Alex Ovechkin made some headlines in February when he stated that he wished young Russian star Matvei Michkov would show off a little less.
“Michkov is a great guy; he’s doing well,” Ovechkin told RG Media then. “He played against us recently, so I got to see him. But I wish he would show off a little less. Otherwise, everything is great.”
Now, months later, Michkov was given a chance to reply to Ovechkin’s quotes by Match TV’s Pavel Lysenkov.
“To be honest, I haven’t seen his quote,” Michkov said, as translated via Google Translate. “But where is Ovechkin wrong? Yes, no one needs to show off. You need to work. He said the right things.
“At the same time, you can’t enter the league with the idea that there are stars playing there, and you are a nobody. This will not lead to anything good either. You just need to know your worth, go out on the ice, and do what you can do.”
Michkov played against Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals four times with the Philadelphia Flyers this past season and had some of the most successful games of his rookie year against them. In the four games, Michkov recorded five points (3g, 2a). He only recorded more points against the Buffalo Sabres, posting seven (4g, 3a) in three games.
The 20-year-old Russian’s best game against the Capitals came in a 4-3 loss days before the NHL’s break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Michkov scored two goals and came very close to completing his first career hat trick with a Michigan lacrosse-style shot.
“It’s memorable!” Michkov said of the game. “It’s not every day you play against such world stars. Ovechkin is a real legend. It’s a pity they played two games in a row. We didn’t get a chance to talk.”
After Michkov failed to convert his Michigan attempt in the game, the Capitals tied the game just 1:08 later and went on to win it. Ovechkin’s comments to RG Media about wishing Michkov would tone down the fancy moves came less than a week later.
Ovechkin wasn’t the only one who chastised Michkov during the year, though; then-Flyers head coach John Tortorella had a very public battle with the young star over his lacrosse-goal attempts. Eventually, Tortorella lost the war and admitted that he had abandoned trying to get the winger to stop using the move. The Flyers later fired the veteran bench boss with just nine games remaining in the 2024-25 campaign.
“This is my opinion,” Michkov said. “If someone says, ‘Change, be simpler,’ I am who I am. I have had this character since childhood. I hate it when my team loses. I can’t stand it when I don’t score. That’s why I want to score in every match so that the team wins. And I want to win Cups, too. This is in my blood. Well, in life, I am a calm and cool person. I can control my emotions and words.”
Michkov finished the season with 63 points (26g, 37a) in 80 games, tied for second best among rookies with Macklin Celebrini. He finished fourth in Calder Trophy voting for Rookie of the Year behind Celebrini, goaltender Dustin Wolf, and the leading rookie scorer and winner of the award, Lane Hutson (66 points).
Ovechkin and Michkov will be teammates next week on July 13, when they line up with other NHL stars in the “Match of the Year” against KHL stars.
