The best ice hockey players of all time include Alex Ovechkin. Numerous NHL scouts watched Alex Ovechkin as a young player. He was brought up in Moscow, Russia. He remains on the Washington Capitals’ roster today after being selected as the first overall choice in the 2004 NHL Draft. He has played in more than 1050 games and scored over 700 goals. He is well-known both on and off the ice for his quickness, deft stickwork, and friendly demeanor. Ovechkin, as many always want to call him, has a solid chance of breaking the National Hockey League record for most goals scored in a career after joining the 700+ goal club well before the age of 35.

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When the Capitals selected him in the NHL Entry Draft, Ovechkin’s ice hockey career officially got underway. Due to a league-wide lockout, he could not participate in his debut season in the NHL, but he could still return to Russia and compete for the Moscow Dynamo. He continued to play regularly for the Capitals in the NHL after that. Nearly 20 years later, Ovechkin remains an essential player on the Capitals squad and serves as its captain. He has smashed numerous league scoring records and amassed some of the most coveted ice hockey honors for himself.

Ovechkin was a very powerful and promising rookie when he entered the league, and by 2006, he had won the Calder Trophy. Three times, he received the Hart Trophy honor. He was honored as the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2008 and 2009, consecutive years. To cap it all off, Ovechkin won the Stanley Cup in 2018 after finally winning the most significant trophy in the National Hockey League. The Conn Smythe Trophy, which recognized the most valuable player in the 2018 NHL Playoffs, was appropriately given to Ovechkin after this enormous feat. The BCS was finally replaced with the College Football Playoff beginning with the 2013 regular season due to complaints from fans, reporters, coaches, and even former president Barack Obama. While many consider the Playoff an improvement, it is nonetheless critiqued for not including teams from leagues outside the “Power Five.”