Flashback Friday: The Story Behind Alex Ovechkin's 'Hot Stick' Celly, Whose Idea It Was & What The Goalie Had To Say

In a new series for The Hockey News, we take a look back at Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin's most famous celebration.

As the Washington Capitals offseason carries on, The Hockey News is looking back at some of the franchise's best stories, and there's not a better one to start off with than that of captain Alex Ovechkin's "hot stick" celebration.

Back on March 19, 2009, Ovechkin came storming down the wing in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and rocketed a shot top shelf past goaltender Mike McKenna. Ovechkin rang around the net, then laid his stick on the ice and playfully warmed his hands around it.

The "hot stick" celebration would become a matter of controversy, as some loved Ovechkin's flashiness and fun in the game while others, like Don Cherry, criticized the reaction. And now, it's even a celebration in EA Sports' NHL video game franchise.

But where it came from may be surprising: It was goaltender Jose Theodore's idea.

Theodore, who played for Washington from 2008 to 2010, wrote in a column for Le Journal de Montreal that he suggested the now-famous celly to Ovechkin. However, it didn't play out the way No. 60 thought it would.

"[He] never gave me credit for the concept, but I must say that its execution was somewhat failed," Theodore, now retired, wrote in 2015. "He looked more like a guy playing the piano than a guy warming his hands near a fire... the moment has still passed into history, and we laughed a lot [about] it."

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEfdUqLWeYs[/embed]

While McKenna admitted in a March 2021 episode of the "I Was In Net For" Podcast that he was angry at first with Ovechkin's celebration as a young-and-opening netminder still trying to make his mark in the league.

"I honestly think if I'd been comfortable in the league, I would have slashed his stick to the next zip code, you know what I mean? That's your in-the-moment fire reaction. You're mad, right? It's a big, 'What the f***' moment, really," McKenna told host Rob Pizzo, adding, "I'm an absolute peasant out here right now. I'm probably lucky I got this break in the first place. I don't want to be known as the guy who one, got hot sticked and then two, ten games into his career, broke Ovechkin's wrist for doing it."

McKenna also revealed Ovechkin later apologized personally for the antics, and said today, he looks back at the memory and smiles.

"We talked about it after, and I don't know if it was maybe a week later, whenever was the next time. I'll never forget -- I remember just saying hi and him saying, 'I did not mean embarrass or disrespect you or anything. I thought we were having fun.' He was apologetic about it, and you know what? I was totally cool with it," McKenna explained. "For him to even take that time to just be a human and say, 'This is what I was feeling in the moment,' I have a hard time holding that against anybody, especially if they can have the humility to think maybe it wasn't nice or right or whatever. That was a nice moment afterwards.

"It's a cool moment, like, this is a historical moment in the NHL that I was a part of... I'm proud to be a part of that now," he added.