Washington Capitals - NHL.com

ALEX OVECHKIN
The first player in more than a decade to win consecutive Hart Trophies (Dominik
Hasek, 1997 and ’98) and the first non-goaltender to do it since Wayne Gretzky
won eight in a row (1980-87) … The third-youngest player to win consecutive Hart
Trophies, trailing only Gretzky and Bobby Orr … Just the second player in league
history to be named to the NHL First All-Star Team in each of his first four seasons
in the league (MTL goalie Bill Durnan, 1944-47) … Has played in three NHL All-
Star Games … Joined Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as the only players to record
200 goals and 200 assists in their first four NHL seasons … Already ranks third
in career goal scoring for the Caps; ranks 11th in career points … Only Wayne
Gretzky and Mike Bossy scored more goals in their first four years in the league
… Has scored 30 more goals than any other NHLer in the past four seasons … Has
three 100-point seasons, one more than the Capitals had in their first 30 seasons
… Holds the Capitals record for career overtime goals (7) … Has scored 26 more
goals than any other NHLer in the past two seasons … The first player to lead the
league in goals in consecutive seasons since Pavel Bure in 1998-99 and 1999-2000
… One of only two active players with three 50-goal seasons (Teemu Selanne)
and just the third all-time to post three in his first four seasons (Bossy, Gretzky)
… One of five players to record 100 points three times in his first four seasons
(Gretzky, Lemieux, Dale Hawerchuk, Sidney Crosby) … Has led the NHL in shots
in four straight seasons, matching Phil Esposito (1970-71 to 1973-74) for the most
seasons in a row … Has had 29 games with 10 or more shots on goal in his career,
more than any other active player.
2008-09
Repeat winner of the Hart Trophy (player most valuable to his team), the Lester
B. Pearson Award (most outstanding player by vote of his peers) and the Maurice
“Rocket” Richard Trophy (most goals) … Earned 115 of 133 first-place Hart Trophy
votes … Led the NHL in points per game (1.39) and finished second in points (110)
… Led the NHL in goals (56), even-strength goals (36), home goals (34), outside-
the-division goals (40) and empty-net goals (5) … Set a Capitals record with 34
goals at home, improving on his mark of 32 from 2007-08 … Second in the NHL in
division goals (16) and tied for second in PPGs (19) and first goals of the game (9)
… Had 10 more goals than any other player; he was the only player with 50 or more
goals … Tied for third in the NHL in GWGs (10) and overtime goals (3) and was
tied for fourth in road goals (22) … Led the league with 46 power-play points, 59
points at home and 42 division points; second with 51 points on the road … Took
528 shots, becoming only the second player in NHL history to take more than 500
shots in a single season (Esposito) … Led the team and ranked ninth in the NHL
with 243 hits … Had the most assists of any non-center in the league … Almost
half of his goals (26 of 56) came in the third period or OT; led the NHL in third-
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WASHINGTON CAPITALS OFFICIAL GUIDE
period goals (24) and points (45) … NHL’s First Star of the Month in November and
Third Star in December … NHL’s First Star of the Week on 12/29 and Second Star of
the Week on 11/17 … Named the Sporting News’ Player of the Year and its All-NHL
team by a vote of league coaches and executives … Named the D.C. Sportsman of
the Year by the Greater Washington Sports Alliance for the second year in a row …
Won the Espo Award as the most valuable player in the league from Phil Esposito
on NHL Home Ice … Won the Kharlamov Trophy for the fourth year in a row as the
top Russian player in the NHL … Named the MVP and Best Player for the second
straight year by The Hockey News … USA Today’s Clutch Scorer for the third time;
voted MVP by a panel of reporters assembled by the paper … Was nominated
for two ESPYs (Best NHL Player, Best Play) … Named to his third straight NHL
All-Star Game; won the Breakaway Challenge and had a goal and two assists in
the 2009 NHL All-Star Game … Won the Capitals’ Three Stars Award for the fourth
straight year, earning a Rolex watch from Liljenquist & Beckstead Jewelers … He
and teammate Mike Green (31 goals) led the league for the second straight year
in goal scoring overall and by a defenseman … Ranked second on the team and
first among NHL forwards with 23:00 of ice time per game … Team was 31-5-4
when he scored a goal and 42-13-6 when he tallied a point … Scored 46 of his 56
goals in Capitals victories … Posted 31 multiple-point games, 13 multiple-goal
games and 11 multiple-assist games … Had 11 games where he took 10 or more
shots, highlighted by a 13-shot and two-goal performance 12/23 at NYR … Missed
two games (10/28—11/1) while visiting his ailing grandfather in Russia … Enjoyed
the second best month of his career in November, with 11 goals and 25 points in
15 games … Scored at least one goal and two points in five straight games from
11/10—11/19 (6g-9a) … Had three streaks of 10 consecutive games with a point
(11/10—11/28, 11g-11a; 1/27—2/18, 11g-5a; 2/22—3/14, 7g-7a) … Second in the NHL
with three hat tricks (11/26 vs. ATL, 2/1 vs. OTT and 2/15 at FLA) … Scored the
team’s first goal 13 times and the game’s first goal nine times … Had 105 points
in his last 70 games, with points in 57 of those games; had 42-33-75 in his last
53 games … Recorded eight more points than any other player after the All-Star
Game (51; Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby each had 43) … Had points in 20 of
his last 22 games (14g-21a), including his third 10-game point streak of the season
… Posted seven multiple-point games in the season’s last 10 outings (7g-13a) …
Registered three assists vs. CAR (11/6) as the Caps won 3-2 … Scored a goal with
one second left in regulation to force overtime on 11/15 at NJ … Recorded his first
four-point game of the season on 11/19 at ANA (1g-3a) … Had a hat trick and four
points (3g-1a) 11/26 vs. ATL; also had four points (2g-2a) 3/27 vs. TB … Scored the
GWG with 11 seconds left in overtime on 12/16 at NYI … Had two goals and one
assist to help the Caps erase a four-goal deficit to win in OT on 12/23 at NYR …
Recorded back-to-back GWGs from 12/26—12/28 and 2/14—2/15 … Scored his first
shorthanded goal since 2005-06 on 1/3 vs. NYR … Scored his second overtime
Alex Ovechkin has quickly become the most dynamic athlete in Washington, D.C. Left to right: he hit a hole-in-one at a team golf outing; met Nationals star Ryan
Zimmerman; rode the Superman roller coaster at Six Flags at a team season-ticket holder event; and graced the cover of ESPN The Magazine.