three seasons Ovechkin played with Brashear, the latter got into 36 fights and accumulated 396 penalty minutes. Ovechkin confessed that he would want Brashear on his side if the Capitals captain were to ever play with Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby. It shows Ovi’s faith in the former enforcer’s abilities.
The second name that comes to mind for Ovechkin is Laraque, the former right-winger who played for the Edmonton Oilers, Phoenix Coyotes, Penguins, and Montreal Canadiens.
During Brashear’s time in Washington, Laraque was in Pittsburgh, and confrontations between the two were not unheard of. The duo dropped their gloves against each other at least twice, with the most notable incident taking place during a Capitals game in October 2007.
Among other notable fighters, Evgeni Malkin stands out. In 2019, Malkin fought Steven Stamkos, the former captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning, in the third period of the game.
nice AI written article
Touched???? C’mon man!