Ovechkin fit, focused on Stanley Cup repeat for Capitals
First championship, fatherhood have captain 'in the best mood ever'
"How's fatherhood?" he was asked Friday.
"It's fun," said Ovechkin, who became a first-time dad when his wife, Nastya, gave birth to their son, Sergei, on Aug. 18.
"Changing diapers?"
"Yeah, of course," Ovechkin replied.
"Even the stinky ones?"
"Yeah, I don't care," he said.
Yes, Ovechkin is enjoying all facets of his life. What's not to enjoy?
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Last season, he helped the Capitals win the Stanley Cup for the first time in their 43-season history and won Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, erasing any doubts about his abilities as a big-game player. The celebrating that followed, which included bringing the Cup to his hometown of Moscow on July 7 and 8, was capped by Sergei's arrival.
"I texted him after he got his son and said, 'What a summer for you. Two of the biggest things in life happen in the same summer,'" Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom said. "And I think that's only a positive for us as a human being.
"It looks like he's in the best mood ever."
Ovechkin's happiness should not be mistaken for satisfaction. Finally winning the Cup, and all the fun that followed, has made him hungry to do it again.
"When you taste it, you want it more and more," he said. "I think you can see lots of guys still have memories of what they did with the Cup and how awesome it was when the whole town was just going nuts. It's something special. You just don't want to stop it, and you just want to continue to do it."
If you were concerned Ovechkin wouldn't be as committed or as fit after all the Cup parties and a short offseason to recover and train, you'd have been pleased to hear general manager Brian MacLellan and coach Todd Reirden rave about his conditioning. Ovechkin, who turns 33 on Sept. 17, spent the second half of the offseason working in Miami with his personal trainer, and MacLellan said, "He actually looks a little bit leaner than he has in a while."
Reirden, in his first camp as Capitals coach after taking over for Barry Trotz (now with the New York Islanders), agreed.
"The shape he came in was tremendous," Reirden said. "It's something we talked about quite a bit this summer, and I'm really proud of him for how he showed up the last few days in testing and today's practice."
Ovechkin's conditioning was a big topic at the start of training camp last season. After he dropped from 50 goals in 2015-16 to 33 in 2016-17, some wondered whether his days as an elite goal-scorer were over, and the Capitals challenged their captain to return in better shape.
He answered by working on getting leaner and faster. Although Ovechkin lost 4 pounds, reporting for camp last season at 235, he added muscle and leg strength that helped him regain the half step he appeared to have lost.
He the led the NHL with 49 goals in the regular season to win the Rocket Richard Trophy for a seventh time, and he set a Capitals playoff record with a League-high 15 goals.
After missing his eighth 50-goal season by a hair last season, Ovechkin wasn't interested Friday in discussing whether he can reach that number this season. Neither was Reirden.
"I'd like to talk about how committed and how well he played in the playoffs and how much of a leader he was there," Reirden said. "The stuff that he did outside of scoring some big goals, which he did, but the way he played then and the way he's shown up to camp this year is really strong moves in the leadership department for me, and for me I'm excited about that more than 50 goals."
That's the biggest change in the narrative about Ovechkin. Instead of talking about how many goals he can score, his coach and teammates are lauding his leadership and the commitment to defensive play he made in the playoffs. His 11 blocked shots in the final two rounds ranked second among Capitals forwards (behind Jay Beagle's 14).
"The way he was playing last year, the way he was relaxed too, it's just unbelievable for us in the locker room to see how he carries himself," Backstrom said.
On the first day of camp a year ago, Ovechkin responded to questions about whether Washington's window to win a championship had closed by defiantly stating, "We're not going to be [bad] this year!" That was a theme he repeated at the celebratory parade in June.
On Friday, the questions focused on trying to repeat -- and soiled diapers. Ovechkin didn't seem to mind answering either, knowing the ones about being unable to win the Cup are behind him forever.
"It's gone," he said. "Right now, you have to think of some different questions every day, every year."
