Alex Ovechkin played in the now annual “Match of the Year” last month, a charity game that pits Russian stars from the NHL against their countrymen in the KHL. Ovechkin scored a goal in this year’s game, helping the NHL team to a dominant 15-3 victory.
The goal wasn’t the only thing Ovechkin contributed to the day, though, as he was also mic’d up for the festivities. Thanks to X user @Uggg_uggg, we have the translated subtitles from the original Russian video, and the Washington Capitals captain was in rare form.
Ovechkin starts the video trying to get props from Carolina Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov for a pass that Svechnikov eventually scored on.
“What a sick pass!” Ovechkin said. “Did you see that pass?”
“Yeah, dope,” Svechnikov responded.
Despite what he perceived to be an obvious bit of passing excellence, Ovechkin was not originally credited with an assist on the goal. He vented his frustration to the on-ice officials and joked that he and Panarin had money on the line if they didn’t get credit for helpers.
“Hey, give me the assist,” Ovechkin said. “I got a bonus! Credit me with the assist! Me and Panarin – give us the assists! We’ve got a bonus!
“No problem, I’ll do it,” the referee replied.
After getting back to the bench, Ovechkin made sure to tell Evgeni Malkin that he had marked Yakupov’s jersey number down for a future encounter. The two would meet again at a faceoff soon after.
“Oh, I f—ing remember. I remember you,” Ovechkin said. “You’re on my list now!”
Ovechkin played on the NHL team’s first line with Panarin and Svechnikov throughout the contest. The trio combined for several goals, but it was Panarin’s bullet pass into Ovechkin’s skates that created the most discussion on the team’s bench.
“What was that, bro? That hurt like hell,” Ovechkin said, laughing.
“I thought you’d let it pass,” Panarin replied.
“Let it pass where? That thing’s flying at fighter jet speed,” Ovechkin joked.
Ovechkin will be back on the ice August 9 for the “gala match” at the Ovi Cup. The Ovi Cup is an annual youth hockey tournament and features 24 youth teams from Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan this year.
