The Capitals captain has been an ASHA ambassador since 2014.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin just loves hockey. That love and passion are contagious and have inspired a whole new generation of players, a handful of which Ovechkin hosted for a skate after practice on Wednesday.
Ovechkin took the ice to spend time with six local teams from the American Special Hockey Association, the Washington Ice Dogs, NOVA Cool Cats, Montgomery Cheetahs, Frederick Gargoyles, Richmond Retrievers and the Hershey Heroes.
The 40-year-old helped set up goals, and was joined by teammates Ethen Frank, Justin Sourdif and Hendrix Lapierre.
"It's great to spend time with those kids. You see parents smiling, they're smiling, they have some fun, and I'm enjoying to do that," Ovechkin said, adding, ""I'm enjoying it, personally, too. I'm having fun with them playing hockey, seeing them score goals and celebratiosn."
Ovechkin has been an ASHA ambassador since 2014, and over the course his association, ASHA has expanded from 45 programs to 140 nationally, with over 8,750 athletes taking the ice.
Former teammate Mike Green also reunited with Ovechkin at the skate, bringing along his son, Axel, who currently plays for the Gargoyles and also kplayed for the Cheetahs last season.
Green has been proud to see how Ovechkin has grown the game, and it also means more as the father of a child with special needs.
The fact that here's here today, any time he shows up for something like this, it's a big impact," Green said, adding. "It means a lot... You see the impact that he has, how kids follow, how kids look up to him. There's so many stories because he's played so long.
"It's been really fun to see how much youth hockey has grown in this area, not only that, just people becoming fans of the game and sport."
For Ovechkin, it's been a rewarding experience to get to form bonds with several members of the ASHA community and help them skate, including Heroes player Nate Miller, who was part of Ovechkin's on-ice ceremony to commemorate 900 goals and 1,500 NHL games.
"It's a good thing they still remember me and they still recognize me," Ovechkin said. "A couple kids said, 'Congrats about the record and 900,' so that's special.
"(The community) grows fast and I'm very happy to be able to see more kids be able to skate and help them and stuff. It's fun."