Hockey

Exclusive: Alex Ovechkin Talks About a Secret Partner During NHL Break, Advice For Michkov & Demidov

Published: Feb 11, 2025, 2:57 PM
1 min read
Updated: Jul 24, 2025, 11:00 AM
Fact checked by:
Marco D'Amico
Alex Ovechkin talks about his break, training plans, and the Capitals’ playoff push as he chases Gretzky’s goal record

Alex Ovechkin talks about his break, training plans, and the Capitals’ playoff push as he chases Gretzky’s goal record (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Alex Ovechkin flew from Washington to Miami on Monday to catch his breath during the NHL break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. The Capitals' next game will be held on February 22, and the 39-year-old forward intends to spend spare time usefully. He needs to score 16 goals to surpass Wayne Gretzky and set the NHL record for the most scored goals. Ovechkin currently has 879 goals, while Gretzky has 894. You can follow the great race in more detail on Team Ovechkin’s Telegram channel.

However, the Washington captain does not want to think about chasing Gretzky right now. For him, the main thing is to prepare for the second half of the season, because his Capitals (36-11-8) unexpectedly for many lead the Eastern Conference with a gap of nine points over their closest competitor and intend to fight for the Stanley Cup.

“Everyone understands why we [are in first place],” said Ovechkin in an exclusive interview with RG. “We have roster depth, which allows us to rotate and swap lines. It also helps that there are no serious injuries.”

Training With Mystery Partner

Last year, during the break in the regular NHL season, Ovechkin went on vacation to Dubai, but this year, he decided to change his plan. Instead of flying to a new destination to relax, Ovechkin remains committed to his fitness and coming back from the break at 110% for a final push to beat Gretzky’ goal-scoring record and a President’s Trophy finish.

In order to do that, he’s called on a mystery training partner to help push him to another level of fitness.

“I flew to Miami with my wife and children,” Ovechkin said. “And I will have a small training camp with a person whose name I will not name yet. But he played in the NHL. Let's make a little mystery out of this. And it is not Ilya Kovalchuk. Maybe you will see this on my or his social media. He is a famous person.”

“In Miami, of course, I will also rest, as I am doing now (the conversation took place on Monday — RG). You need to rest well and work hard! I will rest for a few days, recover, and prepare.”

The Future of Russian Hockey

As the face of Russian hockey, Ovechkin follows young and talented players from his country. Two of the top Russian talents of recent times are Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michkov, who is in his first season in the NHL, and Montreal Canadiens draftee Ivan Demidov, who currently plays for SKA in the KHL but plans to try his hand at the NHL in the 2025-26 season.

Ovechkin, who has gotten first-hand experience playing against Michkov in the Metropolitan division, had some good praise for the young rookie, but cautioned against showboating his success.

“Michkov is a great guy; he's doing well,” Ovechkin said.

“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.”

Ovechkin also had a great amount of praise for Ivan Demidov, who was drafted 5th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. In his estimation, Demidov could also become a great player, as long as he continued to focus on working hard and staying focused on the task at hand.

“Work, and everything will be fine,” said Ovechkin. “The most important thing is not showing off. Because when anyone shows off, it can come back to bite you in a big way.”

Ovechkin also said that the Capitals players could not watch the Super Bowl together this year, in which the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs (44-20).

“We had a game that day [against Utah]. And after the game, we had a break-off,” Ovechkin said. “So some guys flew out that same day, others, like me, the next day. The whole team couldn't get together this time. I personally didn't support anyone, but I was rooting for a beautiful game. And I think it turned out beautiful.”

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Head of News Department
Sergey Demidov is Head of News at RG.org and has covered global sports since 2007. His work spans the Olympics, FIFA World Cups, IOC events, and Stanley Cup Finals. A former sports department deputy chief editor at Gazeta.Ru and TASS News Agency, and current senior editor at NHL.com/ru, Sergey has interviewed stars like Alex Ovechkin and Jaromir Jagr, former WADA and FIFA presidents Craig Reedy and Sepp Blatter, and coaches like Fabio Capello. He specializes in hockey and publishes in English and Russian.
Interests:
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James Murphy
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James Murphy is a veteran sports journalist covering the NHL, NCAA and CHL hockey for RG.

With 25 years of experience covering the Bruins, the NHL, NCAA, CHL and more, Murphy has seen it all when it comes to hockey. His hockey black book is filled with Hall of Famers, current players, coaches, management, scouts and a diverse array of hockey media personalities who have lived and worked in and around the game. Murphy also currently co-hosts The Eye Test podcast with Pierre McGuire and, along with McGuire, interviews NHL owners and executives, as well as NHL and NCAA head coaches and players daily.

The Arlington, Massachusetts, native began his writing career in hockey in 2001, when the Boston Bruins raised one of his childhood idols, Ray Bourque’s No. 77, to the rafters before their 2001–02 season opener. For 22 of his 25 years as a hockey reporter, Murphy covered the Bruins daily, including their victorious 2011 Stanley Cup run and their runs to the 2013 and 2019 Finals, multiple NHL drafts and countless Stanley Cup playoffs. He did all that for the Boston Metro, NHL.com, NESN.com and ESPN Boston.

In addition to his print work covering the Bruins, Murphy also made regular TV appearances on NESN, Fox 25 Boston, ESPN and NHL Network. From 2008 to 2012, Murphy hosted The Hockey Primetime Show on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and made numerous appearances on national and international radio shows.

Ironically, his three years not covering the Bruins were spent covering their archrivals, the Montreal Canadiens. From 2012 to 2015, Murphy was based in Montreal and covered the Canadiens for NHL.com and TSN.ca. He also appeared regularly on TSN 690 radio and CTV.

Murphy returned to Boston in 2015 and left the media business to work in sales and marketing for LiveBarn, a Montreal-based sports streaming company, for four years. In 2019, Murphy once again became a Bruins beat reporter, this time writing for Boston Hockey Now. He spent four seasons working for BHN before arriving at RG in 2024 and also dedicated more time to The Eye Test podcast.

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