When the 2005-06 season began, the NHL had just endured a yearlong lockout that wiped out the previous season and fears of irreparable damage were real. Enter Alex Ovechkin, the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, and Sidney Crosby, the No. 1 pick in 2005, two teenagers who joined the league to immense fanfare and incredible expectations.
Not only were they tasked with reviving a pair of forlorn franchises, Crosby and Ovechkin were expected to help scorned fans across the continent fall back into love with hockey. They battled for Rookie of the Year honors in 2005-06, then each won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in the following two seasons. It was the first steps to a decade of amazing goals, games and achievements.
MORE: Sidney Crosby's top 10 career moments
Crosby has since gone on to hoist the Stanley Cup three times, a fequent foil to Ovechkin's own aspirations. But "The Great Eight" finally has a chance at hockey's greatest hardware after reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in his 13-year NHL career,
Here are his top 10 moments so far.
“Snowvechkin” Super Sunday
The best regular-season game between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby came on Super Bowl Sunday in 2010. Crosby scored twice to help the Penguins to a 4-1 lead, but Ovechkin scored a hat trick and assisted on the winner in a 5-4 overtime thriller that was played despite nearly two feet of snow blanketing the nation’s capital.
A spin and a lunge
Ovechkin could fill a top 10 list with just his highlight-reel goals. His goal Feb. 18, 2009 against the Canadiens was one of his best. He passed the puck to himself off the boards, spun past a defender and then scored while falling down in front of the net and goaltender Carey Price.
Hot stick leads to hot takes
Few players in NHL history have had, or been willing to express, the on-ice personality Ovechkin possesses. Jumping into the glass after scoring a goal was his signature celebration in his youth, and now kids all over the world love to do the same. His “hot stick” celebration after scoring his 50th goal of the season on March 19, 2009 rankled the typically conservative hockey community, and led to plenty of hot takes from columnists across North America.
A hit felt 3,000 miles away
Ovechkin vs. Crosby on the Olympic stage in 2010 proved to be a dud, but a few days before that Ovechkin delivered an incredible moment. Jaromir Jagr, whose time in Washington was rocky at best and whose departure helped lead to Ovechkin’s arrival, skated through the neutral zone with the puck for the Czech Republic. Ovechkin met him with a thunderous open-ice hit that fans from Moscow to Washington cheering and led to one of the goals of the tournament.
Game-breaking NHL debut
Speaking of Ovechkin’s outstanding body checks, he provided a fantastic preview of what was to come in his career during his NHL debut. Ovechkin scored twice to help the Capitals win, but he also caused a delay for glass repairs with a rink-rattling hit on his first shift.
A memorable first playoff goal
Ovechkin’s Capitals have not found the postseason success expected of them, but his first Stanley Cup Playoffs game was a memorable one. The Capitals trailed 4-2 before tying Game 1 of the opening round against Philadelphia in 2008, and then Ovechkin provided a game-winner by deflecting a pass, stripping a defenseman and flicking a shot past Flyers goalie Martin Biron with less than five minutes remaining.
King of the Worlds
Ovechkin has always taken great pride in playing for Russia at the world championships, regardless of any North American journalists taking shots at him for not mourning NHL playoff defeats long enough. He’s helped Russia win the tournament three times, including an overtime gold medal victory against Canada in 2008 on its soil. It was Russia’s first win in 15 years.
A clean sweep
A few weeks after winning the 2008 world championship, Ovechkin was the the NHL awards show winning … just about everything. In a fitting celebration of one of the most dominant seasons in modern NHL history, Ovechkin won both league MVP trophies and received the Rocket Richard and Art Ross trophies after scoring 65 goals and 112 points.
The hat trick game
Game 2 of the incredible 2009 second round series with the Penguins is considered the signature moment in the Ovechkin-Crosby rivalry. Both players scored hat tricks in the Capitals’ 4-3 victory. Ovechkin scored twice in the third period to push his team and into a 2-0 series lead.
“The goal”
It was a play so improbable, so unrepeatable that it doesn’t need a flashy nickname. Ovechkin’s falling, stick-above-his-head goal in January of his rookie season against the Coyotes is one of the most famous in NHL history. It was a transcendent moment. It was “The goal.”
