From Moscow to Washington, how Alex Ovechkin became the Great 8 on the way to chasing NHL history

Alex Ovechkin almost stopped playing hockey.

His mother, Tatyana, was a basketball player, his father, Mikhail, was a soccer player and they were traveling with their teams, leaving no one to take young Alex to practice. Coach Vyacheslav Kirillov begged Tatyana to get him back in the sport until she gave in.

Good thing, too. Raised in the final years of the Soviet sports system by parents who were already accomplished athletes, Ovechkin was given every chance to succeed and he has evolved into a superstar on the ice.

The top NHL draft pick by the Washington Capitals in 2004, over 20 years Ovechkin became a Stanley Cup champion and teammates watched him develop into a husband, father and a generous person paying for dinners on the road and growing reflective on his career and accomplishments. Next on that list will be breaking Wayne Gretzky's career goals record.

“He was a very, very bright young man in terms of his goal-setting for his life," said Hockey Hall of Famer Igor Larionov, who met Ovechkin as a teenager. "He was determined. He was one of the fastest players on the ice, and he had a purpose. Every time he stepped on the ice, he was going to be the best."

Born Sept. 17, 1985, and coming of age just as the Soviet Union was giving way to a new Russia, Ovechkin was drawn to the game through his father.

"He would go on some trips and bring me some goalie helmets," Ovechkin once recalled. "I didn’t know what it was, except it was something about hockey, and when I was a little kid everything was about hockey, hockey, hockey.”

Ovechkin was 14 when Larionov, by that time already a three-time Cup champion, sat with him in the locker room and shared some advice about doing extra summer training and committing to training in the gym.

“He knew at home from the parents, from mom and dad, to be successful you have to be determined to do extra things off ice, on ice and follow the right steps,” Larionov said. "It’s synergy between genetics from his parents, his approach to the game, his drive, his fire, his power that made him a great player.”

At 17, Ovechkin scored a tournament-best six goals in seven games to help Russia repeat as world junior champions and was again the leading scorer the following year as he emerged as the top prospect in the NHL draft, just ahead of countryman Evgeni Malkin.

The lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 season delayed Ovechkin's North American arrival, but on his first shift Ovechkin hit an opponent so hard he dislodged the partition holding the plexiglass together. He also scored career goal No. 1, then goal No. 2 on the way to getting 52 of them and becoming rookie of the year.

Ovechkin led the NHL in goals and points in 2008-09, helping the Capitals make the playoffs in his third season and first of three as NHL MVP.

Ovechkin was surrounded by young talent in his early years in Washington. Center Nicklas Backstrom, defenseman Mike Green and winger Alexander Semin joined and made hockey in the nation's capital must-see entertainment. They were also having plenty of fun off the ice.

In a sport that defines players for winning championships, some worried that Ovechkin would be known only for the individual accomplishments because the playoff success wasn't coming. The Capitals went through a series of changes from the front office to the coaching staff and the roster, culminating with Ovechkin leading them to the Stanley Cup in 2018 as playoff MVP.

Even though Ovechkin was 32, he and the Capitals celebrated like few teams in recent history. They famously swam in the Georgetown fountains — a plaque now marks the spot — and the entire run showed the best of Ovechkin.

“A big heart like a big kid,” longtime teammate John Carlson said. “He loves coming to the rink and he loves scoring goals and playing like we did when we were kids.”

Ovechkin and Nastya Shubskaya married in 2016, and the couple had even more reason to celebrate the summer of 2018 when she gave birth their first son, Sergei, that August. Ilya was born in the spring of 2020, and the boys have been right there with their dad for many of his big moments since.

When Ovechkin scored his 801st and 802nd goals just before Christmas 2022, to pass Gordie Howe for second on the all-time list, he walked into the locker room hand-in-hand with Sergei and Ilya and put them on his lap to take photos.

Tom Wilson, a teammate since 2013, now a father and likely to succeed Ovechkin as captain, has witnessed the growth firsthand — joining them for family vacations and seeing him as a family man, playing “Dance Dance Revolution” with his nephews and nieces.

“You don’t think about hockey,” Ovechkin said of his home life. "You don’t think about the training or practice. You just enjoy your life, enjoy your time with the kids, with family, with friends and you can basically do whatever you want.”

Backstrom met Ovechkin nearly two decades ago before either was 21. The fun times, the Cup win and hundreds of goals between them have come and gone.

"He’s always been the same," Backstrom said. “He hasn’t changed a lot since the first time I met him: the same kind of outgoing person.”

Marcus Johansson, who played his first seven NHL seasons with Washington and had another stint with the Capitals, said Ovechkin has “got a big heart and he takes care of the people around him.” That's what current center Dylan Strome tells friends who ask what Ovechkin is like.

“Very, very, very generous with his time, his money — going out of his way for people,” Strome said. “He always wants to be with the guys, whether it’s watch sports or just talk or whatever or have a couple beers, he’s always in for that.”

Carlson believes the 39-year-old Ovechkin has stayed young as the age gap between veterans and young teammates in the locker room grows, while at the same time appreciating each moment a little more. Wilson has seen Ovechkin sign dozens of pucks, sticks and jerseys for other teams after a game without the slightest hesitation.

“You can’t even really describe him in words,” Wilson said. “He’s just a guy that’s bigger than life, bigger than hockey. A personality that whenever he does hang them up, the game will miss him a lot.”

AP Sports Writer James Ellingworth and APTN Moscow contributed.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

FILE - Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin poses in the in the locker room with his 798, 799, and 800th NHL career goal pucks following his hatrick in an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

FILE - Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, (8) leaps in the air in celebration after scoring his 500th NHL career goal during the second period of a hockey game against the Ottawa Senators in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

People walk past the installation of a countdown clock marking Washington Capitals Alex Ovechkin's NHL career goals with the words reading "Sasha, the Motherland is with you!", Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Moscow, Russia. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)

People walk past the installation of a countdown clock marking Washington Capitals Alex Ovechkin's NHL career goals with the words reading "Sasha, the Motherland is with you!", Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Moscow, Russia. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)

Igor Larionov, a three-time winning Stanley Cup champ and former NHL player, who is now the head coach of Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod ice hockey team, looks on during a team training session at the VTB arena in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Igor Larionov, a three-time winning Stanley Cup champ and former NHL player, who is now the head coach of Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod ice hockey team, looks on during a team training session at the VTB arena in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Igor Larionov, a three-time winning Stanley Cup champ and former NHL player, who is now the head coach of Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod ice hockey team, looks on during a team training session at the VTB arena in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin warms up before an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin takes to the ice to warm up before an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

FILE - Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin holds his 798, 799, and 800th career goal pucks in the locker room after an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

FILE - Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, top right, celebrates with teammates after an NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

FILE - Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin poses with the Maurice Richard Trophy, the Stanley Cup, the Conn Smythe Trophy, and the Prince of Wales Trophy, from left, after the NHL Awards, Wednesday, June 20, 2018, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

Alexander Ovechkin, 19, the Washington Capitals' 2004 No. 1 draft pick, left, holds up his team jersey with team vice president and general manager George McPhee during a news conference at the MCI Center in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005 to announce Ovechkin's signing with the team. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

FILE - Alex Ovechkin, left, of Russia, and his father Mikhail. Ovechkin reacts after being selected as the first overall pick by the Washington Capitals during the NHL Draft, June 26, 2004, at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Grant Halverson, File)

FILE - Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin, right, stands with his parents Mikhail, left, and Tatyana Ovechkin, second from left, and his wife Nastya Shubskaya during a ceremony for honoring his 1,000th NHL point before an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File)

FILE - Russia's Alexander Ovechkin reacts after team's victory at the Ice Hockey World Championships bronze medal match between Russia and USA, in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, May 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)

FILE - Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8), of Russia, son Sergei, left, and Ovechkin's wife, Nastya, right, react during a ceremony to honor Ovechkin for his 700th goal, before the team's NHL hockey game against the Winnipeg Jets, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

FILE - Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin celebrates his 600th career goal in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Winnipeg Jets, Monday, March 12, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) walks with his sons Ilya, left, and Sergei, right, in team's locker room after an NHL hockey game against the Winnipeg Jets, Friday, Dec. 23, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2019, file photo, Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin follows through on a shot against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

FILE - Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, of Russia, hoists the Stanley Cup after the Capitals defeated the Golden Knights in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, June 7, 2018, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Rob Sand rallied a crowd for the first time as the official Democratic nominee for Iowa governor on Sunday, kicking off a countdown to November with the support of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

The race for governor between Sand and Republican Zach Lahn stands to be one of the most competitive in the country as Iowans face a state budget deficit, struggling agricultural economy and cancer crisis. Democrats are putting faith in him to blaze a trail in the state after struggling electorally in recent cycles, hoping his message of unity will resonate with their fellow Iowans.

A few hundred people in Des Moines roared, waved campaign signs and snapped photos as Sand took the stage, a state flag hanging behind him.

“You might think we have a big hill to climb. I've seen bigger,” Sand said. “We're building a coalition of — not red versus blue — but of the well-fed versus the fed-up.”

Sand, who was unopposed on the primary ballot, learned who his opponent would be after Tuesday’s primary settled an unpredictable five-way Republican contest.

The rally was the first one that Tracy Schloss has ever attended. A lifelong Democrat, Schloss said he doesn't like the state's direction after nearly a decade of total Republican control, saying the leaders have “lost sight of the common people.”

“It's time, you gotta step up or the country will still keep going the way it's going," said the 62-year-old retiree from Ankeny, a suburb of Des Moines.

Schloss said he thinks Sand is a “bright spot" who can get voters excited, and he's more optimistic than he's been in recent years that the election will be a success for Democrats.

Iowa has open races for both governor and U.S. senator for the first time since 1968, plus three battleground congressional races. National attention on the state has soared in recent months, drawing President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance to Iowa.

Democrats still have a 200,000-person deficit in statewide voter registration, and they are outnumbered in every House district. Sand, along with Senate candidate Josh Turek, say they can win over independents and Republicans who are frustrated with party politics and a Republican trifecta in Washington and Des Moines that they blame for the state's challenges.

Turek will face U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who already has portrayed Turek as a liberal puppet for party leader Sen. Chuck Schumer.

Lahn has also rejected Sand's nonpartisan pitch.

“Rob Sand is not a moderate,” Lahn said in his victory speech Tuesday. “He’s a liberal career politician pretending to be someone he’s not.”

As he has during campaign events over the past year, Sand asked attendees to sing the first verse of “America the Beautiful.” And when he introduced himself, he talked about his upbringing hunting, fishing and going to church.

Even if Sand is elected governor in November, he will likely have to work with Republican majorities in the state House and Senate, which recently passed bills to restrict the executive’s power that outgoing Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law.

Sand said it's good to have balance rather than a political system centered around amassing power and punishing political enemies.

“We have found ourselves in this position because we have too many people who want us to only think about red or blue,” Sand said Sunday. “Red and blue are colors.”

Neither Sand nor Lahn use their party's traditional blue or red in campaign materials, opting instead for green. They both say they aren’t beholden to their party establishments and that Iowans want a new direction, though Lahn’s Republican Party has held a statehouse trifecta for nearly a decade.

Little known before his bid for governor, Lahn made a splash as a business owner criticizing farm consolidation and tax breaks for corporate giants, a regenerative farmer who subscribes to Robert F. Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement and a former political operative who galvanized Iowa’s conservative grassroots.

Sand’s campaign has given about $750,000 to the Iowa Democratic Party already this cycle, funding that Republicans call hypocritical for a candidate who claims he is not a party man. The Sand campaign says that sum reflects his investment in a state party-run coordinated campaign that will help him get elected as governor, even as it also supports candidates up and down the ballot.

“Rob Sand loves to talk about rising above the ‘two-party system’ — right up until it’s time to campaign, cash checks, and share the stage with Democrat Party insiders," Iowa Republican spokeswoman Jade Cichy said in a statement Sunday.

Beshear, chair of the Democratic Governors Association and a potential presidential candidate in 2028, told a cheering crowd Sunday that he's “all in” for electing Sand.

As Democrats continue to debate what went wrong in 2024 and the direction of the party, Beshear has offered up his own example as the leader of a red state for lessons on how the party can go forward.

“I am living, breathing proof that Democrats can win anywhere, and we should be fighting everywhere,” Beshear told the crowd Sunday.

In addition to rallying with Sand, Beshear also attended a “Beers with Beshear” fundraiser for congressional candidate Sarah Trone Garriott, who wants to unseat Republican Rep. Zach Nunn in the competitive House district that includes Des Moines. Beshear told The Associated Press that he would see Turek, too.

The Democratic Governors Association, which Beshear chairs, gave the Iowa Democratic Party about $140,000 so far this cycle, according to filing reports.

Iowa democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand speaks to media after voting on primary Election Day, Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Bryon Houlgrave)