For more than two decades, Pittsburgh Penguins fans have had plenty of reasons to dislike Alex Ovechkin.
He wore the wrong sweater. He scored too many goals. He celebrated too loudly. He blasted one-timers from that same left circle that everybody in the building knew were coming, and somehow, nobody could stop them. He hit Penguins players, chirped Sidney Crosby, battled Evgeni Malkin and helped turn Washington-Pittsburgh into one of the greatest rivalries the NHL has ever seen.
We rooted against him.
We wanted Marc-Andre Fleury to rob him. We wanted Brooks Orpik to hit him. We wanted Crosby to outscore him. We wanted the Penguins to send him home every spring.
And most of the time, Pittsburgh did.
But now that Ovechkin has announced that the 2026-27 season will be his 22nd and final NHL season, it's time for Penguins fans to admit something.
We were unbelievably lucky to have him.
Ovechkin announced his decision on October 5, exactly 21 years after making his NHL debut. At 41 years old, he enters his farewell season as the NHL's all-time leader with 929 career goals, having already passed a record belonging to Wayne Gretzky that many hockey fans once believed would never be touched. NHL
And when No. 8 comes to Pittsburgh for the final time, Penguins fans should get on their feet.
Not because we ever rooted for him.
Because we understand what we witnessed.
The Draft Story That Almost Started a Year Early
Ovechkin's NHL story actually includes one of the strangest draft stories in league history.
He was born September 17, 1985, which made him two days too young to be eligible for the 2003 NHL Draft. The Florida Panthers wanted him badly enough that they repeatedly attempted to select him anyway, arguing that leap years essentially provided the extra days needed to make him eligible.
The NHL wasn't buying it.
Florida's attempts were rejected, leaving Ovechkin available for the 2004 draft. Washington won the draft lottery, moved into the No. 1 position and selected the Russian superstar first overall. Pittsburgh followed immediately by selecting another Russian phenom, Evgeni Malkin, at No. 2. NHL
One year later, the Penguins won the Sidney Crosby lottery.
And suddenly the pieces were in place.
Ovechkin in Washington.
Crosby and Malkin in Pittsburgh.
Nobody could have known just how much those three players were going to change hockey.
Ovi vs. Sid Begins
Because the 2004-05 lockout wiped out an entire NHL season, Ovechkin's arrival was delayed. That meant Ovechkin and Crosby made their NHL debuts during the same 2005-06 season.
The hype surrounding them was enormous.
Somehow, they exceeded it.
Ovechkin scored 52 goals and 106 points as a rookie. Crosby produced 39 goals and 102 points.
Ovechkin won the Calder Trophy.
Crosby finished second.
And the debate began.
Sid or Ovi?
For the next two decades, hockey fans argued about it everywhere.
Pittsburgh fans had their answer.
Washington fans had theirs.
But maybe we missed the bigger answer while we were arguing.
Both.
We got both.
They Couldn't Have Been More Different
That was part of what made it so great.
Crosby played hockey like a surgeon.
He could control a game from below the goal line, protect the puck seemingly forever, make passes other players couldn't see and beat you in virtually every conceivable way. Faceoffs, defense, passing, scoring, leadership, battling in the corners, Crosby became one of the most complete players hockey has ever seen.
Ovechkin was different.
Ovechkin was an explosion.
The huge hit.
The booming shot.
The wild celebration.
The missing tooth.
The yellow laces.
The tinted visor.
And, of course, Ovechkin's office on the power play.
Every coach knew where he was going.
Every goalie knew where the shot was coming from.
Twenty thousand people in the arena knew what Washington wanted to do.
And No. 8 would still hammer it into the net.
Again.
And again.
And again.
929 times and counting.
He finally passed Gretzky with career goal No. 895 on April 6, 2025, completing one of the greatest record chases in sports history.
Pittsburgh Made Ovechkin Better, and Ovechkin Made Crosby Better
That's what great rivals do.
Larry Bird needed Magic Johnson.
Muhammad Ali needed Joe Frazier.
The Yankees needed the Red Sox.
And Sidney Crosby's career story would not be quite the same without Alex Ovechkin standing on the other side.
Neither would Ovechkin's.
They were No. 1 picks in consecutive drafts. They entered the NHL together. They played in the same division. They were captains. They won MVPs. They chased scoring titles. They won Stanley Cups.
And eventually, they kept running into one another when the games mattered most.
The Penguins and Capitals met in the playoffs four times during the Crosby-Ovechkin era.
Pittsburgh won in 2009.
Pittsburgh won in 2016.
Pittsburgh won in 2017.
Washington finally broke through in 2018.
Here's the remarkable part: the winner of every one of those four series went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Think about that.
For a stretch of NHL history, if you wanted to win the Stanley Cup, there was a very good chance the road went directly through Crosby vs. Ovechkin.
Remember Game 2 in 2009?
If you want one game that explains this rivalry, go back to May 4, 2009.
Penguins-Capitals.
Eastern Conference semifinals.
Sidney Crosby scored a hat trick.
Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick.
Same game.
Washington won 4-3, but Pittsburgh eventually took the series in seven games before going on to win the Stanley Cup.
It remains one of the defining nights of this entire era. NHL
Two generational stars basically looking across the ice and saying:
Anything you can do, I can do too.
That's the matchup we got to watch for more than 20 years.
The Penguins Usually Won the War
There is another reason Penguins fans should be able to appreciate Ovechkin now.
We got the better end of the rivalry.
Pittsburgh eliminated Washington in 2009, 2016 and 2017. All three times, Crosby and the Penguins ended the season holding the Stanley Cup.
For years, Ovechkin couldn't get through Pittsburgh.
You could see how much it ate at him.
Then came 2018.
Washington finally beat Pittsburgh in the second round, and Ovechkin wasn't going to waste the opportunity.
The Capitals won their first Stanley Cup. Ovechkin led Washington with 15 playoff goals and won the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Watching him finally lift the Cup, even as Penguins fans, you almost had to appreciate it.
He had earned that moment.
His career now includes a Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe Trophy, Calder Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, three Hart Trophies, nine Rocket Richard Trophies and three Ted Lindsay Awards. NHL
Then he went and did something even bigger.
He caught Gretzky.
Think About How Lucky Pittsburgh Hockey Fans Have Been
This is the part I hope Penguins fans really appreciate.
We have watched Mario Lemieux.
We have watched Jaromir Jagr.
We have watched Sidney Crosby.
We have watched Evgeni Malkin.
We watched Marc-Andre Fleury grow up here.
We've celebrated five Stanley Cups.
But because of geography, divisions, playoffs and timing, Pittsburgh also got a front-row seat to the career of Alex Ovechkin.
We didn't watch him from afar twice a year.
He was right here.
Over and over.
Ovechkin has scored 44 goals in 83 career games against Pittsburgh. NHL
How many times did we see him standing there in that left circle and think:
Don't leave Ovechkin open.
Then the puck moved across the ice.
BOOM.
Goal.
And we'd all wonder how in the world they let it happen again.
Someday we're going to miss that.
One Last Night in Pittsburgh
The Capitals are scheduled to visit Pittsburgh twice during Ovechkin's farewell season, on January 18 and March 13, 2027. That March game is scheduled to be Ovechkin's final appearance in Pittsburgh. NHL
If Alex Ovechkin is on that ice on March 13, I hope PPG Paints Arena gives him everything he deserves.
Announce his name.
Show the tribute video.
And then everybody gets up.
Penguins jerseys.
Crosby jerseys.
Lemieux jerseys.
Malkin jerseys.
Doesn't matter.
Stand up and applaud him.
A long one.
A loud one.
A real Pittsburgh hockey standing ovation.
Then once the puck drops?
Boo him.
Hope he doesn't score.
Hope the Penguins beat Washington 6-0.
That's sports.
But before that puck drops, recognize the man.
Because one of the greatest players in the history of hockey deserves that moment.
RESPECT
Alex Ovechkin was never ours.
That's exactly why this is different.
Sidney Crosby belongs to Pittsburgh.
Ovechkin was the guy coming through the other door.
He was the villain.
The rival.
The guy we wanted to lose.
But eventually rivalries age, players get older and the anger gives way to appreciation.
Crosby himself has talked about the respect that developed between the two after all those years of playoff battles and comparisons. Two players who were initially positioned against each other eventually came to understand just how unique their shared journey had been. NHL
We're approaching the end of that journey now.
There will never be another Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry exactly like this one.
Two No. 1 overall picks.
Two franchise players.
Two captains.
Two Stanley Cup champions.
Two all-time legends.
More than two decades spent trying to beat each other.
And we, as Pittsburgh Penguins fans, got to watch nearly the entire thing from the front row.
So when Alex Ovechkin skates onto Pittsburgh ice for the last time, forget the Capitals sweater for a minute.
Forget all those goals.
Forget all those playoff battles.
Remember what this guy gave hockey.
Remember what he gave the Penguins-Capitals rivalry.
Remember what Ovechkin and Crosby gave us.
Stand up.
Take it in.
And give The Great Eight the ovation he has earned.
Thank you, Ovi.
What a player. What a rival. What an era.