Alex Ovechkin’s mom shares devastating thoughts on her son’s pursuit of goals record..
Alex Ovechkin is 42 goals shy of becoming the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer and his chase of Wayne Gretzky is one of the biggest storylines in hockey.
But for his mother, Tatyana Ovechkina, all the hype and coverage surrounding the goals record is monotonous.
“Personally, I’m not interested in [talk about the goals record] at all,” Ovechkina said to Match TV’s Pavel Lysenkov in one of her first big interviews since the tragic passing of her husband in February 2023. Her comments came the recent Ovi Cup gala match in Moscow and are translated by Google Translate.
“Sasha just plays hockey, not bothering his head with personal statistics,” the two-time Olympic gold medalist in basketball added. “And the pucks they’ll come, they won’t go anywhere. We all know that Sasha loves and knows how to score. God willing, he’ll succeed.”
Ovechkin himself is unsure how to answer all the questions about the chase as he has countless times over the past few years. “He doesn’t like to run ahead,” his wife Nastya Ovechkina told Sport-Express this past year. “He always says, ‘We’ll live and see.’”
In the past, his mother Tatyana routinely stayed up late in Russia to watch Capitals games on TV, including the night Ovi passed Gordie Howe for second all-time in goals in December 2022.
Ovechkina appears to be back in Russia full-time after returning to the DC shortly after Mikhail Ovechkin’s death.
She told Lysenkov in the interview that she believes her son thrives off the love from those closest to him.
“His family is like an oasis for him,” Ovechkina said. “He relaxes at home. And there are times when Sasha can fly off somewhere to Turkey for a vacation, play volleyball with friends, sunbathe. He is not bothered there.”
Ovechkin recently stated that he hopes to play the final game of his professional career for Dynamo Moscow in the KHL. The Great Eight was brought up through Dynamo’s academy, played with the club in the Russian Super League before coming to North America, and technically won the Gagarin Cup with them in 2013 during the NHL’s half-season lockout.
“I will say that it will be his decision,” Ovechkina said. “Sasha will figure out when and how to make this turn in life. Whether he needs it or not. I definitely do not influence this, believe me.”
Ovechkina played for Dynamo’s women’s basketball team for almost two decades and later coached in the organization. Dynamo recently celebrated their centenary which Ovechkina congratulated them on.
“A century is a very good date, congratulations!” she told Metaratings.ru in April. “Thank God that the club is alive and it exists, this is a great happiness for me personally. I wish Dynamo prosperity, so that the club will be there for many, many years.”
