Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said it before: the Russian Machine Never Breaks. And when it does break, it's not down for very long, and that was the case after he fractured his fibula back in November.
In a recent appearance on "NHL Unscripted" with Jason Demers, T.J. Oshie recalled seeing Ovechkin after he broke his left leg in a game against Utah Hockey Club following a collision with Jack McBain. He was surprised to see the 39-year-old walking into the facility as if nothing had happened.
"I'm like, 'O, what are you doing?' He's like, 'I'm fine, babe. I'm fine,'" Oshie recalled.
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"Nowadays, you never know whether a guy will or won't do that. It was good on Jack to do that. He obviously felt really bad," the Capitals forward said of McBain.
It was then that Oshie saw his teammate's X-Rays, and knew it was a severe injury. All the while, the hockey world was holding its breath, as what'd been a remarkable start to the season amid his "GR8 Chase" for Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record was now put on pause.
"His bone was in half," Oshie said. "I was like,' Damn, O, that sucks, man. It's gonna be like a couple months until you can skate again."
Ovechkin's response to that took Oshie by surprise.
"He's like, 'No, babe, I'll be on the ice in two weeks,'" Oshie said. "Literally, it was two week later from that day, and he sends a video to my phone. And it's him on the ice moving around with the skates on. I'm like, 'Dude, you're insane.'"
It took Ovechkin just 40 days to rehabilitate, and after missing 16 games, he made his return to the lineup and picked up right where he left off, scoring against the Toronto Maple Leafs in his first game back. He kept the momentum going through the end of the year, scoring 44 goals — the third most in the league — to break Gretzky's all-time goals record.
Ovechkin is entering his 21st season and can become the first player in league history to record 900 regular-season goals. He currently has 897.