ARLINGTON, V.A. — Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin added another torphy to his mantle on Friday, taking home the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award.
The award is presented "to the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey.”
Ovechkin is coming off a historic 20th season in the NHL, where, despite fracturing his fibula, he scored 44 goals — the third-most in the league — to overtake Wayne Gretzky as the all-time leading goal scorer. He broke the record on April 6 and finished the season with two more goals to extend the record to 897.
Ovechkin also passed Jaromir Jagr for the most game-winning goals in NHL history and added to his record for most career 40-goal seasons, 30-goal seasons, power-play goals and overtime goals. He also tied Phil Esposito for the fifth-most hat tricks in NHL history and moved to 11th all-time on the NHL's points list.
Beyond his impact on the ice, he also continues to have an impact off the ice. The "Ovechkin effect" has been prominent throughout the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area, as several young players and adults have followed in Ovechkin's footsteps and picked up the sport.
Ovechkin also works with the American Special Hockey Association, and also teamed up with Hockey Fights Cancer and the V Foundation For Cancer Research as part of his "GR8 CHASE for Victory Over Cancer," where he donated money for every goal he scored to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer research.
This marks Ovechkin's first Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award win and adds to his extesive trophy collection, which features nine Maurice Rocket Richard Trophies, three Hart Memorial Trophies, three Ted Lindsay Awards, one Calder Memorial Trophy, one Art Ross Trophy, one Conn Smythe Trophy and one Stanley Cup.