Alex Ovechkin received many gifts, including time with a literal goat, during the celebrations after he broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record in April. One of those gifts came from long-time on-ice rivals Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
The two superstar Pittsburgh Penguins forwards caught up with Ovechkin after the final game of the regular season and presented him with a Rolex watch. Days after the Capitals’ playoff run ended, Ovechkin showed off the watch and its details up close.
“A gorgeous gift from my old friends Sid and Zhenya!!!” Ovechkin noted, per Hockey News Hub. “Thank you, guys!”
The specific watch that Crosby and Malkin picked out is the Rolex Deepsea Challenge, inspired by a similar watch that, per Rolex, filmmaker James Cameron wore on his 10,908-metre (35,787 feet) descent to the Mariana Trench on March 26, 2012.
The watch, which retails for around $15,000, is crafted from a “grade 5 titanium alloy” and is equipped with a “helium escape valve and Ringlock system,” which makes it capable of accompanying divers to the depths of the ocean.
“Congratulations on 895,” the watch box engraving reads. “Honor to compete against you over the years.”
Crosby and Malkin added their jersey numbers, 87 and 71, to sign off the gift.
After a tumultuous start to their relationship, Malkin recently called Ovechkin his “best friend” and was rooting for Ovechkin to break Gretzky’s record. The same goes for Crosby, as the two’s personal rivalry has softened over the years into a friendship.
“Yeah, obviously, me and Sid – be honest with you, first couple years was not that good,” Ovechkin said in April. “But right now we talk like ‘congrats’ each other if we hit some milestones, so those relationships, some of the battle, in like hockey, outside of hockey it’s a different thing.”
Ovechkin has played 73 career games against Crosby and 66 against Malkin. The future Hockey Hall of Famers will renew their rivalry next season, which is the final year on both Ovechkin and Malkin’s contracts.
